lionel fastrack

[dwiemer]

I am under the age old story of not getting the "big room" yet for the layout and will be constructing a layout smaller than planned. I would like to use Lionel Fastrack. I would like to hear any issues I will have to confront while I am drawing up the new plan. I would also like to hear any suggestions for the layout. Thanks, Dennis

[Anonymous]

Nice looking stuff, sturdy, connects well, but NOISY!!! Make sure you have carpet or some other sound dampener underneath it. Otherwise you'll wake up the neighbors.

[spankybird]

Beside the noise issue, it is 3 to 4 times the cost of tube track. Other than that, it's great.

[Anonymous]

Dennis,
When recently planning my new layout the initial issue was product availability in my area. I had 3 choises...Atlas, Fastrack and old Lionel tube type. Even though I already had some tube type I chose the Atlas for it's realistic look, figuring someday I'd own some scale engines and rolling stock. This choise will also allow me to make trackside scenery realistic. It's biggest advantage became clear when it came to track laying. With an around the room shelf layout like mine it was important that straight sections of track be of exact length to fit room dimensions. My double mainline loops parrallel the walls and it was important that they were equal distances from the walls to fit on the 8" wide shelf. It was super convenient to custom cut Atlas track in exact lengths, eliminating the need to run back to the train store for those often needed and more often forgotten factory made short lengths. Yeah, I guess I could have done some preliminary computerized track plan to know exactly what to buy in the first place. As it turned out I only made 2 separate track purchases to finish phase one and of that I don't have enough left over track to make a 2 car siding. If your planned layout doesn't require strict roadbed dimensions, flexible track sections and custom track lengths then just about any track will do. Atlas gave me the flexibility in design that I needed at about the same cost as Fastrack.

Bruce Webster

[EIS2]

I just replaced all of the track on my entire layout with FasTrack. I really like it. The switches are excellant. I have had no derailments passing through switches at any speed. The only downside I have found is it is a little hard to separate the track once it is latched together. I haven't even had to screw the track down. The pieces will not come apart, even with fast train traffic. Lionel has a definite winner in FasTrack.

EIS

[Jumijo]

FasTrack is great. If only it was available in O31 and O27. I have plenty of it, and love it, but 2 loops won't fit on a 4 foot wide table, so I bought O27 tubular. As for the noise, it doesn't bother me.

Jim

[brianel027]

Clyde Coil ain't gonna like this, but oh dang. The one real way to kill much of the noise on FasTrack is to switch all (or at least every other wheel set) on your rolling stock to the MPC-era plastic wheel sets.

Some have tried all sorts of ideas, but the plastic wheel sets are effective and the easiest thing to do that actually works in taking down the noise level. Not that anyone would really want to do this, but it does work.

[Anonymous]

I love it on my small 5x8 layout! I think it will draw more new people into 3-rail than any other product made. However, I think Lionel is "missing the boat" by not showing photos of it in actual layouts in their catalogs. Joe

[Anonymous]

I really like the looks of Lionel Fastrack. Does anyone know if the ties are to scale???

[Anonymous]

"Does anyone know if the ties are to scale???"


The ties are the appropriate width and are spaced correctly, they scale out to 8'9" long which is also within normal mainline size.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Chuckn. Good to know, even if there is a third rail......LOL

[Anonymous]

I've got the fast track and I love it. I added a gravel to the sides for a more realistic look. it seem to help deaden some of the sound the plastic makes. I used water/glue mix to attache the gravel to the sides of the fastrack and on down to the board. With the rails it looks realistic to me.

[Anonymous]

I'm normally an Atlas fan for my "serious" O gauge efforts (although "serious" is definitely not what I am), but acting on a whim, earlier this evening I decided to snap together some new FasTrack that had come with a starter set I bought a year or so ago--just to see how it might look on the small but colorful holiday layout that I want to set up this year here in my den.

Pretty neat stuff, and seeing at least the start of a layout in place (I don't have enough track sections on hand), I guess I'll gas-up the car tomorrow and head up to the not-so-local hobby shop and spend some money on a number of additional sections and perhaps a couple of switches or so. It appears to be a very sturdy and well-made track system, and the light-colored ballast will definitely help to highlight the bright red "North Pole Central" Berkshire and Docksider that I intend to run, not to mention the red "Christmas Express" and blue "Christmas Express" locomotives from MTH that are currently residing in my display case. I won't be able to run all four locomotives/trains at the same time since it is a small layout, but I'll still be able to switch 'em off from time to time to vary the action. I might even dig out the Lionel Christmas GEEP that I bought several years ago, but have never been able to run because it has Magne-Traction and wouldn't pull it's own weight on nickel silver track. All I need now is about four feet of bridges to run across the back portion of the layout, and I'll be well on my way to creating what should be a lively, colorful, relaxing, and nostalgic little pike for the fast-approaching holiday season. And, of course, I'll need to dig into my collection of Dept. 56 "Snow Village" buildings to further adorn the scene.

[EIS2]

Alan,

You will really be impressed by the FasTrack switches. They are top notch. You can hardly tell when a train is going over a switch. I have never had a derailment going through a FasTrack switch at any speed, either forward or reverse.

Regards...
EIS

[EIS2]

Alan,

You will really be impressed by the FasTrack switches. They are top notch. You can hardly tell when a train is going over a switch. I have never had a derailment going through a FasTrack switch at any speed, either forward or reverse.

Regards...
EIS

[Anonymous]

EIS:

Yes, I've heard good things about the FasTrack switches, so am looking forward to getting a couple or more--at least for this layout. I'll likely opt for the manual versions since it's a small layout anyhow, the switches will be located in easy-to-get-to areas (plus, they're less expensive).

I'll just have to fight some Virginia Tech Homecoming football traffic making the drive up to the hobby shop in Roanoke later this morning, but will time the trip so I'm on the interstate once all the rabid fans are safely packed in the stadium. I had the choice of accompanying our photo dept. crew to photograph the game, or head out for some more FasTrack. I opted for the latter. [:)]

[Anonymous]

Back from the not-so-local hobby shop after gassing-up the car ($2.97 a gallon for regular) and heading up I-81 to Roanoke. I'm now about $150 poorer, thanks to a few FasTrack purchases. One thing for sure: These components are not exactly cheap, at least buying them locally. I'm sure I could have done better via mail order, but when it comes to track items I kind of like to see what I'm getting, so I guess I can't really complain.

Bought some additional straight and curve sections, a couple of manual switches, a pair of "earthen" bumpers, and--just 'cause I couldn't resist--the Grade Crossing with Flashers.

Now it's time to snap this stuff together and see how it flies--after I dig out one of my numerous MTH Z-750s to power the pike. I am using marine deck carpeting over the entire layout, including under the track, ,of course, so we'll see how the noise factor comes into play with that rather modest cushioning.

More later. . . .

[Anonymous]

All the track is in place, and the new "North Pole Central" Docksider and caboose has been up and running for a couple of hours now. My initial observations, as they relate to Fastrack:

A very durable and nicely designed track system. The sections fit together firmly and securely, and the track joints are virtually seamless (including the roadbed seams). FasTrack might not be the thing for a Hi-Rail layout, but that's not what it's intended for anyhow. I must say that I like it more than its next closest competitor: MTH RealTrax. It is a bit costly, but well worth the investment, from what I can determine.

Doesn't have the "T-shaped" rails of prototype (or some model track), but this is barely noticeable. I once thought this would be a concern for me, but now that I have the track in place, I find that I don't even notice the upside-down "U" shape of the rails.

I'm finding the noise level to be perfectly acceptable (track is laid on marine deck carpeting), but the Dockside switcher doesn't make all that much noise to begin with. I'll try something larger and heavier tomorrow.

The FasTrack switches are very nice. Smooth operating and there's not even the slightest hesitation when a small locomotive like the Dockside glides through them (ditto for an even smaller and lighter K-Line Christmas "speeder" that I have).

The FasTrack grade crossing is a neat accessory; I'm glad I bought it. Scale-size flashers, and they operate in a very realistic manner. The bell sound is a bit loud for my taste, but there's a conveniently placed switch that allows that feature to be easily turned off, if desired. I do think I'll buy a couple of insulated FasTrack sections in order to expand the activation range, but for now it's just fine as it is.

I might also note that the Dockside switcher is one fine little locomotive. Less than $90, and a very quiet and smooth runner. Also smokes like a champ! Santa is the engineer on the "North Pole Central" version, of course. This is my third Docksider, and along with the K-Line Plymouths and the RMT BEEPs, they rank among my favorite engines (I'm partial to small, traditional-size motive power).

[EIS2]

Alan,

I think FasTrack got the noisy reputation because of the cheaper Lionel starter sets that the FasTrack came with. I had the same impression (noisy track) after running the Polar Express set. When I ran my regular rolling stock on it, the track was no noisier then my tubular track. Additionally, the Polar Express set is noisy on whatever track I run it on. I now have FasTrack on my permanent layout and the noise level is very acceptable.

EIS

[laz 57]

I just put it down and like TOM (SPANKYBIRD) said if not for the noise its great. If you have a little buffer like foam or homosote its not to bad. I ran a lot of different size engines on 0-36 and0-48 and all ran good no problems. Hope this helps?
laz57

[Anonymous]

One thing I may decide to do with my FasTrack layout sometime after the coming holiday season is to break out my airbrush and weather/darken the rails and ballast. It looks fine as it is--no real complaints there--but I find the ballast to be a bit too light/bright and uniform for my tastes. My personal preference would be for something between the light FasTrack ballast and the darker-gray RealTrax ballast, along with a bit of color blending to help get away from the plastic look. It will certainly be easy enough to apply a rust-colored coat to the sides of the rails--even easier with FasTrack than it is with other types of track simply because of the smooth and uniform shape of the rails.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allan Miller

One thing I may decide to do with my FasTrack layout sometime after the coming holiday season is to break out my airbrush and weather/darken the rails and ballast.
It will certainly be easy enough to apply a rust-colored coat to the sides of the rails--even easier with FasTrack than it is with other types of track simply because of the smooth and uniform shape of the rails.

I use FasTrack, and was curious about how it would look with only the 2 outside rails weathered. I say this because the center rail reflects the image of the ties, making it almost dissapear. Maybe you could try this on a section and report back to us. Joe

[Buckeye Riveter]

I just built my daughter's under the tree layout with FasTrack. A great looking product and it really conducts the current. I used a piece of 4'x6' plywood and glued 1/2" white foam to the board. The track sits on the foam with wood screws attaching the track to the plywood at about 24" intervals.

Runs great....but there is definitely more noise from the rails than I hear with MTH RealTrax on my permanent layout. (Make no mistake; RealTrax is not the ultimate model train panacea.) IMO it is the actual FasTrack rail that is making the noise. For the price, I think there are much better track systems. [2c]

[Anonymous]

I have my small, all-FasTrack layout up and running now. As I noted in an earlier post, the track is laid over marine deck carpeting that is itself laid on top of the tables used as the layout's foundation. The track is not screwed down--doesn't need to be since the carpeting "grips" the roadbed nicely and holds it in position. And, since it's FasTrack (with a very secure system for joining sections), there's no worry about the sections coming apart over prolonged periods of running, as might be the case with traditional tubular track.

I haven't found the noise to be all that excessive. Yesterday, I was operating the Lionel North Pole Central Dockside and an MTH Christmas Express 2-6-0 w/LocoSounds, and didn't find the track-induced noise to be at all bothersome or distracting. However, if you're screwing the track into plywood, even with an insulating layer of foam or some other product in between, it will increase the noise level because the noise is transferred to the plywood through the screws.

I prefer Atlas track for my permanent layouts, but would definitely recommend FasTrack for a temporary, floor-type, or around-the-tree layout. A darn decent toy train track system, in my opinion, and in some ways (but not all) superior to the MTH RealTrax, which is also very good.

[brianel027]

I agree with you Allan and have been saying from square one that FasTrack is great for the round-the-tree floor layout.

Since FasTrack was introduced and developed under the Maddox watch at Lionel, it's not too hard to see the connection with Bachmann's EZ Track, which really changed things for HO. EZ Track made setting up the HO trains under the tree or on the floor better than it had ever been.

HO trains also have plastic trucks and plastic wheel sets, not to mention the smaller size of the trains. Even with EZ Track screwed directly into plywood, the noise level isn't that bad. Things become very different with 0 guage trains and FasTrack.

Clyde Coil on his site went into this big thing about stuffing insulation under FasTrack which I can't imagine too many folks will want to go to the trouble to do. One guy I know tried using nylon screws with a pre-drilled sink hole to attach FasTrack to plywood. This seems to help a little with noise reduction.

The other thing which I mentioned before is to use plastic trucks with the MPC-era plastic wheel sets. I can't imagine folks really wanting to do this either, but it really works in cutting the noise level from FasTrack possibly better than anything else.

Who knows. Maybe Lionel will go back to plastic wheel sets as a cost cutting move?[:D]

[Jumijo]

I've been running trains on FasTrack since December, and do not hear any excesive noise. Yeah, I hear some noise, but it's metal wheels rolling along metal rails, and to be totally honest, I like it. It's not loud at all to me. And when I run a Railsounds loco, all I hear is the Railsounds.

FasTrack is great stuff. Put it together, it stays together - period. It conducts better than tubular, and looks great. I think it's getting such a bad knock because a lot the older guys in the hobby are a little stuck in their ways. It's not 1955 any more.

Jim

[brianel027]

Jim, please don't take offense here. I agree with you that there are advantages to FasTrack, some of which you covered above. I believe the noise issue is something that is personal taste. When I was a kid with a plywood only table top and track screwed into that, the layout was in the basement and the noise bothered no one. Many now live in apartments where noise levels are a little more critical.

I'm glad you like FasTrack Jim and your posts on it will let others know that folks are starting to use it and like it. One of the train mags recently did a feature on a guy who had a layout with FasTrack. So this is good.

I'm not stuck in the 1950's at all. Matter of fact, I wish I could have today the standard of living had by many during the 1950's where a current college degree wasn't such an essential to finding a decent job. There've been more than 5,000 layoffs in my area in the past 4 years. Most of those announcements mentioned competition from China. Folks like me who once made good money are now accepting jobs that pay 1/2 or 1/3 or what we used to make. Some recent salary offerings: Senior garage mechanic with 5 yrs exp. $7.50 per hour / Senior computer technician $8.00 per hour (they thought that was generous and will try to pay less) / Newpaper editor with Quark experience $9.00 tops (no flexibility for experience) / 3rd shift forklift operator with experience $6.50 per hour including overnight differential.

Simply put - I cannot and will not pay $3.00 for a single section of train track and I've spoken to other laid off train modelers who say the same. Lionel pays a fraction of what it once did in labor costs, yet many prices have not come down to levels that reflect the utterly cheap cheap cheap labor costs they now have.

Back to FasTrack itself. I've spoken to some train dealers who say track sales are strong - everything from 027 to and including FasTrack. So this is good. Even if FasTrack was the same price as 027 track, I do not like the higher, larger roadbed which I think looks ridiculous on a smaller layout. I've seen small layouts done with MTH's version of the roadbed track and feel the same about that. And your sidings and yards are the same height as your mainline with FasTrack. There is an advantage if you are looking to set up a layout fast without a great deal of extra space to do other things, since the track so quickly fills a small 4'x8' layout.

I really prefer the height and radius of 027 track. It's easy enough to add extra ties. And when ballast is added and dried, many screws can be removed thus helping to eliminate noise transfer. The FasTrack switches look nice and I wi***he 027 ones resembled the same footprint concept. If I were to build another layout, I'd probably choose 027 track for the price consideration. My next choice would be Gargraves. If that puts me in the 1950's - I don't think so. I like styrene plastic models over backlite. I do like the modern paint techniques that trains get today. I prefered the electronic circuit board reverse units until I chose to go with DC current operation.

As a final thought, Lionel trains have always been pricey. But back when I was a kid no one I knew had a working mom. Our dad's made enough money to buy house's, car's, support the family and still have money for Lionel trains. No one I knew had a dad who went to college and they all found jobs. Today 4 years of college is mandatory for the remaining factory jobs around here. I know too many families where both mom and dad work and they don't make as much money (adjusted for inflation) as my dad did 40 years ago. In some ways, it might not be such a bad idea for America to look at some of the positiive things of the 1950's which made America prosper at least as far as paychecks, benefits and job security goes.

[wrmcclellan]

I have recently tried several experiments with different foams, fiberglass insulation, and old carpet padding under FasTrack. For the amount of effort expended, the noise reduction was minimal and frankly not worth the time involved. The tests were done with an 048 FasTrack circle on plywood, screwed down every 2nd or 3rd section (necessary to keep the track flat with the foam underneath). The screws did not really affect the amount of noise. I tend to agree that the sound is coming more from the hollow rails than the roadbed itself (like with tubular track).

Regards,
Roy

[crip]

I run lionel fastrack on 2 inch extruded foam ,the pink stuff mounted on a bed slat style.I don't find the noise excessive. I find my MTH F3 and lionel 242 runs quiter than my lionel RS3. I figure it's due to the heavier weight of the F3 and 242.
MARK

[Anonymous]

It's not 1950 anymore.