I was looking through some old Lionel literature and found a mention of the Trutrack System.
The literature has no date, but does say Lionel of Fundimensions, a division of General Mills.
Can anyone provide more info about this type of Lionel track. I sure do not remember ever seeing any on a layout.
Jeff
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I remember the ads.....was it ever made?
Peter
Yes straight and curved sections were done along with a roadbed. I am not sure about automatic switches. I think manual switches were made. Do a Google search and you will see some examples.
I believe they were made of aluminum rail and not so great quality. May have been made in Italy ??
Yes it was made and it was made in Italy. 1974. Glen Uhl of Glen's Train Shop in Akron bought out the stock. Sold the stuff at the Parma TCA meet for 25c a section and same for the roadbed. Bought enough to make a big oval.
It is completely useless especially since it renders magnetraction ineffective with aluminum rails.
I tell people that I'm about to show them one of the rarest things Lionel made but it is completely worthless.
Lou N
I just did Google search, and found that this track was discussed here on this forum back in 2012. Looks like Lionel Research and Development, kind of dropped the ball on this stuff.
It was made at a time when Lionel was producing locomotives without magne-traction. So the fact that it was aluminum really has no bearing on the products Lionel produced at that time.
Interesting. Something I hadn't heard of before. Here is the previous posting:
https://ogrforum.com/t...ltimate-lionel-track
It looks good, actually. Too bad it wasn't better material for the rails.
The straights and curves, along with their roadbed are relatively easy to find. I purchased some years ago. The dealer warned me that it wasn't any good, but I figured I'd use it for display track. I tried setting up a loop and could not get the train to make a full trip around.
The problem is that the rails are aluminum, and the joiners are poorly constructed and poorly attached. Combine that with aluminum rail, whose oxide is not conductive, and you have track that does n
ot work.
As has been mentioned, they did make manual switches, and a terminal track too. The manual switches came with a small fitter track section.
Not all that long ago, I picked up a lot of some junk box switches and was able to assemble 2 complete switches from the lot. IMHO, they were very poorly made,
NOS switches and terminal tracks tend to go for more than I am willing to pay for a curiosity item.
Well, the idea wasn't a bad one. Just not thought out very well. Back in those days, aluminum was becoming popular. Anyone remember the aluminum house wiring debacle ?
Looked good.......poor choice of materials
Well, the idea wasn't a bad one. Just not thought out very well. Back in those days, aluminum was becoming popular. Anyone remember the aluminum house wiring debacle
Yes.
According to my understanding if aluminum wiring is done properly, it's OK. The devices (outlets, switches, etc.) used have to be aluminum compatible. I've been told there is an anti-oxidation crème that should be used, and the terminals have to be tightened to a specific tension.
I was just talking with a contractor who is about to do some work for us, and the subject of main power panels came up. He told me that many of today's home panels have aluminum buss bars.
I have used AL ham antennae. They will pit if you do not coat them which a clear finish. Guess that track would not be a good idea in the Houston area.
Looks good - better than Super-O in some ways, not as good in others. Not sure I ever heard of it.
Again, like Super-O, this track appearance philosophy would have looked much better than Fastrack. I care nothing about Magnetraction, but the aluminum rails' durability was not optimal, especially in small cross-section - and the small rails were one of the appealing things about it. Steel - not tinplated! - is needed.
Take Trutrack and Super-O, choose the best features of both, add wide diameter curves/switches, maybe roadbed, and retire Fastrack - a good product, but is just too much the toy.
Just sayin'. Never happen.
When it was announced I thought it would be a great system but unfortunately it did not turn out that way.
Looked good but the aluminum rails doomed it to the trash heap.
Anyone else think that ScaleTrax, while obviously better made and better looking, is reminiscent of TruTrack in terms of tie spacing and the thin center rail?
Also, it's interesting that Atlas latter came out with a line of HO roadbed track called True-Track.
Cheers!
Keith
I saw it in the catalog, but never in stores. D500 is right -- if Lionel had put some real research and effort into producing a successor to Super-O, we'd probably have something better than FasTrack today.
Balshis posted:I saw it in the catalog, but never in stores. D500 is right -- if Lionel had put some real research and effort into producing a successor to Super-O, we'd probably have something better than FasTrack today.
You mean like this:
Credit: Notch 6
C W Burfle posted:Well, the idea wasn't a bad one. Just not thought out very well. Back in those days, aluminum was becoming popular. Anyone remember the aluminum house wiring debacle
Yes.
According to my understanding if aluminum wiring is done properly, it's OK. The devices (outlets, switches, etc.) used have to be aluminum compatible. I've been told there is an anti-oxidation crème that should be used, and the terminals have to be tightened to a specific tension.
I was just talking with a contractor who is about to do some work for us, and the subject of main power panels came up. He told me that many of today's home panels have aluminum buss bars.
Yes, on the main feed from the utility pole, aluminum service cable is the material of choice because of it's lower price tag than copper. When electricians install a new panel and new service cable, they follow certain procedures that are meant for the aluminum.
For house wiring, aluminum can be a problem. It's brittle when bending it around receptacle and switch screws, and a crack may not be visible at installation. But if the wire breaks at the crack, an arc can start and create heat and fire. In the seventies, copper coated aluminum wire came on the market. It seemed like a good idea, but the same issues I mentioned above plagued it.
What we need is Tesla's idea of transferring electricity. But it may put some electricians out of work.
Glen Uhl of Glen's Train Shop in Akron bought out the stock.
I got my track from a local hobby shop in Buffalo NY in the mid-1980's. I purchased a carton of straights and a carton of straight roadbed, and enough curves / curved roadbed to make a circle.
As pointed-out above, Magne-Traction didn't figure into the failure of TruTrack. That feature wasn't in any current products at the time, and wouldn't be revived for a few more years (1976).
The oxidation of the aluminum rails was definitely the issue. I've been told that the problem never really manifested itself until the production quantities of the straight and curved sections were shipped from Italy. A month or so in the hull of an ocean-going vessel brought the problems to light. Prior to this, the samples were sent via air-mail, and thus the oxidation wasn't caught until later.
As Lou N pointed out earlier, the big dealers at the time wound up with large quantities of the track for sale. Lionel actually published a Service Bulletin in October 1976 offering the track for sale to service stations, but they advised it was NOT for layout use -- only for display. This included the straight and curved sections, as well as the matching roadbed.
I've never really discovered how the other pieces -- the switches and terminal track -- made it to market. I'm not aware of any paperwork to indicate they were officially sold, but on the other hand, there are too many examples of these items out there to indicate that just a few "snuck out."
Lastly, both Super O and TruTrack were evaluated while designing FasTrack.
TRW
I recall this when made in the '70s. I once purchased a layout of Lionel O72 tinplate track in 1976 from a guy in Seabrook, Tx. that was building his new one with Tru Track. I remember getting a great deal, including switches, and all mounted on two 8x4 3/4" plywood. Never heard how his new layout turned out, but I hope it was better than these posts may indicate. I have looked at the advertisements for this in my Lionel catalogs from the '70s.
Jesse TCA
The aluminum track just looks too flimsy to work correctly.
Aluminum does conduct electricity but not as well as copper, so a larger size wire was needed for the same current carrying ability but most electricians didn't know that back in the mid 1970's, and that is why there were more house fires associated with aluminum wire. Aluminum does oxidize over time but very slowly, in other words it does what steel does over time it will rust or oxidize.
Gold works best for electrical current flow but who can afford it?
Lee Fritz
I seem to recall a period of time when aluminum wiring was popular in home building, especially manufactured housing (trailers.) The problem with fires was eventually tracked to the device connection screws gradually working loose from minute vibrations when power was turned on. For a while, aluminum was banned but I think the industry might have developed new connection methods to eliminate the vibration problem. Aluminum is still used for high voltage lines (on the tall towers we see from power plants to cities.)
AL was in use in wiring in the '70's because Copper was very high at the time.
Dominic Mazoch posted:AL was in use in wiring in the '70's because Copper was very high at the time.
Precisely. They were ripping downspouts off houses in Philly. If I recall correctly, copper was at $1.50+/- per pound. In the mid seventies, that was **** good.
The big problem with copper when prices get so high is that thieves can steal it from air conditioners and electrical wiring, sell it to the scrap yard, steal if form the scrap yard, sell it ..... in a circle. When I worked for ADT many years ago, the two types of customers with the most extensive alarm systems were pawn shops and scrap metal dealers for that reason.
Trutrack was first cataloged in the 1973 consumer catalog (attached) and was mentioned again in the 1974 consumer catalog.
It looked good! If only they had made it with steel rails, not aluminum!
At a Lionel Collectors' Club of America convention around 1977, one of the table holders was selling the blister carded switches which he had recovered by trash can diving behind the Lionel building. At the same moment in the lecture hall, a Lionel representative said that the switches had never been made.
Somebody correct me on this, but I believe the manufacturer may have been Casadio of Italy. AHM imported and sold their brass rail HO track which included, if I recall, exotic double slip switches and 3-way turnouts. It was comparable to and completely compatible with popular Atlas HO track.
MPC had the right idea and recognized the market wanted a more realistic track system.
@mowingman posted:I was looking through some old Lionel literature and found a mention of the Trutrack System.
The literature has no date, but does say Lionel of Fundimensions, a division of General Mills.
Can anyone provide more info about this type of Lionel track. I sure do not remember ever seeing any on a layout.
Jeff
The Stout June 6th, 2020 auction had several lots of this system for sale.
Looks a little like MTH scale track to me, but different material.
Thanks for that sale reference. Sure didn't bring much money at this auction. Other than collectors value, demand must be very low.
Jeff
@texastrain posted:I recall this when made in the '70s. I once purchased a layout of Lionel O72 tinplate track in 1976 from a guy in Seabrook, Tx. that was building his new one with Tru Track. I remember getting a great deal, including switches, and all mounted on two 8x4 3/4" plywood. Never heard how his new layout turned out, but I hope it was better than these posts may indicate. I have looked at the advertisements for this in my Lionel catalogs from the '70s.
Jesse TCA
Seabook? That is right on top of Galveston Bay. Salt water!
Got mine from CHAS RO.....still got it,still useless!!!
For some reason Trutrack popped in my head the other day. I remember seeing it from time to time but never knew it was made in Italy, which adds another angle to the Lionel/AHM relationship from back then. Trutrack flopped badly but the arrangement also gave us the Standard O line. Looks like Lionel batted .500 on this deal.
What was the connection between TruTrack and the Standard O line?
Well, the larger Standard 0 cars would look better on the wider radius TruTrack curves.
@Keith L posted:What was the connection between TruTrack and the Standard O line?
Lionel bought the tooling to make the first Standard O cars from AHM. There are 2-rail AHM cars out there made from the exact same molds. Given that both lines were introduced in ‘73 they must have negotiated it all in one deal.
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