Requesting Your Opinion

I like it.

Originally FasTrack had a blackened center rail.  Folks like the unblackened better and voted with their wallets.

Jon

I think the black stands out more against the gray roadbed, not less like GG. Leave it alone.

I'd go with your blackened center rail.  Looks far better. Even a blind person would agree.........too me it's obviously SO MUCH better!

Your picture does it more Justice than it really deserves. Meaning, I've seen it in person many times and the black stands out like a sore thumb. The shiny middle rail looks much better in person than the black.    The lighting in your picture actually makes it the blackened rail look not too bad and accents the two silver rails.   Having seen both in person, I prefer the silver Center rail.

KOOLJOCK1 is right. After awhile Lionel changed from the darkened center rail. It may have been causing a power issue. But the track definitely looks better with no darkened center rail. I do not use fast track but when you look at the track now the center rail makes it look like the ties go all the way across. Just my opinion..Paul 2

I've had both, and I have to say, the black center rail did stand out more than having it match the other rails.  I think it's all about the light gray roadbed.  I am now going to Gargraves track, and their "Phantom" black center rail doesn't stand out nearly as much, but the ties are very dark

Perhaps the ideal color for the center rail on Fastrack might be for it to be colored the same grey color as the roadbed ...

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I've had both, and I have to say, the black center rail did stand out more than having it match the other rails.  I think it's all about the light gray roadbed.  I am now going to Gargraves track, and their "Phantom" black center rail doesn't stand out nearly as much, but the ties are very dark

I fully agree with you. It's the background color of the roadbed that causes the darkened center rail to stand out.

I'd love to use Gargraves track but to me, it's not really intended for use in a temporary layout.

I like the idea of the gray rail, it would probably stand out less on the background.  Of course, that's probably why the silver rail is less obtrusive, it kinda' blends in with the similar color background.

Here's a shot of the silver and black rail next to each other.  you'll notice one additional issue is the silver rail tends to blend in and reflect the black ties as well as the light gray.  The black rail, OTOH, stands out like a sore thumb, it just draws your eye to the rail and the fact it's there.

I really think it depends on the brand of track you are using.  I have used Atlas-O track with the black rail and in my humble opinion has the best appearance.  Of course, I sand the top of the middle rail to aid the conductivity and to avoid sparking.   Overall this leaves a nice appearance.  Either that or I am just so used to this look that to me it looks natural! 

I'd be curious to see the two outside rails blackened while leaving the center rail as reflective stainless steel. 

The outside rails blackened might work out well, interesting idea.  After all, real train tracks mostly look pretty black!

Nope. I prefer the mirror-finish center rail because to me it's appearance recedes into the reflected ties&ballast.

I would definitely pay for blackened (or dark-browned preferably) outside rails.

Huh. I see that great minds think alike.  

Why would one want a center rail - the black one - to stand out more than it has to? I remember the black FastTrack and wondered what they were thinking....of course, the fact is that no model RR tack should shine like the bumper of a '58 Studebaker is true always. GG with a black center rail still has the chrome running rails. I have requested - as have others  that GG produce "all Phantom" track. I'd even have paid a little more for it.

But, no. So, my GG/Ross track/switches have all been sprayed a nice, flat, dark RR track color. The problem with the black FastTrack is not the center dark - it's the outside rail glitz.

EricaAnn posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I've had both, and I have to say, the black center rail did stand out more than having it match the other rails.  I think it's all about the light gray roadbed.  I am now going to Gargraves track, and their "Phantom" black center rail doesn't stand out nearly as much, but the ties are very dark

I fully agree with you. It's the background color of the roadbed that causes the darkened center rail to stand out.

I'd love to use Gargraves track but to me, it's not really intended for use in a temporary layout.

What chemical did you blacken it with Erica? If you don’t mind me asking.......Pat

Not to high jack this topic, but remember Lionel's Super O track with the thin copper(?) center rail against brown ties?  Wasn't there another (foreign?) track that had center studs so the "center rail effect" wasn't as noticeable?

I agree that dark center rail tends to draw my eye to it.  I have K-Line shadow rail with black ties and the black center rail tends to recede from view.

The problem with Super-O was if you ran a locomotive a lot, it wore a groove in the rollers.  It never occurred to me that would happen until I asked Harry Henning one day what happened to one I was looking at.  He told me it was run a lot on Super-O, and that's what happens.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The problem with Super-O was if you ran a locomotive a lot, it wore a groove in the rollers.  It never occurred to me that would happen until I asked Harry Henning one day what happened to one I was looking at.  He told me it was run a lot on Super-O, and that's what happens.

I knew that the center rail severely wore down those rollers fro m reading about super O way back when.

rrman posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The problem with Super-O was if you ran a locomotive a lot, it wore a groove in the rollers.  It never occurred to me that would happen until I asked Harry Henning one day what happened to one I was looking at.  He told me it was run a lot on Super-O, and that's what happens.

I knew that the center rail severely wore down those rollers fro m reading about super O way back when.

I’ve seen Super O darn near cut a roller in two.....works like a pizza cutter!...Pat

As others have said, the black center rail would look better if the roadbed were darkened. I think the idea of dark gray/brown outside rails is interesting. The main thing I wish Lionel would do is change their FasTrack mold to make the ties higher, so operators could add their own colored ballast without covering up the ties. That would open lots of options for coloring rails to achieve a more realistic look.