Lionel track

[Anonymous]

Is the new Lionel Fast Track in o scale a lot better than the older plain track? I am rearranging the track on my Dept 56 layout and will probably switch to the newer track if I find it is better. Thanks for you input. Harold

[cnw1995]

Depends on what you mean by better, Harold. I am personally pretty happy with Lionel's near century-old 027 track but as they say, your mileage will vary. Fasttrack is incompatible with the older track, but it is plastic, has a sort of embedded roadbed - and is Lionel's wave of the future. That said, I think there's a lot to be said for the old fashioned 3 rail track.

[Dave Farquhar]

Define "better." It's more convenient to take apart and put back together and it looks a little more realistic. The downside is it's loud and expensive, and the integrated roadbed makes it take up more space, which makes it a liability on smallish layouts. I keep enough to set up a loop on my floor but my layouts use traditional tubular.

If you've already got enough tubular for a layout, you'll find it's less expensive to just add whatever tubular you need to change your layout around. I don't think it's worth the extra expense to replace your tubular with Fastrack.

[spankybird]

Dave – when you say it “definitely better” do you mean the trains perform better on it or just that it looks better [?]

With all the test done on different tracks, I don’t think anyone ever tested the actual performance of the trains on different track.

I have to agree, it is easier to assemble and take a part and it looks better with a built in road bed.

Cost of any of the new tracks is about 3 times that of tube track.

[MartyE]

Tom

CTT did a test afew issues back on different track although I do not believe Fast Track was among them. I like the Fast Track for a trow down layout but also don't think it's worth the cost to replace an entire layout with. It is as also stated louder with more train noise. I mainly use it during the holidays under the tree or on the front porch for some (sing to the tune of Summer Lovin' from Grease) Summer Runnin's had me a blast.!

BTW I think Dave said "define better"...

[spankybird]

Marty - you are correct, sorry Dave, I need that morning coffee.

I believe the test that was in CTT was on the electical end of the track, and not the, shell we say, the real world of how an engine performs on the track.

Personlly I still use 027 tube track.

[MartyE]

I wish I had some coffee. My wife has a habit of making a full pot and drinking 1 cup. Now were out. Starting to get that caffine headache.[xx(][xx(][xx(]

[Anonymous]

I went to the MTH version, Fasttrax, several years ago when my old tubular lionel was trashed in Hurricane Andrew. For about four years, it was fantastic, then the little clamps that carry the electricity from the connectors to the rail started to loosen up, and I had continuing severe electrical problems. The problem is that, unlike tubular track which you can fix with a pair of pliers, this clamp is way in the middle of the roadway, and there is no special tool to tighten it. The school solution is to solder the clamp to the rail, but that has its own drawbacks, the rail is a giant heatsink, and you need a 300 watt iron to get enough heat on it to solder without melting all the plastic in the room. Somewhere after I bought eighty or a hundred pieces of this trash at better than three dollars a piece, MTH realized they had a problem and started spot welding the track to the connector. The spot weld doesn't always conduct. The spot welded rails have a lower failure rate than the old clamped ones, but remember, they are newer, and I didn't have problems with the clamps until they were over four years old. I am primarily a layout changing floor runner, and my track gets a lot of flexing that is hard on the connectors, whether they are clamps or welds. I would have preferred to see a pair of pliers that would reach across the road bed and tighten the clamp rather than a spot weld that I can't fix, but people in perdition want ice water too.

Frankly, I don't know yet if the spot welded tracks are failing, or if they are the result of poor chinese quality control. There are two welds on each piece of track, and I have only found two pieces where both welds were bad. Those pieces I threw away. The ones that have a good weld can be fixed by soldering a piece of wire from one end connector to the other end connector on the under side of the track. The center rail connection is made through the good weld.

It's a hobby--this is just one more thing to keep you busy!

[Anonymous]

After playing around with a lot of floor layouts I still haven't made up my mind which track to use - but have a good bit of 031 and Fasttrak now.

I will say this, my Beeps and other 027 switchers (like PW 1615 0-4-0) like my Fastrak switches a lot better than my 022s. I really like the 036 minimum curve . 027 equiptment looks really good on it and scale stuff looks better on it than 031. I think the sound thing is a bit overblown, especially at slower, prototypical drag freight and yard speeds. No question though - it's louder on the mainline.

After thinking a long time about the layout I want to build, I have to consider that I'm at a point in my life/career where I might very well relocate to a new job. I think it must be pretty painful to break up a layout based on ballasted tubular or gargraves. Also - for now - I might just want to rip up my layout to try something else, rearrange the line. I want to be free to do that.

If thought I was staying in my home forever, and if I thought I really knew what I wanted in my layout that I could live with the track plan forever - it's an easy choice - custom bent gargraves rail and RCS switches ballasted and weathered. Ahhh. Nice.

But I think it's fastrack for now. The prices are droping rapidly (manual 036 switches can be had for $20), Lionel is expanding the system (048 curves, remote switches, long sections, etc. are available right now) and I think the pieces will hold enough residual value (better than tubular) to sell them off when I'm ready to build that permanent layout of my dreams.

Just my opinion.

Have fun!

Old 2037

[Dave Farquhar]

Doug brings up a good point, and I think Ray Plummer mentioned it in an old CTT a few years back when MTH was first releasing Realtrax. He said tubular track was tried and true, and we've had since 1891 to learn what its issues are and what it takes to fix them, and he pointed out that his layout used 1940s-era American Flyer 3-rail track and has been trouble free for decades.

There's something to be said for that. And for smoother operation with tubular, you can ease into your O27 or O31 curves with O54 and O72 curved sections. O54 and O72 curves are available in both O27 and O31 profiles.

[jimhaleyscomet]

Personally I like the K-line snap track best of all. Reliable, priced between 027 and Fast track, compatible with O, very easy to assemble. Except for the minimum 031 curves it is perfect for floor and layouts.

Jim H

[macdannyk1]

I've thrown away a lot of the RealTrax because of the continuity problems that SkyRay mentioned. Never liked theSnap-Track; it tended to warp and then would be very difficult to "un-warp". If I had unlimited funds I would probably go with the Atlas track; nice stuff. The San Diego 3-Rail club at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum have used the Atlas track on their amazing layout; looks nice and performs well.

[Anonymous]

I have switched over to all fasttrack. I have owned Atlas O, MTH realtrax, and the all famous o and 027 gauge track. I like Lionel's fasttrack. I do not buy the crap it is louder, however all my trains are run on a thin carpet surface as grass. I am still waiting to try the uncouplers, I haven't done that yet, but the switches are great. Love the 36" diameter curve, and I run all standard O. I like it and I hope it stays!

[Anonymous]

To any and all listening,

I currently have Lionel O tubular in my layout. What does everyone think of Gargraves track in terms of running. I like the appearance better than Lionel O. How do Ross switches run compared to Lionel O22.

Is 2-rail 1:48 scale.

Thanks
John LVRRMAN