Reply to "The Dreaded Zinc Pest strikes again!"

Bobby OgageOGR Forum Member

A study was done to determine the causes of zinc alloy corrosion in vintage Lionel Trains:

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/53034354.pdf

Pages 8, 9 & 10 of the report go to the heart of the matter.

The report concludes

Corrosion-induced cracking of model train zinc-aluminium die castings is caused by small amounts of impurities in the metal, notably lead, cadmium and tin. The corrosion requires moisture to initiate and progress, and is accelerated by higher temperatures. A possible countermeasure is to apply parylene coatings to suspect or slightly damaged items. This would have to be done by specialist firms.

I conclude that die casting of metal alloys for longevity items like toy trains is not a good practice. However, a cast plastic body with stamped sheet metal frame is far superior.

2/12/1911:19 AM

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