Lionel Fastrack male to spade connections

You might be able to buy the male tabs directly from Lionel Customer service if you call and ask for them.

A couple of other options, try crimping the rails around the fixed end of any loose track pins using pliers to improve conductivity.

Solder a jumper wire long enough to bridge to the next track section onto one of the rail tabs.  Add a 0.110 Faston connector to the other end of the wire and connect to the tab of the next track section.

GG14449: If you need to daisy-chain the sections, why not connect three wires together using any technique that will fit under the track. Solder and shrink tubing is one option. Or maybe the WAGO connectors for 3 wires would work. I wouldn't buy special track sections just to have the wires exposed. And adding additional male tabs to go with the FASTON female connectors seems fragile and prone to errors.

@Consolidated Leo  Wago lever nuts are easy to re-use the wire and the connectors.  At first I was unsure whether they would fit under Fastrack roadbed, so I checked.  Their depth fits exactly.  Great suggestion!

I believe that the regular 10-inch straight Fastrack sections have 2 sets of FASTON male connectors underneath so that the female connection wires can daisy-chain without the need for a third wire. I'm just not sure that they are all made that way.

Just a thought, but you might take a look at these from Digikey - Piggyback Connectors.  These are 0.110" which I'm thinking is what is on the Fastrack, if memory is correct here.  If not they're also available in other sizes. 

@rtr12 posted:

Just a thought, but you might take a look at these from Digikey - Piggyback Connectors.  These are 0.110" which I'm thinking is what is on the Fastrack, if memory is correct here.  If not they're also available in other sizes.

Very cool.  Male and Female side by side would allow easy branching.  You are correct, the FasTrack tabs are the 0.110" size.  Another great suggestion!

These are the best I  an find on the secondary market.

Baomain Blue Female Insulated Spade Wire Connector Electrical Crimp Terminal 16-14 AWG 2.8 x 0.5mm FDD 2-110 Pack of 100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M...24YJFM1MMGD0GNDB7SNE

They fit snug and tight.

@GG14449 posted:

Most Fastrack only has the one male connection for the center and on(e) connection for the outer rail. So you can connect two sections at most using those connection points.

If you just drop feeders from both, every 10-12 sections/track joints to a bus, that will put each piece of track just 5-6 connections away from a power connection. I've done some pretty large layouts with just two drops 20-25 pieces apart that work just fine.

Why do you need three jumper wires between the sections instead of just two?

John

@Craftech To do what the OP requested, the three connections would be:

1. In from source or previous split
2. Connection to track
3. Branch to next piece in line

Using 5-way Wago lever nuts would reduce overall number of connections if providing them to every track piece.

@SteveH posted:

@Craftech To do what the OP requested, the three connections would be:

1. In from source or previous split
2. Connection to track
3. Branch to next piece in line

Using 5-way Wago lever nuts would reduce overall number of connections if providing them to every track piece.

OK   Got it.

Thanks,

John

Rob if we had finalized the layout design then dropping feeders would be the easiest choice. However, because we are still playing around with track designs that won’t work. I also am hoping to do this for my temporary around the tree layout next year(this years I spent hours trouble shooting the lose in power around the tree).

Great thread !!!

Thanks everyone !!!

...am hoping to do this for my temporary around the tree layout next year(this years I spent hours trouble shooting the lose in power around the tree).

Am sorry to say, but this thread seems to highlight some serious shortcomings in FasTrack performance, of which I have not yet experienced in the many layouts I have built going back to at least 2008. It appears that maybe the track is not made as well as it used to be.

@ADCX Rob posted:

Am sorry to say, but this thread seems to highlight some serious shortcomings in FasTrack performance, of which I have not yet experienced in the many layouts I have built going back to at least 2008. It appears that maybe the track is not made as well as it used to be.

Rob, that is a fair assessment.  Maybe 10-20% of the Fastrack pieces I've bought in the last year, some older stock, have loose fitting track pins.  If I shake a single piece of unconnected track, often the pins will rattle inside the rails.  Tightening the rail with groove joint (Channel-lock) pliers around the secured end of the pins does improve conductivity.  This is why I also advocate for track feeders hot and common every 6-8 track pieces minimum.

@SteveH posted:

  This is why I also advocate for track feeders hot and common every 6-8 track pieces minimum.

Wouldn't jumpers between each section mitigate the joint problem more effectively?

Like this:  Short jumpers between every ten sections and then longer ones at the junction of the next ten.  Mark the top of the roadbed at the tenth one so you know where to separate it if you have to remove the track.

John

Rob, all my Fastrack was purchased used so I expected there to be some issues but I also paid much less than retail for a large amount of track. As you know this can be an expensive hobby and many like me get entry into O gauge through the used market(I shudder at the thought of my young kids breaking a new $1000 locomotive while playing with the layout so getting $100 locomotives seems like a safer choice). Generally this has saved me a lot of money but also meant I have had to do extra work to get everything to work(so far I’ve only been really burned with a used purchased through Stout Auctions). That also means I’m learning a lot in the process which is nice. This forum and the helpful members have been key to any success I’ve had troubleshooting or repairing items.

I would hope than when purchasing new Fastrack you wouldn’t have these problems out of the box. I think that repeatedly disconnecting and connecting the sections loosens things up over time  and that is how these electrical connection problems get created.

I have found that it's very important to separate Fastrack without pulling it at an angle. I start to separate it with a utility knife, then you can use a table knife in the center to separate it evenly. It's very hard to do this with just your hands. As soon as you put an angle on it, you expand the rails. Over time and many disassemblies the problem just gets worse. You may have the same type of problem with spade connectors. I have had to crimp the female ones after using them a few times.

@Craftech posted:

Wouldn't jumpers between each section mitigate the joint problem more effectively?

Like this:  Short jumpers between every ten sections and then longer ones at the junction of the next ten.  Mark the top of the roadbed at the tenth one so you know where to separate it if you have to remove the track.

John

John, your suggestion could be interpreted two ways.

If you're suggesting that each section of track have its own connection to the tabs underneath, then yes that could provide much better current flow and less voltage drop for each piece.  As a practical matter, not everyone wants to go to these lengths, if fewer connections work for them.

If one plans to daisy chain connections from one piece (or section of ten pieces) to the next, then this is certainly better than nothing, but each successive (series) connection adds resistance which also contributes to voltage drop.

For better current flow, less series resistance, and less voltage drop, its better to either use bus wires or a star wiring scheme.  These 2 latter methods are parallel connections and are less dependent on solid connections at every point along a chain, to the same extent as are series connections.