using fast track with a '70s set

VC,

Is the only reason you want to switch to the newer FastTrack system is to prevent the existing tracks from easily pulling apart on the carpet layout? If so, you should try and use a long nose pliers on your existing track. Just pince it closed slightly underneath the “round” section of the track. Then push the tracks together again.

Otherwise I believe there are FastTrack equivalents of your tubular track including the uncoupling track.

Carl J

You might consider buying track clips for the tubular track. We have loops set up on carpet in the living room for a few months at Christmas time and track clips do a great job of keeping thing together. There are different sizes for O and 027. Make sure you get the correct clips.

That being said, we added more loops this year and used Fastrack for the first time and it has worked well. We still get some separation of sections and they don't all snap together tightly. I learned from the forum that Office Depot mini binder clips, item 400-866 can be used like track clips to keep the challenging sections together.

Obviously nothing is perfect on carpet. Or even on the hard wood floor in the family room where we had more loops. I don't have permission yet to screw tracks down in either area.

Have fun

@vc posted:

Hi, I have an Allegheny set from around 1972 and I'd like to switch over (no pun intended to fast track. Is this straightforward? Yes Specifically:

- it came with a 4150 transformer; can this be hooked up to fast track? Yes, there are spade terminal connections under most FasTrack sections.

- it has a separate horn button, can this be hooked up? Yes

- also came with a section of track with an electromagnet in the middle for decoupling cars. I assume I can't use this with fast track (there is FasTrack transition track that mates with tubular on one end 6-12040) but do they make a fast track segment with this? Do the cars still have the same decoupling mechanism they had in the '70s? There are two options for FasTrack uncoupling, see below.  They will both uncouple cars designed for magnetic uncoupling.  The uncoupling electromagnet works similarly among most (if not all) types of O-gauge uncoupling track.

The locomotive and cars are in great shape, it's just that the only place we have to set up the track is on carpet, and it doesn't stay very well connected. FasTrack may or may not work better on Carpet in the long run, especially if repeatedly set-up and put away.  It depends on X, Y and Z (see below).

@CarlJ Good suggestion on the tubular track.  Also others have mentioned using zip ties to hold tubular track together on carpet.

VC, please see my comments above in the quote box for FasTrack.

Transition Track Piece:

http://www.lionel.com/products...ition-piece-6-12040/

Uncoupler:

http://www.lionel.com/products...pling-track-6-12020/

Operating Track:

http://www.lionel.com/products...ating-track-6-12054/

X = the manufacturing quality control of the FasTrack you receive

Y = How careful you are when assembling and disassembling the track so as not to bend the connecting pins or the rail ends where they fit.  I takes a bit of strength and control to do this.

Z = If it gets stepped on.

wow! thanks so much everyone for all the quick responses and great advice. Lots to think about here. I might give the oldschool track another chance since I already have a fair amount of it.

Thanks again!

Per several past comments, most carpet operators think Fastrack will help prevent dust and carpet fiber stuff from getting into locos, etc.

One other word of advice:  DO NOT APPLY POWER UNTIL YOU OPEN THE TENDER AND REPLACE THE FOAM UNDER THE SOUND BOARD!  This has nothing to do with the track, but that the foam under the board has disintegrated to the point that the solder connections will short on the tender frame and blow the system.

We run 70's/80's trains on FasTrack under our tree every Christmas.

Jon

VC,

I have the same set!  Did yours come with the Wheaties box car?  Mine did.  I believe my set is the '71 version.  Great set.  I am sort of in the same situation as you. A little different. The tubular track I have is beat up pretty badly and beyond restoration so I'm going with the FastTrack.  I brought my engine to a local shop and couldn't believe it ran after 40+ years of sitting in storage.

@SteveH I noticed there were terminal terminal connections under the fasttrack as well.  I thought the the separate terminal track is the correct one for using a transformer no? #612016 

I haven't purchased any track yet as I'm still trying to plan out how much track to buy.  There's some old school accessories I have like a train station and a whistle button/tower I'm trying to figure out how to connect prior to setting up. 

Z

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

@SteveH I noticed there were terminal terminal connections under the fasttrack as well.  I thought the the separate terminal track is the correct one for using a transformer no? #612016

Z, the Lionel #612016 is fine.  I includes the wire with end terminals ready to connect to a screw post transformer.  If you want to connect to the spade terminals under regular FasTrack, you just make your own connections.  Both ways are fine.

One benefit with the Fastrack is the roadbed will catch oil and grease drippings instead of getting into the carpet.

Just as a side comment that has nothing to do with how the track is hooked up or uncoupling features, my friend brings over his engines from the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's, and they all run great on my Fastrack.  Bottom line, it's amazing how great each and every one of these old engines run after all these years.  And, he must have a couple of hundred of them.  Hope our new versions last that long!

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

VC,

I have the same set!  Did yours come with the Wheaties box car?  Mine did.  I believe my set is the '71 version.  Great set.  I am sort of in the same situation as you. A little different. The tubular track I have is beat up pretty badly and beyond restoration so I'm going with the FastTrack.  I brought my engine to a local shop and couldn't believe it ran after 40+ years of sitting in storage.

@SteveH I noticed there were terminal terminal connections under the fasttrack as well.  I thought the the separate terminal track is the correct one for using a transformer no? #612016

I haven't purchased any track yet as I'm still trying to plan out how much track to buy.  There's some old school accessories I have like a train station and a whistle button/tower I'm trying to figure out how to connect prior to setting up.

Z

Cool! I actually got mine for Christmas when I was a kid, but I don't have a wheaties car, so it might have been a year or two later than yours. My cars are a shell oil tanker, white Motorcraft boxcar, a green open car that held yellow cylinders which i believe were for shipping milk, a blue open one that i think was for gravel, and a red log carrier (for which I've lost the logs and stakes that came with it). And of course a yellow caboose. I took mine to a local service guy before trying it and he made a few small repairs to the locomotive and coal tender (probably did the foam replacement that @KOOLjock1 mentioned since i haven't had any problems with it), and it's been running well ever since. The 50 year old incandescent headlight even still works, which I find mind boggling. The horn and choo-choo sound work too. They really built these things to last.

@vc posted:

...but I don't have a wheaties car..., My cars are a shell oil tanker, white Motorcraft boxcar, a green open car that held yellow cylinders which i believe were for shipping milk, a blue open one that i think was for gravel, and a red log carrier (for which I've lost the logs and stakes that came with it). And of course a yellow caboose.

That is the 1971 6-1199 Allegheny set.

@vc posted:

a green open car that held yellow cylinders which i believe were for shipping milk,

Those are cement canisters.

@SteveH Thanks for the info on the transformer connection! I have a 1044 I'm planning on using. Not sure about when I pick up a new engine as I've read that the older transformers don't have adequate circuit protection.  I've been told yes and no.

@ADCX Rob  ah. 1971.  And still working! Thanks for confirming the date of my set.

VC,

I didn't know about the foam replacement that was mentioned.  The local shop didn't say anything about it. They just oiled it up a bit and let it run.  So yours has the built in horn?  Mine doesn't have that. I had the separate horn tower/button.  Like you I was amazed everything worked.  Had it smoking also. I don't even think I ran it as a kid much with the smoke as we didn't replace it when it ran out.  Really looking forward to getting this running again along with my Spirit of '76 Engine.

Z

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

I've read that the older transformers don't have adequate circuit protection.  I've been told yes and no.

Any transformer, 110 years old or new, will work for your train. New transformers don't have any protection for the trains that the old ones don't have, circuit breakers are to protect the transformers... whether they have a 2 amp output or a 10 amp output.

Ah, the good old days, back when you could weld the wheels to the rails or burn your fingers.

@vc  been a while.  How did things go with your setup?

@ADCX Rob I stand corrected on the model transformer I have. It's a 4090. 

Z

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

@ADCX Rob I stand corrected on the model transformer I have. It's a 4090.

If you use the 4090, the whistle will work with the whistle lever on the transformer if you have the "U" to the center rail(Lockon Clip 1) and the "A" or "B" on the outside rail(Lockon clip 2) though the operation may be a little erratic. Using the horn button that came with the set, if it is still in working condition, will give a little better whistle operation, but its components are rather delicate and not many have survived. It must be hooked up exactly as described in the instructions.

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

@vc  been a while.  How did things go with your setup?

@ADCX Rob I stand corrected on the model transformer I have. It's a 4090.

Z

it worked out well, thanks for asking. i didn't switch to fast track, but did do the crimping trick to make the looser tracks stay together better. My 9 year old son goes through intermittent bouts of interest in setting the set up, then not touching it for months as it obstructs the family room floor, then finally yielding to my wife's pleas to put pack it up...until the cycle starts over again.

Since i posted we have gone through the entire cycle of extreme interest through packing up, and now that soccer season is winding down and Christmas approaching, I expect the extreme interest phase to ramp up here in the next month or so.

That's great @vc!   Now with the holidays upon us he may very well become interested again.  When I was a kid I had a blast with the setup every Christmas.  Then I had the bright idea of asking my dad if we can set it up permanently.  We did and then I lost interest.  Think that was right around the time of the original Atari VCS and the video game craze.  Next thing I know everything was packed in storage to be found 40 yrs later.

I like the fastrack.  Easy to take apart and put back together at a moments notice.  I did a small setup to get the trains going again and it worked well.  It needs to grow though.

@ADCX Rob  I'm using fastrack now.  My engine doesn't have the built in whistle.  I did have the whistle shed with a separate button but I don't know what happened to it.  It didn't get recovered when I salvaged everything.

@Zildjianmeister68 posted:

@ADCX Rob  ...My engine doesn't have the built in whistle.

@vc posted:

Here's the set i have:

Thanks!

Are you sure? This set has S-O-S & whistle.

Pretty sure. This is the set I have.  It came with the Wheaties boxcar.

OK, that's a different set.

Just adding to your knowledge

@vc posted:

Cool! I actually got mine for Christmas when I was a kid, but I don't have a Wheaties car, so it might have been a year or two later than yours. My cars are a shell oil tanker, white Motorcraft boxcar, a green open car that held yellow cylinders which i believe were for shipping milk...

the "green open car" is known as a gondola car. Also, the yellow cylinders represent canisters used to carry dry cement. I myself didn't learn that one till a few years ago, and I also have (still do) a set from the mid-1970's

...a blue open one that i think was for gravel...

That one is called a hopper car. Mostly used for coal during the era this set represents, but also carried similar commodities (like gravel or similar crushed rock) that didn't need protection from the elements.

, and a red log carrier (for which I've lost the logs and stakes that came with it). And of course a yellow caboose. I took mine to a local service guy before trying it and he made a few small repairs to the locomotive and coal tender (probably did the foam replacement that @KOOLjock1 mentioned since i haven't had any problems with it), and it's been running well ever since. The 50 year old incandescent headlight even still works, which I find mind boggling. The horn and choo-choo sound work too. They really built these things to last.

---PCJ