Fast Track Problems

I do have a question about first generation track? I know that I have been buying Lionel for a while now and the first sets to have Fastrack had the black center rail and while I was York with my portable layout I had heard that there was a problem with the black center rail. And why I ask is that I buy a lot pre-order from Ro and I have bought much Fastrack from the beginning  and not one piece that I bought separate from the sets has the black center rails. And I supplied a public display in October 2004 with about 150' for 2 loops of Fastrack with no center black rails as shown it the photos below. So is this 2nd generation track with no black center rails in 2004 and then is the new Fastrack 3rd or 4th generation track?

I don't know if there was a problem with the black center rail.  I believe it was more of the fact that it stood out like a sore thumb on the grey road bed. The silver blends and much better.  Given that and the fact that I'm sure it's cheaper to not use the black center rail, it was a no-brainer.  

I believe it had to do with the conductivity of the black rail but I never asked about it. I did notice a difference on the small layout I had and was using a mixture of the black and non-black sections. I swapped the black sections and my problems were eliminated.

Train Nut posted:

I don't know if there was a problem with the black center rail.  I believe it was more of the fact that it stood out like a sore thumb on the grey road bed. The silver blends and much better.  Given that and the fact that I'm sure it's cheaper to not use the black center rail, it was a no-brainer.  

Lionel quickly found out that the reflection(of the ties) properties of a silver/plated center rail did a much better job of camouflaging than the black anodized rail.

Gentlemen,

   When FasTrack 1st hit the market some people found the Black Mid Rail coating interfered with the early DCS Signal.  Myself I never have had any kind of problem with it.  Please send any and all 1st generation FasTrack that you want to get rid of my way!

It has always been my belief that Lionel did away with the Black Mid Rail to save money in the production process.  It then cost Lionel less money to make the 2nd Generation FasTrack, hence a bigger profit margin.

Paul,

Not sure just when the 2nd Generation FT hit the market, and I do believe it hit the market in different locations at different times, due to shipment schedules.  The great thing is that the 2nd generation has the same engineering design and fits together perfectly, the quality control was identical to the 1st generation.

PCRR/Dave

What were the date ranges for FasTrack? I bought $300-400 worth 15 years ago. No black center rail so I'm thinking that was 2nd gen. When would 3rd come around, or is there a 3rd gen?

When FasTrack was first released, it had a blackened center rail. I don't recall the actual year/date, but the black center rail was not around for long before being replaced by the silver rail (which most feel is better visually because it blends in with the gray roadbed more effectively). As I recall, because I did have some of the black center rail version, there were command control conductivity problems experienced by some operators, but I simply removed the black off the top of that rail to prevent that. I preferred the silver-rail versions which followed shortly thereafter.

Allan, How did you remove the black from the center rail?

For the benefit of the benighted folks (like Yr. Humble Servant) who have rarely, if ever, clapped eyes on first generation FastTrack:

Mitch 

Huh, and they look perfectly fine to me at least.

Here's a better pic of the black center rail.  

Bradfish1,

   In reality there is no need now to remove the Black from the mid rail, our DCS and Legacy have strong enough signal strength that it does not matter any more, and the power pick up has always been very good.  No need to waist time trying to remove it.  Now if you happen to not like the look of  the Black Mid Rail, that is a completely different matter.

PCRR/Dave