There really is no comparison!!! Brass and nicklesilver are so much better than steel that it isn't funny.
First, steel rusts --------- and if there is anything you don't want it is rust. If any rust appears anywhere on your track you aren't going to be running any trains anytime soon. You're going to be cleaning track! Sorry.
Brass is a much better electrical conducter than steel. Although brass doesn't rust it will corrode. The corrosion is that green stuff that grows all over brass just as rust grows all over steel. And as rust is such a good insulator to electricity so is the corrosion on brass. It looks like your going to be up all night cleaning track again! Sorry.
Well, I guess that leaves nicklesilver. The good news is that nicklesilver doesn't rust. The bad news is that it sure does corrode. The good news is that the corrosion is a pretty good electrical conductor. The bad news is that even though you don't need to clean the corrosion off the nicklesilver, you should. You see, if you don't, sooner or later you're going to watch your trains running over the track like a car going down an old dirt road filled with myriad potholes ---------- bouncing all over the place!! Which means ----------- that's right, clean that track,clean that track, clean that track!!! Sorry.
Although I've made light of the topic, I think one of the most important things you should do, no matter your choice of track material, is keep the track clean!!!!!
