Mine all work fine.  But then since I used them on a permanent layout I rewired them to use accessory power.  Now they don't rely on needing a decent rail connection and if for some reason they don't light up when I plug the transformer in, a quick flick of the finger rings it to life.  And I only have to flick it like once a year.

Posted two years ago, obviously, things have not changed.

My vote for the worst design of a Lionel Fastrack Item

I gave up and modified mine.  I ran #30 wire down the back of the supports directly to the connection point underneath, now they work.  We're not the only folks that have had issues with these.  It's painfully predictable as the LED connections are just pressed into the posts and then there's a lot of hope involved.

I have several of them on my layout and all work fine.

I bought a package because I thought they looked pretty good. One was DOA, the other only sporadically worked after extensive fiddling.  Then, it too went dark, seemingly permanently. Perhaps at some point I'll try what GRJ suggested in his thread. These things are pretty expensive and many people (like myself) have  experienced a 100% failure rate. I wouldn't buy them again.

I decided my bumper needs could be filled with the Earthen bumpers, real wood and no lights to fail.

Mine are also unreliable, but I haven't gotten to the point yet where I care enough to get them working properly. Don't we all need unfinished projects? :-) 

I currently have four on my layout...previously eight.  As they (inevitably) fail I simply replace them with earthen bumpers as needed.  

Connectivity is an issue on track power.  I had mine screwed down snugly to my table, but several wouldn't function; backed the screws out a bit and they were ok.

If I were going to use them in the future, I would certainly power them with an accessory transformer... but as the springs are so fragile and apt to pop off, I wouldn't choose to use them again.

They do look pretty sharp, though!

I bought some a month ago you mean there suppose to light up LOL not a one works correctly out of the 4 I bought have to wiggle and move them around to get them to work

8

My vote for the worst design of a Lionel Fastrack Item

I have 2 of them, and they both work perfectly.   When I first received them, one was a little sensitive and flickered a bit. But this was due to a slightly loose track pin connection. A few seconds work with a pair of pliers fixed that and it's been perfect ever since. 

My personal belief is that these are a very nice product, and they don't deserve the bad reputation that some like to give them. Even if the light does fail, they are still a great looking product, and the sprung bumper pad is great in helping to reduce damage if you do happen to accidentally ram them. 

Nicole, you assume facts not in evidence.  You can read about a ton of people that have had these things either not work at all, or work when they feel like it, including me.  I also took the time to see how they're constructed, and trust me, they're a pretty lousy design.

The fact that you an Allan happened to get the only working ones on the planet doesn't make them a reliable product.

Even if the light does fail, they are still a great looking product

I wonder if you'd be so generous if the lights failed on one of your locomotives?  After all, it's still a great looking product!  

It's called a lighted bumper, and with that name, it should light!

Hi John, I was just relating my personal experience with these. I do understand that several people have not had the best of luck with these, but I'm sure that there are hundreds of others who have no complaints with them. They are also pretty easy to fix if the lamp does fail. 

Actually, I have had the LED lights fail on a new locomotive, but rather than get all upset about it, I just fixed it by replacing the LED and all was well. 

See last reply by GRJ. this is the only way to effectivly make them reliable.  Its fairly simple to do. Even so, ive modified a few  #260's for fastrak with excellent results.

clean the contact are on bumpers ,then clean track where they sit,apply a little automotive 'never seize' to contact area. You can use a emoryboard like for your fingernails

I read this thread and the link by gunrunnerjohn.  I have some of the bumbers and plan to use them on my layout, I definately appreciate the fixes mentioned.  However what I don't see on these threads is anyone sending feedback to Lionel on this issue.  Feedback would be as simple as clicking the contact on the Lionel website.  I would think that letting Lionel know would help imrove these and other items.

-rog

It's a lot of work for a $8 bumper, but at least mine work now.

I have 4 of the lighted bumpers and all 4 fail to work correctly. I have to constantly press, push, wiggle both the whole track piece and/or the LED which never remains lit for long.

The fastback system is somewhat frustrating in that Lionel can get something as elusive as reliable turnout operation down pat but completely falls down on a simple task like making a small light connect to track power.

Other Fastrack stumbles - The plug-in highway flashers are far to fragile at the plug-in point (should have some flexibility here) and thee operating track section is not exactly bullet proof either.

Actually, sounds like a decent how-to that John could do for the magazine (with step-by-step photos) and earn himself a couple of hundred bucks for his efforts.

I'll have to find another bumper, I fixed all of mine.

I will go buy you some!

John,

I'll tell ya what. I'm leaving for a week to South Florida, but when I get back I'll mail you one of the darn things.

PS I can't remember if I still have your address, zap me a e-mail if you want one.

Larry

I'll take that bumper, might be cool to try to do one for an article.

email coming.

I broke a couple of those...just flick one with your hand and it snaps.

I have 8 lighted fastrack bumpers on my layout and other than one or two needing a little crunch with a pliers at the track pins when I first installed them, they have been reliable for 10 years.

Could they be made a little better?  Sure.  Flip them over and you will see that there is not much there, and not much that can go wrong other than loose / poor connections which may give people DOA problems or flaky lighting.

You're obviously one of the lucky ones.   I got zero out of four, and these were factory fresh when I took them out.

One other thing (that I also corrected) was only one of the outside rails connects to the bulb.  Since the rest of the Fastrack has cross-connections between the outside rails, I put a wire between the rails on the bumpers as well.  This helps with any contact issue with the rails.

I have 4 of them all new and none of them work I did find tho wiggling the led made it come on. I know in the scheme of things lionel isn't going to put much time into fixing them but a redesign might be in order. and it might be a simple just making he socket as everyone calls it alittle smaller so the led is tighter in it . I haven't taken it apart yet so I could be way off base.

I thought about getting lighted bumpers, now I'm glad I didn't.  Don't need the frustration!

Nope, you're right on target.  The major issue is the LED connection, though the other end of the rear posts is also an issue.

I was thinking when I saw that, why? Then I realized that they saved a metal strap figuring that they don't need two rails to carry the 20ma to the LED. Wrong!

JLeland,

   I use the good old Tin Plate Lionel bumpers with my Fastrack, I have the FasTrack also but they are a real pain to keep working, modify the old tubular bumpers, they work great all the time.

PCRR/Dave

Except the tin plate bumpers don't look right outside of a tin plate layout. I'd rather have the more realistic looking but non-functioning lighted bumpers. 

I'd rather have the realistic looking functioning lighted bumpers.

Don't know if these are the ones Pine Creek Railroad is showing, his looked red to me?  Found these at my LHS last year, they are brown. They are die-cast, nice and heavy, spring bumper, work well, but kind of expensive. I replaced the incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs. They fit my Atlas track nicely, so I would think they would work on almost all O gauge track. Possibly another option for some of you out there.

Lionel 6-62283 Lighted Bumper 

Those are the old #260 bumpers in a new color.  I've seen them in bright red and black, but not in the brown before.  I guess these are the "new" color for them.  They're designed for tubular track, but they should fit on other track types.  They probably wouldn't really work well with Fastrack as the outside rails don't have the intent for those screws at the front to lock into.  Tubular, Atlas, Gargraves, and Ross all have a place for those to grip.

You could try the WBB ones. I understand that these fit most O-Gauge track systems.

I am thoroughly amused at the lengths some people go to defend Lionel at any cost.  Fastrack lighted bumpers should work out of the box, first time, every time.  But, they don't. 

These things are not prototypical anyway.  When or where was the last time you saw a lighted bumper at the end of a spur track?  I use fastrack earthen bumpers on my layout and they look far more realistic.

Lionel has messed up again on quality control with this item.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Vern

Well of course you are right on the working out of the box. I do think however that it isn't so much defending Lionel, but rather more a dialog of where to go from here with a defective product. There is so much of this from Lionel and maybe other brands I don't know about, but for me it has become part of the hobby. What is broken when I remove it from the box and what am I going to do about it. I think sometimes I get as much satisfaction out of solving the problem than not having the issue to solve. Poor me, eh?