Lionel #260 Bumpers on FasTrack? You Sure Can!

[M. Mitchell Marmel]

If, like me, you encounter serious sticker shock at the price of lighted FasTrack bumpers (and have doubts about how well the little beggars would hold up under repeated batterings from, for example, bump-and-go trolley cars), here's a simple. inexpensive alternative using materials already on hand...

Materials required:

1) Lionel #260 Bumper (dime a dozen at any respectable train show)

1) Piece of FasTrack (likewise)

The 260 comes in two flavors: The O/O27 version and the later Super O version, with smaller rear tabs.

http://www.postwarlionel.com/cgi-bin/postwar?ITEM=260

In this case, I used a Super O version, as it was easier to;

Step 1) After taking the screws out, remove the bottom lugs on the bumper, as shown here with a unmodified bumper for comparison: 

Be careful when cutting off the front lugs that you don't cut into the threaded holes for the screws.  Don't ask me how I know this, please. 

Step 2) The rear of the bumper has a pin mounted in it.  When dealing with tubular track, this pin is slipped under the railhead to hold the back of the bumper in place.  Since FasTrack has a rectangular rail profile, a careful, detail oriented craftsman will drill a precise 3/32" hole in the side of the rail, into which the pin neatly slips and holds the bumper firmly in place.  If you're like ME, however, and you already have that loverly fiber reinforced cutting wheel mounted in a nicely warmed-up Dremel, you just hack a notch in the rail, thusly: 

The notch at left is the proper width, and holds the bumper in place nicely.  The notch at right is a bit too wide, and doesn't.  Of the two methods, I actually recommend drilling the hole, as it does hold the bumper in place more securely. 

Longtime viewers will recognize the long-suffering bit of FasTrack from my initial experiments constructing an Unholy Alliance between FasTrack and gi-raffes: 

http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/205802.aspx

You don't need to use 260 bumpers for this bit of creative mayhem; I originally used a pair of Colber 111 bumpers, as seen here at lower left:

In the case of the Colbers, I drilled holes in the bottom of the FasTrack and bumpers and used sheet metal screws to hold the bumpers in place.  So, any similar bumper from Marx or whoever can be used! 

Anyway, break out the bumpers, FasTrack and implements of destruction and have at it!

Have fun!

Mitch