# Requesting help with American Flyer Fastrack



## CLTFlyer (10 mo ago)

I’m currently building a layout for the first time using the original American Flyer track and rolling stock that belonged to my dad when he was young. In addition to the track that created my dad's original oval, I recently purchased some AF Fastrack that provides R27 turns for some locomotives that I recently acquired that require a wider turning radius. My layout is about 12 feet long by 6 feet wide. After examining the track when I received the shipment from the model train supplier, I can’t determine the best way to attach track feeders as there are no metal clips, solder points or connections on the underside of the track (like is present with the Lionel O gauge Fastrack). I’ve also heard that it may be a challenge to solder feeder wires directly to Fastrack rails. My intention is to provide track feeders every 3-4 feet to ensure consistent control of my trains and to operate in TMCC and conventional modes (with a planned upgrade to Legacy Base 3 when it is released). I’m trying to determine how to supply power to the sections of track to ensure consistent power and command control signal? I’m struggling to find anyone who might be able to assist me with this question and there is nothing that I’ve found on an extended search of the internet. Any help that can be provided would be sincerely appreciated.


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## CLTFlyer (10 mo ago)

Here is a photo of the underside of the American Flyer Fastrack...


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Welcome to the MTF!
I have not used the Lionel FasTrack on any layouts. I am sure someone here has used it. There are many active participants here with layouts, the majority being Gilbert track. I have both Gilbert and MTH track.


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## CLTFlyer (10 mo ago)

Thanks, Tom!


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I am curious what engines you have that will not run on the 20"R Gilbert track. Even my Lionel AF Legacy Big Boy will run on Gilbert track although a 24" long engine does look a bit stupid on the 20"R curves. There is 27"R track that looks like Gilbert track that was made by K-Line and then Lionel. Mopac has been on a multi year search for more of it (he wants it really cheap.) The problem is there are no current production wide radius turnouts for Gilbert track. There were some made in the past but they are hard to find in quantity.


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## CLTFlyer (10 mo ago)

The American Flyer Legacy Pacifics (2021 catalog) all show a required minimum R27 curve. I have one of those locomotives on order. I figured since I was in the early stages of building the layout, I would have one loop of track at R20 and a separate loop at R27 to run the locomotive when it arrives as well as handle anything in the future that I might acquire that needs the wider turning radius. I admit that I went back and forth thinking that might have been a catalog error, especially when considering that the Legacy Big Boy handles the R20 curves.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

That 27"R in the catalog for the Legacy Pacifics (I have two on order) is a catalog error. A number of us pointed that out to Lionel and they posted a correction, it should have read 20"R. I have four of the identical engines from 2005/2006 but with TMCC rather than Legacy. They work just fine on Gilbert or FasTrack. Lionel was a bit embarrassed about this error. The only high rail equipment that will not operate on 20"R curves are the full scale 80' passenger cars from AM. They require 27" minimum radius. I have a couple of sets of them. My layout has 30" minimum radius curves and they run great. 
There are a lot of scale engines such as from River Raisin that require large curves, some as much as 40"R.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Welcome to the forum.. I posted a thread a while back on how to make wide radius curves using Gilbert track.. It's here somewhere.


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## CLTFlyer (10 mo ago)

Thank you!!


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## djjeffr (10 mo ago)

CLTFlyer said:


> Thanks, Tom!


Lionel—American Flyer catalog shows part #649854 10” straight terminal track. It lists for $9.99. Dan J.


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## djjeffr (10 mo ago)

CLTFlyer said:


> to Fastrack rails. My intention is to provide track feeders every 3-4 feet to ensure consistent control of my trains and to operate in TMCC and conventional modes (with a planned upgrade to Legacy Base 3 when it is released). I’m trying to determine


Lionel-American Flyer catalog shows part #649854 10” terminal track for $9.99.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

I just recently purchased some new American Flyer Fastrack and am having difficulty getting the sections to connect. I see how they are supposed to be joined, and the metal rail joiners line up properly. The problem seems to be getting the plastic "plugs" to click into the "sockets" of the adjoining track section. The sockets do not seem supple enough to yield to the plug. Is there a particular hack for this? After time some effort, I did get one pair of track sections to join, but I would like to think that I would not have to go through that with each section. Thank you.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

wcrr said:


> I just recently purchased some new American Flyer Fastrack and am having difficulty getting the sections to connect. I see how they are supposed to be joined, and the metal rail joiners line up properly. The problem seems to be getting the plastic "plugs" to click into the "sockets" of the adjoining track section. The sockets do not seem supple enough to yield to the plug. Is there a particular hack for this? After time some effort, I did get one pair of track sections to join, but I would like to think that I would not have to go through that with each section. Thank you.


Sorry, I can't help you, but welcome to the forum.. I'm sure Tom, AmFlyer, will have your answer..He is our resident expert on everything flyer...


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

flyernut said:


> Sorry, I can't help you, but welcome to the forum.. I'm sure Tom, AmFlyer, will have your answer..He is our resident expert on everything flyer...


Thank you. I hope Tom will be able to help me out.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Welcome to the MTF!
I do not use FasTrack but I do have an oval of it in the FlyerChief Docksider set. I got the set out of storage and got out three pieces of track. The pieces aligned easily and snapped right together with minimal effort. They unsnapped easily as well. I am not sure what is causing yours to be so difficult. I know a number of operators that use FasTrack and none have reported any assembly problems.
Below are pictures, my track snap locks look the same as the ones in your pictures.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Thank you. Except for one pair of Flyer Fastrack straight tracks I was somehow able to maneuver together, a sample of the remainder of the straight and curves I just recently purchased (11 straight, 12 curved) from a well-respected online model railroad merchant will not join properly. I have tried out only a sample 10 tracks from the larger batch I purchased, but they all seem to have the same problem. There must be something very basic I am missing here. (I have been a model railroader for decades, having worked with HO, S, O, and G scale trains, both in terms of hand-laying my own ties and rails in HO, laying flex-track in HO and O, and connecting plenty of sectional tracks.) 

Please see the accompanying photos. I carefully lined up the Flyer Fastrack rail joiners and then pushed the sections together. They get to 7/64" apart and stop there (Figure A). All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot seem to make them mate. (I applied a little LaBelle 106 plastic-compatible silicon grease to where the roadbed M-F pieces should join, as the photo shows, in case there was a problem there, but to no avail.) In fact, the hang-up seems to occur just short of where the plastic posts under the rail joiners should move into the sockets of the adjoining piece (Figure B). I first thought that the spring-metal v-shaped device under the rail joiners (Figure C) was causing the problem, but the tracks I have seem to differ in the extent to which that device extends downward, yet the problem persists notwithstanding. So I am at a loss, unless for some reason this batch of track sections has some defect. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The piece of track on the right appears to have some flashing in the hole that is in the way. The other piece looks good and identical to mine. This is an issue with FasTrack I have not seen documented. All the pieces I tried went together with minimal force. 
Maybe someone else reading this has an idea?


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I hear of people having trouble connecting S scale Fastrak. You are not the only one. I have some Fastrak track.
I turn the track upside down and connect 2 or 3 pieces. Easier if you can see those stupid plastic connectors. 
They can and will break if not carefull. Then I connect the multiple pieces together right side up. Not much more help from me. Good luck.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

AmFlyer said:


> The piece of track on the right appears to have some flashing in the hole that is in the way. The other piece looks good and identical to mine. This is an issue with FasTrack I have not seen documented. All the pieces I tried went together with minimal force.
> Maybe someone else reading this has an idea?


Thank you, Tom. After reading your comment I revisited my Flyer Fastrack pieces to make sure I was trying to connect sections without that flashing. I tried, but to no avail.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

mopac said:


> I hear of people having trouble connecting S scale Fastrak. You are not the only one. I have some Fastrak track.
> I turn the track upside down and connect 2 or 3 pieces. Easier if you can see those stupid plastic connectors.
> They can and will break if not carefull. Then I connect the multiple pieces together right side up. Not much more help from me. Good luck.


Thank you for your considered reply. I have tried the upside-down approach, if only to figure out where the problem might be. The plastic posts on the sections I have don't even start to push their way into the sockets on the other section. They stop at the door, so to speak, and go no farther. (My Figure B.)


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I think the problem is those posts. You may be able to help them start with a small flat screwdriver. VERy gently.
Not the greatest design. Maybe after they spread 2 or 3 times it will get easier. Again, good luck. I have only connected mine once and put the track away. LOL. I bought a few pieces used and some of the posts were broken. Not sure what to do after they are broken. I went back to the Gilbert track.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Thanks Mopac, I did not realize you had some problems with FasTrack. Mine were easier to put together than the MTH plastic sectional track. There must be some variation in the flexibility of the plastic between different manufacturing runs of the track.


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## Chuck7612 (Jul 2, 2017)

It must be some manufacturing flaw with those 2 pieces. I have Fastrack on my permanent layout and I use it every year for my temporary under tree Christmas layout. Some pieces are harder to connect than others, but I have not encountered your issue of not being able to get two pieces connected. I would do some trimming/filing of your connection areas.


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## Defender (9 mo ago)

I too had a terrible time putting the Fastrack together. It took nearly and hour to put 20 pieces together. On some I had to use a pliers on the underside once I was absolutley sure the top side was lined up. I bought mine from well known vendors also. But now my Berkshire runs on the track but lost the functions like bell, announcements and whistles except when it wants to. I wigggle the tender and then it works. It appears to me that the rail height is too short and the wheels ride on the roadbed, and not the rails. Am still trying to figure out why I am having a headache with this brand new track.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Thank you, Chuck. Those two pieces were just for illustration.

Except for two straight sections I was able to join with some effort, none of the other 21 sections of track that I received in this order -- and that I have tried so far -- will join with one another. They all have that same sized, 7/64" gap between the sections when my attempts to join them hit a wall.

I think you may be right about where the constraint is, however. I believe it might well be that the top of the roadbed next to the rail joiners is just a bit wider than the slot it is supposed to slide into atop the adjoining track section. I did follow up on MoPac's earlier suggestions and spread the post sockets with a screwdriver gently several times to loosen them up, but unfortunately that did not solve the problem. At any rate, the problem seems to be at the top of the roadbeds at the point of the rail joiners.

I am reluctant to experiment with any alterations because, at the moment, I am, sadly, very likely to return the entire order as being defective while I still am in the returns window. I was indeed hoping to set up the track under the Christmas tree this year for my grandkids (and for myself, for that matter!). To say I am disappointed is to put it mildly.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

What a horrible design of track connection….


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Defender said:


> I too had a terrible time putting the Fastrack together. It took nearly and hour to put 20 pieces together. On some I had to use a pliers on the underside once I was absolutley sure the top side was lined up. I bought mine from well known vendors also. But now my Berkshire runs on the track but lost the functions like bell, announcements and whistles except when it wants to. I wigggle the tender and then it works. It appears to me that the rail height is too short and the wheels ride on the roadbed, and not the rails. Am still trying to figure out why I am having a headache with this brand new track.


Thank you doubly for your comment, Defender. With the same order as the track, I ordered a Flyerchief Berkshire. I have not tried it yet. It was a Christmas present to myself, so I wrapped it and planned to open it Christmas Eve and then run it on the Flyer Fastrack under the tree to the delight (I had hoped) of my grandkids...and my wife and me. It sounds like it would have had the same problem as you describe when running on the Flyer Fastrack. So the track for sure goes back. It is too bad, since I planned to set-up the Flyer Fastrack in an oval of track under the tree in years hence as well. I have a semi-permanent layout with the olde-fashioned American Flyer track, so I will have to run the Berkshire on that.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Old_Hobo said:


> What a horrible design of track connection….


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

My thoughts, exactly.


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## Defender (9 mo ago)

OK, just re tried the Berkshire on the new Fastrack. Now it works ok. I love the Berkshire, love it, love it, love it. I don't know why I had such trouble with the Fastrack. I am keeping it. It runs very quiet. I just hope I have better luck with it as I go along setting up and taking down. I would maybe rethink sending it back.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Defender said:


> OK, just re tried the Berkshire on the new Fastrack. Now it works ok. I love the Berkshire, love it, love it, love it. I don't know why I had such trouble with the Fastrack. I am keeping it. It runs very quiet. I just hope I have better luck with it as I go along setting up and taking down. I would maybe rethink sending it back.


Thanks. I appreciate that. I was going to send the track back because of the chronic problems I have had getting it to behave and fit together. I am glad to hear about the Berkshire--I was planning on keeping it unless it has some operational problems. Thank you for the update!!


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

Defender said:


> OK, just re tried the Berkshire on the new Fastrack. Now it works ok. I love the Berkshire, love it, love it, love it. I don't know why I had such trouble with the Fastrack. I am keeping it. It runs very quiet. I just hope I have better luck with it as I go along setting up and taking down. I would maybe rethink sending it back.


Thank you. I was just about ready to send the track back to the merchant. But I thought I would try the "upside-down-with-pliers" solution you described earlier on a couple of sections before doing so, hoping that would not distort the rails and render the tracks unreturnable. I followed your procedure using a full-sized pliers (not a needle-nosed) and it worked. I then did the same with the rest of the track sections. So, I am keeping the tracks after all, but continue to wonder why joining these Flyer Fastrack sections takes this amount of pressure, patience, and time. Thanks for describing what you had done.

Are there other S gauge sectional tracks with roadbed that are available and that S gaugers use? S Helper (now out of business) and MTH S gauge track are only sporadically available, as far as I can tell.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

There are three track systems in S gauge with ballasted roadbed. The first is the Lionel FasTrack. It has been discussed in this thread, it is widely available, comes in two radii including turnouts. 
The second is the SHS/MTH Showcase line. It was sold to Scale Trains and not currently in production. The SHS/MTH track is available, PortLines seems to have a lot of it for example. It comes in three radii, but turnouts are only 20"R. No crossings were made and many track plans require cutting since, unlike FasTrack, fractional lengths were not made. It looks better than FasTrack. I have a lot of this track and use it frequently to build temporary layouts. I also used the flex version of this track to build my permanent layout. 
The third system is included for completeness. It is made by Custom Trax and includes a full line of numbered turnouts. The ballasted roadbed looks fantastic. Unfortunately it is only available with code 100 rail so nothing made by Lionel or Gilbert will run on it. American Models does work since all their engines and rolling stock are available with scale profile wheels. For info we approached them in 2015 prior to starting construction of my permanent layout about making some with code 138 rail (the MTH and FasTrack rail), they declined. Two problems at that time, finding a source of just the rail in a relatively small quantity (1,500'), and the tooling changes needed.
Then we have a fourth and last, Gilbert track with the rubber roadbed.


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## Defender (9 mo ago)

WCRR, Thanks for your reply, and glad it helped. Mine is finally working, three days in a row, fingers crossed. I am trying to figure out if a 45-degree crossover will allow me to have a recirculating double oval. I was able to do one with my HO and a 30-degree crossover. I will put a drawing up to kind of show what the one with my HO looked like.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The Lionel FasTrack site has your track plan in a 5'x7' space using a 90deg crossing. It can certainly be done with a 45deg crossing in a different shaped space. The only trick is figuring out which fractional sized pieces you will need.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

AmFlyer said:


> There are three track systems in S gauge with ballasted roadbed. The first is the Lionel FasTrack. It has been discussed in this thread, it is widely available, comes in two radii including turnouts.
> The second is the SHS/MTH Showcase line. It was sold to Scale Trains and not currently in production. The SHS/MTH track is available, PortLines seems to have a lot of it for example. It comes in three radii, but turnouts are only 20"R. No crossings were made and many track plans require cutting since, unlike FasTrack, fractional lengths were not made. It looks better than FasTrack. I have a lot of this track and use it frequently to build temporary layouts. I also used the flex version of this track to build my permanent layout.
> The third system is included for completeness. It is made by Custom Trax and includes a full line of numbered turnouts. The ballasted roadbed looks fantastic. Unfortunately it is only available with code 100 rail so nothing made by Lionel or Gilbert will run on it. American Models does work since all their engines and rolling stock are available with scale profile wheels. For info we approached them in 2015 prior to starting construction of my permanent layout about making some with code 138 rail (the MTH and FasTrack rail), they declined. Two problems at that time, finding a source of just the rail in a relatively small quantity (1,500'), and the tooling changes needed.
> Then we have a fourth and last, Gilbert track with the rubber roadbed.


Thank you, Tom. That is very helpful.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Its a difficult decision. The only truly complete system is FasTrack; by that I mean it does not require cutting track to make any layout. For larger layouts it is not cheap. Fox Valley is supposed to be back in production but no availability date has been published. They use the same rail as MTH and Lionel but no roadbed because they only offer flex and #5 turnouts.
With the state of things it is not surprising many operators default back to Gilbert or GarGraves track and turnouts. The Gilbert rubber roadbed works well. I made a lot of layouts with it.
Some operators use AM sectional track and turnouts (no built in roadbed.) It has its own issues and building challenges.


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## wcrr (26 d ago)

AmFlyer said:


> Its a difficult decision. The only truly complete system is FasTrack; by that I mean it does not require cutting track to make any layout. For larger layouts it is not cheap. Fox Valley is supposed to be back in production but no availability date has been published. They use the same rail as MTH and Lionel but no roadbed because they only offer flex and #5 turnouts.
> With the state of things it is not surprising many operators default back to Gilbert or GarGraves track and turnouts. The Gilbert rubber roadbed works well. I made a lot of layouts with it.
> Some operators use AM sectional track and turnouts (no built in roadbed.) It has its own issues and building challenges.


Thank you, Tom. I am impressed by the number of folks in this thread who, like you, are providing considered and valuable responses in this discussion. I use Gilbert rubber roadbed already on a semi-permanent S gauge layout, but had been looking for sectional track with roadbed, such as Flyer Fastrack, for a temporary set-up around the Christmas tree. However, if I expand my semi-permanent S gauge layout into something larger and more permanent, I would prefer doing so with track from some other manufacturer. (I have used O gauge GarGraves track on a different (O) layout, with cork roadbed underneath; of course, it helps connectivity to have longer sections and thus fewer inter-sectional connections.) I am sorry to hear about the state of S gauge track manufacturing, since I'm sure Lionel should have some competition in that realm. But more than that, I have over the years come to appreciate S gauge/scale quite a bit, as well as those who model with it.


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