Glue Removal on Bottom of Lionel FastTrak Control Track 6-12054 ??

Somebody was glue happy at the factory that day.  They usually don't have than much glue!

1. Anyway, what I do is to first use a small ~1/8" flat blade screw driver and gradually work it around the edges of the glue until it's loose from the roadbed with the wires still encapsulated in the glue.
2. You've already got a reference pic of where the connectors attach, so go ahead and disconnect them from the Operating track next.
3. Once the wires are loose from the track, I use a sharp pointed Exacto blade to gradually cut into the glue in a direction almost parallel but away the from the wires, being careful to only use very mild force and removing a little bit at a time.
4. After you open up one side of the glue down to the wire insulation, you should be able to bend the remaining glue away from the wire enough to gently pull the wire out of the remaining gob of glue.

I've considered heating the glue instead with a heat gun, but thinking that would just make a mess all over everything, I decided on the above method and have always had success that way with no damaged wires or track.

Thanks…..I will give it a go.

I have another one that didn’t even have the glue. It just had some small pieces of electrical tape to hold the wires in place and a little plastic bridge that was screwed over in the top of the wire to hold it in place against the track with very tiny screws.

Different factory or batch I guess.

It's just hot glue, they pop right off.  I have just used my fingers on a bunch of them. 

@Sean's Train Depot posted:

It's just hot glue, they pop right off.  I have just used my fingers on a bunch of them.

That works if there's only a little glue.

FWIW, I normally warm up the glue with a hot air tool, makes it come loose easier.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

FWIW, I normally warm up the glue with a hot air tool, makes it come loose easier.

I'm guessing there's a fine line there between easier (just a little heat) and a hot sticky mess.

Yep, you don't want to re-glue it, just get it so it's pliable.

Freezing hot glue when on a smooth surface will sometimes cause it to come off on it's own. If not a jewelers screwdriver under the edge while still cold will.          j

If you can find the aerosol cans of Chewing Gum Remover anymore, they work great at freezing glue to remove it. The propellant is usually propane so obviously don't use it near anything like a furnace, hot water heater, or stove that has an open flame. I used to work as a school Custodian and we used it all the time to get glue and tape off the walls without damaging the paint.