Backwards compatibility; this is a term I learned early on as I started my career in the Bell System.
As applied to the design and manufacture of telephony equipment; this meant that any new technology had to include workability with the old technology in the new equipment. As an example dial pulse was used to record a person dialing the telephone. When touchtone was developed and central offices were equipped to accept the touchtone pulses. The new equipment also had to accept dial pulses, because not everybody had a touchtone phone. Similarly, central offices, communicated across the network with each other, early on there was dial pulse and revertive pulsing, which was replaced by multi frequency pulsing. The multi frequency pulsing was much faster and more accurate than the old technology. Once again, the equipment in the central office had to be able to recognize the older pulsing as well, because not all offices were modified at the same pace. Moving onto digital, both from the subscriber and between offices when digital switching equipment replaced electro mechanical switching the digital switching had to accept all the old technology. Unlike Microsoft, HP or Dell; Bell Labs never told a customer that their equipment would no longer be supported.
I often think about this when I look at Lionel‘s offerings in recent years. Tthey’ve offered many different accessories all tied to fastrack and they don’t offer a solution for the accessory to be used with the older tubular track and other track systems; other than their ugly transition tracks. The transition tracks may work sometimes with tubular track; but not with applications of various accessories all around the layout. The transition tracks certainly don’t look good on a Hirail layout. Who wants this gawky plastic connected to Hirail scenery? Observing pictures and videos on OGR of layouts. It’s apparent that many model railroaders still use tubular track or other manufacturers track rather than the fastrack, I have at times done some ““ Rube Goldberg modifications to be able to use a new accessory. Most recently; almost simultaneously, an article appeared about the Billups crossing gate that was developed, in the 1930s. Lo and behold Lionel put out a Billups accessory. I was so intrigued by the write up and technology that I thought I’d like to have this on my layout; knowing well, I would probably have to make some modifications to make it work. When it arrived the other day I was dismayed to find that the guts of the accessory are implanted underneath the fastrack which will make it much more difficult to implement it on any other type of track system. Not to say I’m gonna give up, but I’m gonna be very careful not to destroy the original. This could be a lot easier if Lionel could’ve put the guts of the system into a shack next to the crossing, which would make it compatible with other track systems, but they seem to ignore all the model railroaders that don’t use their fastrack system.
