Fastrack girder bridge

I had the exact same experience with the Lionel girder bridge 6-84388.

Did you find a way to fix the problem or just return it?

I did not return the girder bridge because I damaged it while trying to get it to work. I found the same issue of the voltage not passing from one side of the bridge to the other. I thought maybe tubular track that the pins fit into were too loose so I used some pliers and tried to crimp the track onto the pins and make a better connection. This did not work and only damaged the girder bridge so that I could not return it. Sorry that you are finding the same problem, but I am relieved to see that I am not the only one to have this problem with the girder bridge. The lesson I learned was to stick with the truss bridges and girder bridges that do not have fast track built in.

I bought 4 of the Christmas version of the FasTrack girder bridge. Had the same problem so they are useless.

Good to know this. So it's not just me and my ten thumbs!

Just curious - did anyone ever trace it with a dvm to find out where the break in continuity was ?

Richie

Tracing the bridge for conduction errors is a job for the Chinese manufacturer to do and supply new properly operating bridges, at no cost to the buyers via their supplier.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

Richie

Tracing the bridge for conduction errors is a job for the Chinese manufacturer to do and supply new properly operating bridges, at no cost to the buyers via their supplier.

Charlie

Understood and agreed.

Maybe it's me, but when I have an issue with a product I buy, my own curiosity dictates that I like to see if there's a simple, cheap and easy way of correcting the problem without having to go through the hassle of returning or exchanging it with the manufacturer or seller.

In this case, testing the unit for continuity seems like a relatively quick and easy thing to do and might lead to a quick fix and avoid that hassle. If it turns out, after testing, there's no easy fix or it's beyond the buyer's capabilities, that's fine - no harm, no foul.

We're not talking about voiding warranties or tearing into a defective Vision Line engine, here.   

@Richie C. posted:

Understood and agreed.

Maybe it's me, but when I have an issue with a product I buy, my own curiosity dictates that I like to see if there's a simple, cheap and easy way of correcting the problem without having to go through the hassle of returning or exchanging it with the manufacturer or seller.

In this case, testing the unit for continuity seems like a relatively quick and easy thing to do and might lead to a quick fix and avoid that hassle. If it turns out, after testing, there's no easy fix or it's beyond the buyer's capabilities, that's fine - no harm, no foul.

We're not talking about voiding warranties or tearing into a defective Vision Line engine, here.   

Richie,

You're clearly a tinkerer; one of many of us on this forum.  "Just fix it".

Choo Choo Charlie appears into be a collector or operator (but not a tinkerer).  Most collectors or operators take deep offense to poor quality, and wouldn't think of fixing the problem, even if the fix were simple.  "No, send it back".

Is one better than the other?  No, not at all.

They're actually both correct.

Can these kinds of folks tolerate each other?  From the kinds of disagreements that show up often here, probably not.

But then again, this is very much in line with most situations in today's world having two apparently opposing, and very polarizing, views.

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Richie,

You're clearly a tinkerer; one of many of us on this forum.  "Just fix it".

Choo Choo Charlie appears into be a collector or operator (but not a tinkerer).  Most collectors or operators take deep offense to poor quality, and wouldn't think of fixing the problem, even if the fix were simple.  "No, send it back".

Is one better than the other?  No, not at all.

They're actually both correct.

Can these kinds of folks tolerate each other?  From the kinds of disagreements that show up often here, probably not.

But then again, this is very much in line with most situations in today's world having two apparently opposing, and very polarizing, views.

Mike

Agreed, Mike and thanks for the comments. I'm not going to the mattresses on this one.

When I had issues with my Legacy Mogul a few years back, I promptly sent it back to the manufacturer for repair. When my FA diesel came in with a horn that had either broken off during shipping or been left off during manufacture, I just glued it back on.

I guess that's why that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

I had exactly the same problem last year with that girder bridge. I ended up soldering a wire on the bottom to the next piece of Fastrack. Ugly soldering but it worked. Sadly that came on the heels of a manual O-36 switch that derailed engines because the points wouldn't close tight against the straight track. Which I exchanged for one that had the same problem. Third one was good. This preceded an $84 caboose whose couplers wouldn't stay closed. Disillusioning to someone who had just bought their first Lionel set. They do need to address quality. Just an observation.

My supplier has been in contact with another business who said they are expecting a shipment of these but from what I'm hearing they're all going to be the same, so not much point. Even told me that Lionel is sticking him with shipping costs and no offer of a refund.

just a quick question.wouldn't it be easier to use an old school girder bridge and just run fastrack across it?I'm trying to learn

@William Kolina 122419 posted:

just a quick question.wouldn't it be easier to use an old school girder bridge and just run fastrack across it?I'm trying to learn

Yes - that may be a viable option in most cases, but the one mentioned above (6-84388) has a different look to it that may be more appealing to some and, also, the sides are removable, so it can be turned "upside down" and used as a "below deck" girder, like on an open bridge.

I told my Father who also collects and runs Lionel trains about this thread on the forum. He wanted to try his luck at getting this girder bridge to work. So I gave him my girder bridge which I could not get to work to see what he could do.

He connected it to his layout and the girder bridge did not work. So he inspected the track and found that the track was very dirty. Testing with the volt meter found no continuity in either of the three (3) rails. He took rubbing alcohol and a cotton swob and cleaned the three (3) rails. Still No luck. Then he took a small file and dressed the three (3) rails until they were clean
and smooth. Now there was continutity on all three (3) rails. He installed on his layout and found that the bridge work beautifully.
His theory is that if you try to clean with Rubbing Alcohol and dress with a file until all of the rough edges are smoothed out, you will be successfull.

I have yet to get the bridge back and try on my layout. But I wanted to share his experience with the forum to help others out.

What part of the rail did he file?

Have been following this out of curiosity. Could one of you post some pictures?

Dave

These were brand right out of the box so I'm thinking dirt wouldn't be an issue. Have seen some nice MTH girder bridges for sale, is Fastrack to wide to fit in one from MTH ? I have an older O gauge bridge but its just a little to narrow for Fastrack.

We still don’t have any definitive information on the exact problem. Is it rail to wheel, pin to pin, or pin to rail? Obviously some don’t work, but some sleuthing is needed for an answer. I don’t have access to one or I’d work on it.

EDIT: I've recently purchased a 6-81248 Girder Bridge and am now convinced that the rails are not made of aluminum.  My apologies for repeating something (aluminum rails) from an old post that was unverified.  Please disregard the following post which is not relevant to these girder bridges.

In my opinion, the poor conductivity issue is two-fold and it's all to do with the rails on the FasTrack Girder bridges being aluminum.

1. Aluminum that comes into contact with air eventually forms a layer of aluminum oxide on it's surface.
2. When electricity passes through aluminum that's in contact with a dissimilar metal such as steel or zinc, galvanic corrosion occurs, causing a high resistance electrical connection between the dissimilar metals.

Link for further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

The reason that filling the rails worked initially, is it removed the layer of aluminum oxide coating the rails.  Aluminum Oxide is electrically non-conductive.  This is the reason why electricians apply anti-oxidizing grease on bare aluminum wire ends where they connect to a terminal in high voltage circuits.  It prevents oxidation from forming between the conductor contact points.

Here's a link to more on the electrical insulating properties of aluminum oxide: https://www.google.com/search?...num+oxide+conductive

Suggestions for improving conductivity on a FasTrack Girder Bridge

In addition to other suggestions offered including slightly bending the track pins to make better contact with each other, here are a couple more that should address the aluminum rail issues:

After thoroughly cleaning the bridge rails with low-odor mineral spirits (a non-polar solvent), applying Ox-Gard or NO-OX-ID electrical contact grease to the tops of the rails will help with long term conductivity.  After application, allowing some time for the chemical reaction to complete, this compound needs to be thoroughly wiped off with a clean dry cloth until there's no grease residue coming off the rails onto the rag.  What's left behind will have chemically bonded to the aluminum's surface and help prevent oxidation on the rails' surface.

As far as getting power from adjacent tracks through the track pins into the girder bridge, crimping the rails around the pins may work temporarily by slightly breaking up the oxidation in between them, but the oxidation will eventually return along with voltage drops on the bridge.

Soldering electrical feeder wires directly to all three girder bridge rails will provide better long term conductivity to the bridge.

Here are some links to older threads on the subject of the FasTrack girder bridge conductivity issues:

Lion Chief Loss of Power when crossing FASTTRACK GIRDER BRIDGE model number 81248

Fastrack Girder Bridge does not WORK

Fastrack Girder Bridge

Is this what parents are expected to do when buying train sets for their kids?

Something else is amiss here, when:

> we know that Fastrack is still being bought and used without this much hassle.

> there are people reporting multiple bridges being bad, along with their vendors having all their stock dysfunctional.

Again, pictures?

Dave

@DunningStation posted:

My supplier has been in contact with another business who said they are expecting a shipment of these but from what I'm hearing they're all going to be the same, so not much point. Even told me that Lionel is sticking him with shipping costs and no offer of a refund.

That surprises me greatly.

@Dtrainmaster posted:

Again, pictures?

Dave

As the saying goes, " I don't have a dog in this fight" as I sold off over 500 pieces of FasTrack in the last 3 months. Had a great layout using FasTrack, but decided to move on to Atlas for the next build. I wanted to love these girder bridges and bought a few on sale as our original layout was a permanent Christmas setup. Once I got them and tried to use them, I understood why they were on sale. Do a search for some of the Lionel milk cars that had the coupler problem, and you'll see they are selling for one-half of the original cost from dealers we all know and like. Rather than a recall, the defective products just get discounted, or so it seems. The idea that you should buy a brand-new product and then take it into your dungeon to fix it as part of the experience of the hobby is ridiculous. I had an Erector Set for that. But I digress.

Anyhow, here are a couple of photos of the ones I still have. You might be able to see that as has been mentioned the material used for the rail is different, and it is. The shape of the rail is also different as it is more rounded and doesn't quite match up to the standard FasTrack pieces. There is a ton of play in the connecting pins. I tried pinching the rails to no avail. I also hacked one up to see if I could just replace the center rail with a rail from a standard FasTrack 10" straight, but they don't align. Scrubbed them, too. A couple of them worked intermittently, but nothing you could count on. Too bad, as I love the idea of being able to swap out the side panel - standard black most of the year, Christmas during the season.

Once I figured out these didn't work, I bought the North Pole Central and Polar Express girder bridges without the built-in track. I am happy with those and can use them with my new Atlas track.

Hope the photos help those who still want to figure this out.

Thanks for the great pictures, and telling us you can't just cannibalize a regular track rail pieces to replace the ones on the bridge.

Having bought a couple of these, I'm leaning toward just removing the rails and attaching to the underside of the FasTrack.

I’m still shaking my head over the aluminum. We lived in a trailer for a year  in 1971 after we got married. It got so that every time we smelled something hot, we just felt outlets until we found the warm one. All aluminum wire.

Out of curiosity I dug out my grandson's Lionel FasTrack Girder Bridge (still in box).  It is the black model (6-81248).

Tested continuity on all three rails end to end and they all had continuity.  Does this problem only occur on a layout?

John

@Craftech posted:

Out of curiosity I dug out my grandson's Lionel FasTrack Girder Bridge (still in box).  It is the black model (6-81248).

Tested continuity on all three rails end to end and they all had continuity.  Does this problem only occur on a layout?

John

No experience with the black model and I never tested continuity on any piece of FasTrack when I used it. I had 100's of pieces on our layout (the fitter pieces add up!) and I just plugged one end of one piece into the end of another. When it didn't work, took it apart and bent the center pin, put clips on the underside between pieces to give it a tighter fit, checked how level the track was, and put a screw down to hold the track in place. I put drops on the layout every 6 feet or so. Tried all of these things with the bridges but they just never were reliable for me. Could be that I was just unlucky and got a bad batch.

Hope your grandson's bridge works for him. If it does and he wants a set of Christmas sides to swap out with the black during the holidays ping me with a message. I'd be happy to send them his way.