Lionel Illuminated Christmas Fastrack

[Neil]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZcJ2kZ ... e=youtu.be


Train is utterly basic, but track is toy train wonderful .

[gregj410]

Says the video is private

[Neil]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZcJ2kZ ... e=youtu.be

Problem is I accidentally must have put tomorrow as the day it becomes public. My apologies. Should work Tuesday .

[Neil]

Hopefully fixed now. YouTube newbie with no clue .

[gregj410]

Standard or O? Exceptionally Christmasy if there is such a word. I’ve been conversing with a friend over the draw of Tinplate this time of year, at least for us. That track works right into the plot. Nice wood floors to BTW. Do I see a walnut border?

[Neil]

O. Not sure if the border is walnut or just stained pine. Thanks.

[healey36]

Tinplate rocks all year round, but especially at Christmas. That track is cool, but I still like tubular the best.

[Neil]

Agree tubular is good karma . Just not so good for wooden floors and doesn't flash Christmas lights, so both tracks will have their place no doubt.

Indeed, for those of us who do floor layouts, tubular isn't ideal for carpeting either. So I've come to appreciate Fastrack and even MTH's standard gauge Realtrax.

Even though none of us are likely old enough to remember tinplate as the only available product, it has a special place in our hearts.

[healey36]

Agreed, tubular not so good on the polished woodblock. Years ago I used to cut felt "roadbed" for under the track when running over the wood floor, but over time it would creep out and you had metal on wood. Then I bought a 48" round oriental-style carpet for under the tree...no fuss, no muss; I run 42" diameter tubular with Lionel track clips holding all of the sections together. Unless you run the train like you're crazed, the loop pretty much stays in place. When I run 42" diameter standard-gauge, I use small zip-ties to hold the sections together.

My experience with modern-era track is that its sectional connectivity wears out over time, and the MTH stuff is bloody hell assembling.

[ScaleCraft]

Somebody used to make black rubber insulators that had edges on them...fit under the ties, big enough to bridge two at track joins. I may still have some in a box. Worked very well on hard floors.

[robert.]

I glued nonskid carpet padding to tubular ties. It worked like a charm.

[Neil]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. Particularly like the idea of carpet padding. Should be relatively inexpensive.