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I purchased an MTH PRR Operating Handcar (seen here: http://www.mthtrains.com/content/30-2574  and I (and my 2 year old son) love it.  We've only been using it on the loops we've built and occasionally will use our finger as a bumper to reverse the direction.  I'm looking at putting up a point to point section of track for this to bounce back and forth on, like a trolley. It's worth noting that I only have Lionel Fastrack (and a lot of it), but I don't have any bumpers.

 

My question: Is there a Lionel Fastrack bumper that is recommended?  It appears that the FasTrack Lighted Bumper is a bit fragile (from what I've read) and may not be intended to actually be used as a bumper (more for aesthetics, then function).  Seen here:

 

There's also a FasTrack Earthen bumper, but it doesn't look like that will work because the reversing button/switch on the Handcar needs to be pushed past/inside of the 'flush' line of the outside (non-movable) bumpers on the car.  The Earthen bumper is pretty flat across, so it won't push the reversing button far enough before hitting the car bumpers.

 

I'm trying to avoid either fabricating something or buying a different kind of track.

 

The older style spring loaded bumpers (seen here: Diecast Metal Bumper  seem to be when I need, but they are not designed for FastTrack.

 

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

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We have a point to point section on our new Fastrack modular layout and decided to give the lighted bumper a try. Upon examination, it appeared to be fairly sturdy. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are bringing the layout to a show this coming Saturday. I'll let you know if the bumpers survive.  

 

 

IMG-20131103-00090

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Originally Posted by JustLuckey:
The older style spring loaded bumpers (seen here: Diecast Metal Bumper&nbsp seem to be what I need, but they are not designed for FastTrack.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

No, the older (#260) bumpers aren't specifically designed for FasTrack.  But it's easy enough to modify a piece of straight FasTrack to accept them.  I've done this, and it works just fine.

 

The MTH hand car won't work on the earthen bumper. I used one of the rubber feet you put on the bottom of a coaster or whatever so you won't scratch a table surface.  You can find them at any home improvement store in the hardware Dept. The larger size stick out just enough to activate the reverse. They self stick but will loosen up after a few hits so I just glued mine on. The rubber ones give a little more cushion than just hitting a hard surface. 

 

 

Last edited by Chris Lonero

The width of the 4 wood "posts" on the earthen bumper ARE too wide for the flush end of the car.  If you glued a small wood square to the front of the 4 posts, it would work perfectly... speaking from experience.

 

The square need to be about 1/2" x 1/2" and glued so the the flush area at the top of the handcar clears it, as well as the two side flush areas.  A round rubber bumper works well too and "cushions the blow".

 

Also, put a screw in the earthen bumper, or it may bump out of position.

 

Ed

I found that to make the MTH handcar mechanism reliably switch directions, the handcar has to go at a fairly good clip essentially banging into the bumpers.

 

This is probably more effort than you want to put into it, but I installed magnets on the track near each end to electrically reverse the direction.  The handcar now reverses before reaching the end-of-track bumpers.  The reversing "electronics" can be as simple as a DPDT relay which performs the same function as the bump-and-reverse mechanism (a DPDT switch which reverses the polarity of the voltage applied to a DC can motor).

Originally Posted by tr18:

We have a point to point section on our new Fastrack modular layout and decided to give the lighted bumper a try. Upon examination, it appeared to be fairly sturdy. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are bringing the layout to a show this coming Saturday. I'll let you know if the bumpers survive.  

 

 

IMG-20131103-00090

How is your modular layout constructed? Do you have plans that you could share?

Originally Posted by Trainman9:
Originally Posted by tr18:

We have a point to point section on our new Fastrack modular layout and decided to give the lighted bumper a try. Upon examination, it appeared to be fairly sturdy. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are bringing the layout to a show this coming Saturday. I'll let you know if the bumpers survive.  

 

 

 

How is your modular layout constructed? Do you have plans that you could share?

We used the Lionel/LCCA Modular specification.

 

http://lionelllc.files.wordpre...oad-manual-ver-2.pdf

 

 

Originally Posted by tr18:
Originally Posted by Trainman9:
Originally Posted by tr18:

We have a point to point section on our new Fastrack modular layout and decided to give the lighted bumper a try. Upon examination, it appeared to be fairly sturdy. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are bringing the layout to a show this coming Saturday. I'll let you know if the bumpers survive.  

 

 

 

How is your modular layout constructed? Do you have plans that you could share?

We used the Lionel/LCCA Modular specification.

 

http://lionelllc.files.wordpre...oad-manual-ver-2.pdf

 

 

What are the dimensions of each of the modules you constructed? It looks like from the photo you have two or more rectangular sections. Is that correct?

Originally Posted by Trainman9:
Originally Posted by tr18:
Originally Posted by Trainman9:
Originally Posted by tr18:

We have a point to point section on our new Fastrack modular layout and decided to give the lighted bumper a try. Upon examination, it appeared to be fairly sturdy. However, the proof is in the pudding as they say. We are bringing the layout to a show this coming Saturday. I'll let you know if the bumpers survive.  

 

 

 

How is your modular layout constructed? Do you have plans that you could share?

We used the Lionel/LCCA Modular specification.

 

http://lionelllc.files.wordpre...oad-manual-ver-2.pdf

 

 

What are the dimensions of each of the modules you constructed? It looks like from the photo you have two or more rectangular sections. Is that correct?

The layout has six modules in total, four corners which are 30"X30" and two straights which are 45"X30"

Sorry, I've been absent from this topic since I originally posted (stomach virus had my out of commission for a few days).

Anyhow, based on the feedback, I purchased the Lionel FasTrack Earthen Bumper and plan to make a minor modification to get it to depress the reverse switch in far enough.  The Earthen bumper was not only more durable, it was also a good bit cheaper.  Thanks for all that replied!

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