Non magnet rails?

Welcome to the site.
I don't know of anyone here running non magnetic rails but copper is a good choice as a better conductor of electricity than steel which all of us use for our rails. As far as keeping the cars on the track however it will not do as well. These cars will spin the tires violently even some stock T jets have a lot of tire spin in the first couple of feet and the pancake style cars such as T Jets have a tendency to twist in the opposite direction of the armature when starting off the line. Try it some time with a stock T jet and some old tires, they will usually spin out at the start and never make it very far. I would also imagine trying to run any of the faster cars would be difficult or near impossible on a non magnetic track as some of them are spinning the tires quite a bit on my track even with good traction magnets. The other thing I see is that ETs and even MPH will suffer a lot even with the slower cars and none of us will be able to test a car in similar conditions since we all have steel rail tracks. If what I have seen is correct the larger scale 1/24 & 1/32 cars use lots of traction compounds to help the cars go down the track something none of us want to do to our tracks. I simply use a little water to wipe the tires off on any cars I run, the rest is up to the car.
Having said that it is up to you how you build your track. I am always up for trying something new however and would give it a try knowing the cars would be off any times I could run here on my track.

Welcome to the site dickie,
As far as rails go, I think steel probably gives the most options. You can run with traction magnets or without. Although copper may be a better conductor, steel would still offer consistent comparable power. Blah blah blah...... . In the end it is whatever you want. I see nothing wrong with copper and running the cars at a lower voltage. We have a suggested voltage of 13.8v for our stock pancake classes and we used to run them at that voltage. Over the last couple of years 18v and 20v has just become more of a standard. To be perfectly honest, the races are more exciting a lot of times at the lower voltages. You sometimes get two or three lead changes down track. You are leaning in the right direction. Keep us updated.

there is certainly a lot to consider.
all the thoughts shared have merit.
let us examine why, from nearly the beginning of 1/64 (HO) slot cars, manufacturers and most hobbiests use steel.
I think the number one reason is durability.
I think it safe to say that copper would wear quicker and the change in rail height would alter the performance of the basic toy slot cars to the point children would lose interest.
based on the premise that most 1/64 race cars and tracks were designed to be played with by children.
yes, I have raced on copper braid in all three scales of slot car racing and that was satisfying.
many purists still insist on copper braid.

as far as voltage, 13.8 was recommended earlier because AW drag tracks have that power supply and this was to encourage folks with a small budget to host races.

in my live races, aside from NITRO rules, we use 24 volts for every class and let the difference in the class builds dictate the difference in performance.

DRHOE uses nearly 28 volts and only races ballistic missiles which need a lot of magnetic down force (hence steel rails).

there are many avenues to choose from and, I am sure, some that haven't been tried.

I think everyone here is open minded as to the possibilities.

welcome to NITRO, resistance is futile, you have been assimilated.

Don't neglect the other HO cars out there. The old AFX pancake cars with or without magnatraction could run on your track and even more modern 6 ohm inlines would run OK at 13.8 volts. I was just testing an old Tyco brass pan chassis car I have sold which has no traction magnets and it actually ran down the track OK even at 20 volts. It is kind of fun
when you hear the motor screaming down the track spinning the tires like crazy, toward the end of the track you can hear the tires start to hook up and the sound it makes is something like a V-8 screaming down the track turning 7,000 + rpm.

Hmm, I hadn't but will look into it. Thanks for the suggestion!!