I am looking for opinions from long time owners of the 120512 Lionel Fastrack grade crossing with flashers. Is it reliable? My experience with Lionel's recent accessories hasn't been good.
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All I can tell you is it's been noted many times the crossbucks are very fragile.
The "flashers only" version has been great for me. I've had one on the layout for almost 13 years works perfect.
Its the 12062 with the operating gates that I would avoid. I had one of those that quit the first year.
Charles Ro sent me a replacement that lasted a few more years and also quit.
IMO theres too many moving parts with the gates going up and down dozens of times( or more) during an operating session that its inevitably going to fail eventually.
12052 in operation:
The crossbucks are indeed fragile. Specifically the soldered collar that connect the upright to the 1/8 stereo plug. Seems like they could have either made them more robust or went the other way and used a stiff spring as the collar to give it some forgivness if it gets bumped.
While Fastrack iteslf and the switches are great, the crossbucks are fragile, the lighted bumpers don't light and are quite fragile and the uncoupler sections seem to suffer from sticky activation buttons.
For a system that is meant for play at floor level, the bits and pieces should be up to rough handling and they are not.
