Why does FasTrack get pitted?

I have fastrack and none if mine has pitted. But I use a track cleaning block not alcohol.

You are gonna have to post a picture. I have never experienced this. 

Could it be normal corrosion?

Or are you rubbing too hard when cleaning?

I have some N gauge Kato Unitrack and Kato does not recommend using rubbing alcohol greater than 90% concentration.  It doesn't say why, but I presume it must do some harm to the track.

Excessive sparking can cause pitting. 

 

I use alcohol to clean my fastrack and haven't noticed any pitting. But a few of my sections do have some corrosion (rust).

To take that one step further, have you cleaned the wheels and rollers on your engine(s) lately?

 

It's kind of a "chicken and egg" thing, dirty wheels or dirty track, which came first? The other day one of my favorite engines was sparking so bad, it finally just stopped. The wheels were very dirty and pitted. I haven't checked for track damage yet, but that wouldn't surprise either.

 

BTW, it's not the type of track, it can happen with any brand or style. I use Gargraves.

I set up at several model train shows a year and have a few different loops of track so lots of trains running for the shows for the kids.

Have several types of track. The only one that I have a problem with is the Fastrack.

 

For some reason even when running much shorter and lighter trains on the Fastrack compared to Atlas, Supersnap by K-Line and original Lionel track;

the Fastrack seems to get much dirtier then any other track and needs cleaning more often. Use a track eraser and dry rag to clean.

Pitting has been an issue as well as the contact points and tabs that keep the track together and much more noisy then any other track on the market.

Only thing I use Fastrack for now is some yard or display tracks no good for anything else.

 

Supersnap old K-Line or new RMA is great track stays together good power conduct, easy to clean and does not have the dirt stick to it.

 

I wonder what the Fastrack is made of that seems different from the other tracks ?? seems to attract dirt.

BradFish,

   Have lots of older FasTrack, no pitting what so ever, might want to post some pictures

of your FT pitting for us to see.

PCRR/Dave

I had some Fastrack for about three months, and I noticed it got dirty faster than my other styles of track. Gargraves or regular tubular track would stay cleaner then Fastrack would for me.

Also noticed that Fastrack needs just as many if not more power hook-ups to the track. So for me there was no advantage to Fastrack, it just drained my budget faster.

 

I have traded off my Fastrack and will never buy it again!

 

Lee Fritz

I've been running Fastrack over ten years now and never had any pitting problems or really any other for that mater.

Like Chris, I have been using FasTrack for some 10 years (dating back to the original stuff with a blackened center rail), and have never experienced a "pitting" problem.  Truth is, I haven't experienced any problems at all with this track, and the supposed noise factor has not been a distraction at all.  Different strokes--and results--for different folks, I suppose.

 

Pitting is usually the result of sparking, which itself results from dirty wheels and pickup rollers, or loose connections.

I've had FasTrack on my layout for 8 years. The only problem was one straight section that had to be replaced due to power loss.

I had Fastrack for six years or more before the Simple Green disaster.  It never pitted or stained.  I cleaned it with 91% iso-alcohol and a Brightboy eraser when that did not do the job.  

 

The comment about the wheels and rollers being a chicken or the egg thing is correct.  If they are dirty, they transfer part of their dirt to the track almost immediately upon the track having been cleaned.  I've tried various methods, but prefer this: a) get a big soft thick cloth and make a "manger" for the loco, b) turn it upside down, c) attach alligator clips from a transformer to a center pickup and one unpowered wheel, d) turn the tranformer up to about 10 volt, e) hold cotton swabs saturated with 91% alcohol, or a Britb oy, agaist the powered wheels til a new one doesn't get dirty again (the first will turn black quickly), f) rotate unpowered wheels by hand and do the same, g) clean the center pickup with a Brightboy.  All this takes longer than cleaning track, but I get a lot of dirt and grime off any loco I have run much. 

I seem to remember someone posting years ago, who said the humidity in Hawaii had caused his Fastrack to all rust very quickly.  

My FasTrack doesn't have any pitting from sparks, and I've had quiet a few big sparks (That's what happens when my 10 month old "catches" the train.).  Now, I will also say that I almost never clean my track either, the center rail is getting darkened on it's own...  But everything still runs fine.

 

But now I have to ask, what are the details of the Simple Green incident?

No pitting with my Fastrack, and I have some since the early release in train sets.   I live in humid Georgia, and the layout is in the garage.   I clean my track once or twice a year.  I use WD-40 and paper towels, and try to leave a bit of the lubricant on as protection from corrosion.  I run trains on average a couple times a week

 

I also have a section  of the layout using Atlas.  I clean it the same way and as often. 

 

I have had some problems with electrical connectivity, very minor.   One switch problem (out of 14) which I replaced.

 

I did have one section that developed rust spots - one of the kids opened a soda near the tracks and it received a minor spray.   I thought that I had it clean, but a couple months later I noticed some small rust spots, that could look like pitting.   Perhaps something similar happened to your track?

I have had several pieces of fastrack with black corrosion and about 18 months ago I had to return a new batch for the same reason, at that time I went to my local hobby shop and some of the track in the store had the same problem, when the employees went to the rear and brought out brand new boxes of track about one of every 6 or 8 pieces in the box had this same problem. (might have been a bad run).

About a year and a half ago we had a thread on this forum about cleaning track - you know how they pop up every so often.  Anyway, in the discussion, someone mentioned Simple Green cleaner.  Others said it was great stuff, too.  I tried some, and it was fantastic: it cleaned dirty Fastrack like nothing you have ever seen - one swipe without scrubbing along the rails with a cloth wtted down with Simple Green brought up all the grime.  BUT -- after about five weeks of doing this weekly, the track began to develop tiny pinprick rust spots - only a few at first, but they got progressively worse: more of them and they grew bigger each week.  Turns out Simple Green is a great cleaner for garage floors, etc. - but it has something in it that will eat away at the plating/metal on Fastrack.  Worse, a tiny bit of the fluid had occasionally worked its way, via capillary action, into the inside of the joints at the end of pieces and corroding them to where they would not conduct electricity.  I stopped using Simple Green but the rust, once established, kept spreading  - my track was ruined.  So, starting last October, I converted all 335 feet to Atlas in a marathon effort to finish it before the holidays (nothing wrong with Fastrack, I just decided as long as I was converting I'd go with the sligthly more realistic look and better conductivity of Atlas). Since then I use nothing but iso alcohol on cleaning pads or Brightboy erasers to clean the track. 

I've had this on a few pieces on a carpet layout in the basement. Seems this track doesn't like humidity or dogs drooling on it either.

Lee,

   Maybe this is why my FasTrack has never had any problems, including pitting.  I clean it with ISO Alcohol and a soft rag and nothing else.  Lee are you talking about the Atlas Industrail Rail as your replacement track, if so it is really nice stuff no doubt about it.

PCRR/Dave

When these threads come up, I'm always surprised how dramatically different people's experiences are.

 

On the whole, I don't find Fastrack difficult to clean--I just let one of my engines drag around a piece of cloth with a weight on it.  No chemicals involved and it does the job fine... unless you need pristine glistening rails, of course, which is more about appearance than function.

 

Where I have seen problems emerge personally is with INDIVIDUAL pieces, which I chalk up to poor QC in manufacturing.  On my existing layout, I have one 10" section and one switch that have developed severe pitting and tarnish issues that can't be cleaned up.  Eventually these sections will be replaced when I find time, of course, but given that they've been treated the same by me since the beginning, I believe it's entirely about manufacturing inconsistency.

The few pieces I have that got rusty were caused by my own sweaty hands. I cleaned off the rust using PBblaster and a scotchbrite pad. Those sections still work flawlessly.

I have had no issues with a lot of fastrack. I use a track cleaning car with rollers when I'm lazy and some QD electronic cleaner or alcohol with a cork block them wiped with clean cloth when I'm  feeling energetic.

This is the fourth or fifth year with fastrack for my Christmas layout, great stuff!

I failed to mention that I clean my FasTrack (normally) with LGB Smoke & Cleaning Fluid. Expensive stuff, but has served me well.  I'm just about out of the stuff, though, so I hope it's still available.

WD-40 and alcohol, so far no problems and my layout is in the garage.

 

Brent