So I have had my 12' x 8' layout finished for about a year, while construction was started back in 2012. I just recently noticed two separate sections of O-36 FasTrack curves have turned an odd shade of green. At first I assumed the color was the result of sloppy work from when I applied grass around the track, but adjoining sections of track are still the usual grey. Has anybody else had their track do this?
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Those were the Alien produced version before Lionel started using an Asian manufacturer. 
No, I haven't seen anything like this reported on the forum or personally. One former member had trouble with his after trying Simple green as a track cleaner.
Have you tried wiping it with a cloth with alcohol to determine if it is glue overspray leaching the green color? perhaps just a cloth damp with water.
Did you use track expander paste?
Interesting, I bought some used Fastrack some time back, and a couple of pieces look just like that. I haven't tried cleaning them, I wonder what it is. 
Frog snot
While helping to build a modular layout this spring we could see that the base's had 2 shades of gray. Might be different factories made them and one was not too good at it.
Years ago, when color slides were a big part of photography, I was using a processing lab that returned the slides to me in nifty plastic containers, rather than the Kodak cardboard sleeves. The containers came in both blue and gold plastic.
Now, 30 years later, the color from the gold containers has migrated onto the white plastic slide mounts! The blue containers caused no such effect.
Yikes, hoping the sets and tracks I gave as gifts don't have this issue arise.
Nairb Rekab posted:Frog snot
Frog snot changes color when it dry's.
This is interesting. I have all generations of Fastrack, hundreds of pieces, and I have never seen this before.
Someone mentioned it above: is it at all possible that your glue/water mix for the grass is somehow slowly leeching the color onto the road bed due to imperceptible over-spray/application?
Nairb Rekab posted:Frog snot
It's not frog snot, of that I'm sure. I've seen that junk on stuff that's come in for service, no thanks!
Moonman posted:Those were the Alien produced version before Lionel started using an Asian manufacturer.
No, I haven't seen anything like this reported on the forum or personally. One former member had trouble with his after trying Simple green as a track cleaner.
Have you tried wiping it with a cloth with alcohol to determine if it is glue overspray leaching the green color? perhaps just a cloth damp with water.
Did you use track expander paste?
I have tried cleaning it with no success. I thought it could be the glue leeching color too but if that were the case shouldn't nearby track sections do the same?
I wonder if that is mold or mildew that has formed on the track. Mold and mildew can form and spread on plastics. Certain batches of the Fastback may be more porous and withhold moisture and then get moldy as a result.
Now I want pistachio ice cream.
Send the photo to mailto:TALKTOUS@LIONEL.COM and ask them.
I discovered that a couple of pieces of my Fastrack have some of that green on them as well, but only on a small portion of the effected pieces and not as pronounced a green as was shown.
I bet Simple Green will work on it.
No need, it's already green. 
It almost looks like verdigris (sp?), the green oxidation that copper, brass and bronze can get. I would wonder if maybe you have exposed copper pipes that are sweating and the green is being dripped on the tracks, but since others say they have seen this problem as well that isn't going to fly (or if it is in a room with no open copper water pipes sweating.
bigkid posted:It almost looks like verdigris (sp?), the green oxidation that copper, brass and bronze can get. I would wonder if maybe you have exposed copper pipes that are sweating and the green is being dripped on the tracks, but since others say they have seen this problem as well that isn't going to fly (or if it is in a room with no open copper water pipes sweating
No exposed pipes in this basement!
Looks like discoloration as a result of UV exposure.
Perhaps a run of track was made that didn't use UV-stabilized plastic.
TRW
I took a bright LED torch around the layout and discovered two sections of 10" straights seem to be starting the transformation! I think I can rule out the grass bleeding color as one section has nothing but ballast surrounding it. Certainly is puzzling!
I would venture a guess to be a bad batch of plastic. Or more specifically the color additive. Degrades over time, causing a change in color. I've seen it in other plastic products before. One bad bottle of color additive can cause it to happen, and won't be known for awhile as it takes time to change color.
You could always put a figure there who looks like he's mowed the grass onto the track! 
Zach K,
Although I have seen a couple FT pieces that did this, I have never owned any, if you find out what caused it, please let us know.
PCRR/Dave
Your track looks like a prop for the play WICKED!
What is odd is the green is uniform. Usually, a color change is uneven!
Zach
Yes I did have some discolored originally. It was a different shade of gray. Somewhat darker, not green. I had figured it was a batch color difference.
I did see that same color green you show after I did all my dusting with landscaping material (a lot of it) . That is what it looks like to me. Totally a guess on my part.
It made no difference to me because I used a mixture of black ink and water to darken all of my several hundred feet of fast track before I use a ballast. I will say a very small part of it required more coats of the solutions before I was satisfied it matched.
But, in the end it made very little difference after the ballast was on. Pretty much a waste of time.
I can't figure the green ????? Good luck anyway.
Larry
Hot Water posted:I bet Simple Green will work on it.
Did anyone let Lee Willis into the room?
RickO posted:
LMFAO!
I've had the same Fastrack for 14 years now and no; it's never turned green.
Zach K posted:I took a bright LED torch around the layout and discovered two sections of 10" straights seem to be starting the transformation! I think I can rule out the grass bleeding color as one section has nothing but ballast surrounding it. Certainly is puzzling!
As there appears to be a clean break of the gray and green colors between the rails it clearly seems the plastic road bed has some issues.
Big Jim posted:Hot Water posted:I bet Simple Green will work on it.
Did anyone let Lee Willis into the room?
I seem to remember that, was rust the outcome?
Maybe The Graduate got it wrong when he said the future is PLASTICS.
Charlie
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