Fastrack ...... Recap and closing statements

[Big_Boy_4005]

We have been talking about Fastrack for a couple of months now. I have gathered all of the different topics, and provided the links in a single place. I call this is the "Encyclopedia of Fastrack", everything we know about the product so far. There are even some pictures along the way, but mostly very interesting reading, including some fairly strong opinoins, and some important discoveries and observations.

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12436
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11387
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11805
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11722
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11743
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11600
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12044
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12253

I think that we have learned a lot from our discussions here and perhaps it time to move on to other things. Here are a few final thoughts:

QUOTE: By Amtrak Jack
According to Lionel's "Inside Track" the official publication of the Lionel Railroader club, Winter 2003 issue, page 3 and continued on page 10, in an article entitled, "Lionel: State of the company," William L. Bracy states:

QUOTE: "The reception to FasTrack was the big surprise for us, as we had believed our new track system with built-in ballast was best employed by new model railroaders, who may build their first loop around the Christmas tree on a carpet in the family room. Little did we know how powerful would be the reaction from experienced Lionel operators, who immediately saw the potential for FasTrack on existing benchwork, especially once the different diameter curves and remote switches become available in the first half of 2004. Now everyone is up in arms to have us deliver all 40 FasTrack products ASAP, so they can customize their existing layouts with the latest track system from Lionel." END QUOTE.

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Well gang, I think that might have been an accurate statement when it was made, but I sense that the tide may have turned somewhat. It will be interesting to see the outcome of Lionel's Fastrack adventure, as I know that all of the discussion here has managed to change at least a couple of opinions. We need to remember that many more people than we are aware of, read what we write, and that some of them may also have noticed what was said here about this product.

It was never my goal, and most likely not anyone else's, to try to stop people from buying Fastrack. This was an effort to truly understand and evaluate the product in a way that is not simply a rubber stamp of approval. The goal was to educate potential consumers to several issues that we as serious hobbiests noticed about this new product line.

If Lionel is as committed to this product as they say, I feel that they have some engineering and design issues that need attention before I would recommend this product to anyone.

Sincerely,
Elliot Feinberg