Reply to "Why would Lionel Fast track power track smoke and melt some plastic under the roadbed?"

Best solution I found for this type of problem on my layout was to get rid of the connectors and solder the wire to the terminals instead.  I still run my postwar F3 diesels with 2500 series passenger cars and can see currents upwards of 4.5 amps.  In general, most fastrack sections have terminals and I would opt for using a different section to make connection.  Likewise, the original wire may have become annealed due to the heat and would be a big risk if it were re-used.  I use 16 gauge stranded wire for all feeds.  

Regards,  Phranzdan