On The Workbench - Episode 4 - Fastrack Connectivity & Pin Replacement

[@ericslivka3125]

Great video. Thanks for sharing the information. I have several broken pins.

[@snrskegg1362]

Thank you for sharing the video! It is kind of funny for me that I was sitting here looking at the track and thinking to myself “do these rails lift if I straighten the tabs?” Even so, I probably would not have thought of that. My track actually came without the pin! The pin from Lionel was $0.95, but the shipping was $10!!! Once again, thank you for sharing 😊

[@jameslanders4819]

Sean, thanks for telling me about hollow rail causing noise. You saved me lots of time that I didn't try to pad the underside. I use carpet underlayment also.

[@seanstraindepot]

Yeah, there is only so much you can do with any hollow rail track system. I don't mind it myself.

[@rudykizuty]

Great tips. Thanks, Sean. Can you also cover electrical drops and bus wire using FastTrack?

[@jimaspinii7579]

GREAT video. Thanks for your time and experience.

[@tonyarsenault4256]

Excellent video and tips on removing broken pins. I purchased whole batch of 060 curves with bad pins. I believe the brittle pins where early batches and runs of Fastrack. Lionel recast the pins in higher quality steel when they realized an Issue with the early pins.

[@robertcook347]

Hi Sean , great video very informative on FasTrack. Love the videos and all you do for the Model Railroading. Thanks again. 7603

[@Chessie1985]

Great Tips on lionel fastrack Sean!!!

[@Lawrence-n1z]

This is the video I was looking for to remove pins for my liftgate connection. Instead of an exacto knife to remove pieces of track so that the tracks connect when lowering liftgate I used a soldering iron which just melted away those small plastic pieces, worked greet. Thanks

[@seanstraindepot]

Great tip

[@calopez2350]

Thank you Sean, was very helpful and interesting video. Great class. Cesar

[@henryszubielski8601]

Very helpful video! Thankscfor sharing.

[@gstephengoss1]

Sean did you get my message about replacement pins for fastrack. Ryan of Lionel gives the part # for both on his Workbench (back on track) session in December.

[@im2yys4u81]

I'm 10 months late, but thanks for the reference to Ryan of Lionel. Here's a link to the video you referred to. It's packed with useful information on Fastrack. kzbin.info/www/bejne/robMnKtmoKyrnbM&ab_channel=LionelTrains

[@allanmartinez1190]

Hi Sean, Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I'm laying down my tracks so I can get the best connection, should I go ahead and hard wire every piece of Fastrack per block or one piece of Fastrack per block? For example if I have a block with 60+ pieces of track should I go ahead and hardwire the 1st piece until I start the next block? Thank you for your time Sincerely Allan

[@joesoehren4800]

Do you have the track,screw holes pins break off. Does that effect the use of the track joe

[@lonniep219]

From what I understand it's a problem called zinc pest. It causes the pins to go bad. It was only in certain batches that were made early on. I noticed it this year on some track that i was going to use on a Christmas layout. Very annoying!

[@seanstraindepot]

Those are just the composition they were made of that made them more brittle if you try and bend them. With Zinc pest they would actually fall apart.

[@saberistheway]

There's a lot of misinformation and people coming up with their own reasons to why it doesn't work and what to do, so thank you.

[@rajappanagarajan2714]

Where it is available sir?

[@anthonyshepard9606]

: OUTSTANDING info COMMENTARY. All aboard. May the steel rail be with US. 🐢 🚂 🐢 🚂 🐢 🚂

[@smiller6217]

Very informative video , I just have one question. What sound deaden material do you recommend to use between track and table?

[@seanstraindepot]

Doesn't really matter as long as it makes a break between the hard plastic roadbed and hard platform. I used flooring sound deadening underlayment (it was kind of like thick felt type material).

[@tonyarsenault4256]

Definitely use the .110 female spade connectors to connect to tabs below. Avoid any soldering with the Plastic roadbed.

[@im2yys4u81]

Old video, but I'm wondering if shoving pipe cleaners inside the hollow rails would deaden the sound.

[@seanstraindepot]

You'd have to take every track apart. Taking one or two apart to fix track pins is one thing, but every track to put in pipe cleaners would be impossible. Plus, who knows what that metal in them would do to the Legacy/TMCC signals. It's the combination of the plastic roadbed and tin rails that make the noise. Just the way it is.

[@im2yys4u81]

@@seanstraindepot I thought about the metal in the pipe cleaners. My layout isn't assembled yet, so I'm going to try sliding in some weed eater cord. Lightweight, but it will fill the void. I'm also going to use a dab of dielectric compound on all my pins before I snap the track together.

[@ragzelou]

Hi my friend. I just bought a Lionel Oscale for christmas tree; my train slow down on curves. Can I try this conection tips to get a better and constant motion on my engine? Tranks a lot. Is there another issue that explains the speed down?

[@seanstraindepot]

What engine is it, can you give an item number? What size curves you using?

[@ragzelou]

@@seanstraindepot , christmas light express; 2023080. Berkshire, I guess. I was reading, people says it is normal, because friction and physics

[@seanstraindepot]

@@ragzelou Ok yeah this is a regular LionChief set which means it does not have speed control. So, they can slow down and speed up if there is any friction. It's also a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement. So, running on the standard 036 track it comes with is normal as the main drive wheels trying to go around that tight curve puts friction on it. You could get wider radius curves and that would probably alleviate it.

[@robertcook347]

Hi Sean, great video and thanks for all the information on FasTrack. Merry Christmas to you and your family. - 7603

[@seanstraindepot]

And the same to you and your family!

[@johnmagnusson7545]

Is it OK to use fast track on carpet?

[@seanstraindepot]

Yes, that is one of the reasons for the plastic roadbed.

[@paulwalkowiak1182]

I run with atlas and do a tinting process to solder my connections along with the atlas clips

[@cliffordmeberg1443]

The metal that broke is probably cast iron

[@davidkoehler136]

solid rail track is better

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

Frankly I don't see any reason to use FasTrak. The Extrusion that they use for rail is totally unrealistic. It is expensive as crap and noisy as hell. Steel rail eventually Rush away and will leave you nothing but a Road bed after time. Nickel silver or Brass Rail does not rust. At the Lionel Club in New York we had switches that would wear out after fifty years of service. Why can't she fast-track lasting 50 years. It is included in the basic train sets but is way too expensive for beginners to be able to build a layout with it. Lionel could have done so much better but they just gave it a half-assed effort and all their fanboys open their wallets and buy anything they make. Can you see some kid asking his father to go to the hobby shop because he needs $400 for some track. Every Train Shop I know that's still around has tons of tubular track that most will just give you for free. After all the bigger is a layout you have some more trains you need.