PROBLEMS WITH LIONEL FASTTRACK LIGHTED BUMPERS

Yes, they are not the best designed product of Lionel. Some get by with a finger flick to light them. the issue is with how the power is supplied to the lights.

gunrunnerjohn has posted a fix.

Search the forum with the product name or your post title and you will find the thread.

WRG,

   FT lighted bumpers are junk, I adapted the old sold metal 50's & 60's lighted bumpers that really work for my FT.  Once you adapt them to the FT they work great.

Do a little grind work on the feet and screw them down normally.

PCRR/Dave

No surprise there, here's a thread I posted on it some time back: https://ogrforum.com/t...lionel-fastrack-item

I worked out a modification, I've always meant to finish that project and maybe get it into OGR.

I thought it was just my FT bumpers.  They are not reliable.  I have used Realtrax on my sidings and their lighted bumpers work great !!!

My only experience with lighted Lionel bumpers are the plastic tubular track kinds....and NEVER has one worked, even with new bulbs and adjusting the copper contact. Not a big deal for me but if I pay the extra $$ for a lighted version, it should light up. I mainly prefer the non-lighted bumpers. They are exactly the same, come in a pack of 3 vs a pack of 2 for lighted, and are cheaper. I remember one day, after one bumper had been in place for years with no light, came on bright. 

I also just bought another set of lighted bumpers. I would have preferred the non-lighted but it was all I could find. Both are VERY reliable and work flawlessly. I personally, after years of dark lighted bumpers, was stunned. 

Pine creek is right.Those things are JUNK.First of all if you bump them with a heavy engine they will break off and the lights don't work half the time.I bought the earthen bumpers and installed my own LED's on them.Nick

Ah, geez.  I have not thought about these things in years.  They were a pain - everywhere.  Maybe the worst thing Lionel ever made.  About 40% of them didn't work well and I just gave up and got rid of all!

Definitely hit-or-miss. I stopped buying them for that reason.

The die cast bumpers Pine Creek RR suggests are very nice, Should be easily adaptable to the Fastrack. I think they are called #260 bumpers. I am using them with Atlas track, a little fiddling and they work great. Very heavy and solid too. You can also get LED bulbs for them and change out the ones supplied with the bumpers.

Had a total of ten of these on the layout initially, I believe... six failed or broke within the first few months, the last four are still going three years later.  I'll just continue to replace them with earthen bumpers as they fail.

The electric connectivity issues can be addressed, but as others have stated, physically they are not of robust design.  Too bad, as they really do look nice.

I just bought a set of these. Only one works and the other you must flick it with your finger but it goes back out again quickly. Gunrunner John can you please post your mod for the repair of these?

It's amazing how Lionel could stumble on a simple lighting circuit on a bumper of all things.

The overall physical design is also too fragile with the spring loaded pad usually breaking off and the tiny springs being lost. I replace those pads with some small rectangles cut from brown sheet foam from Michaels.

Some of the Fastrack accessories (lighted bumpers, highway flashers) need to be reworked to be a little more robust for "floor running." 

Sigwally,

    IMO you are wasting your time on a sub quality item, even if it is Lionel.  Either build your own or do as I did and use the modified metal 50's/60's bumpers, that work perfectly.   

PCRR/Dave

Here's the story in pictures.  The key here is when you remove the two diecast posts, you have to gently press them out, I used a drill press.  If you tap on them to drive them out, they will break, don't ask me how I know that.  The black wire is #30 wire-wrap wire.

John:

On the underside of the bumper in the last picture looks like a resistor. If so, what size? You mentioned earlier that the repair requires both a resistor and a diode (1N4003), however I only see the resistor.

I am mechanical, so electronics brings me back 35 years to my last electrical class, so I am a bit rusty and cannot easily identify parts visually.

Thanks for you ongoing input into electrical issues. I have used many of your fixes to improve my layout.

Joe K

The resistor is a 1K.  I added the diode after the picture, Lionel didn't include one.  I also jumpered the two outside tracks together, helps with the reliability and most other Fastrack already has those jumpers.  The diode just replaced the wire on the left that joins the LED connection to the outside track.

Thanks for the clarification: Joe K

My post above is in error in reference to the #260 bumper. I thought (possibly in error) the older style die cast bumpers were once referred to as the #260? Apparently Lionel is now calling their plastic lighted bumpers #260. 

Anyway. the ones I was referring to are now called 'Die-Cast Metal lighted bumpers' and are part #6-62283 for $26.99 MSRP per pair. They will fasten too the Fastrack using set screws built into the bumper. Very solid product and they have made them in one style or another for many years, I think even going back to the pre-war era. There are direct replacement LEDs available for the incandescent bulbs included which I installed in mine.

The Fastrack bumpers are #6-12035 and are $32.99 MSRP, also per pair but still making the Die-Cast bumpers a better value. Of course, IMO, the Fastrack bumpers do look a little better, more modern looking, and probably go with the Fastrack look a bit better as well.

Edit: fixed wrong quantity for Fastrack bumper, MSRP was for two, not one. 

Just for truth in advertising, the 6-12035 Fastrack bumper for $32.99 is a package of two bumpers.

Thanks, it has been corrected. I must have looked at that thing 3 times while checking the part numbers and missed the correct quantity every time.

All the others showed two in the pictures, the Fastrack product only showed one in it's picture (even though it was plainly stated in the text). Guess a picture really is worth a thousand words?

.

Dave: I wish I read this BEFORE I spent $$ on these Fastrack lighted bumpers. I have loved Lionel since I was 5 years old, and still do. But to say I am dissapointed is an understatement...

Sigwally,

    Every once in a while even Lionel makes a mistake.  The 50's/60's Lionel Bumper pictured in my post can be modified by grinding the feet to properly fit FasTrack, IMO they are still the best.

PCRR/Dave

Dave: When your right your right, I am going to take a look at the die-cast metal bumpers you are talking about. There is a certain sadness admitting to oneself that a company you are emotionally tied to ( as I said since 5 years of age ) has produced a bad product. But the more I learn the worse it gets...