Picked up some realtrax to make an oval for my nephews postwar lionel train I just picked up. I thought it would be great because of the easy assembly and with the built in ballast wouldn’t have any problems with the carpet etc. Well the engine won’t run worth a ***. I guess I should have done some research on here about it, but the yoyo at the train shop I bought it from said it was the best thing since sliced bread. I wish I would have stuck with the good ole 027. Any comments on this stuff? The fastrak from lionel is very similar. Is it better for an application like this?
The Doctor is In !!! I used the RealTrax that came with a MTH starter set I bought a few
years ago and it works great. It came with an IR control for the loco(bantam GS-4) and I am happy with it. It seems to run faster than on my KW & tublar O track. Did you service the postwar items first: lube & oil and cleaning ??? It might be the loco and not the track. Check the equipment first then run it again and see what happens. I am betting the stuff will run fine after cleaning and lubing.
Till My Next Missive, I Remain The Humble Yet Strangly Evil Doctor !!![}:)]
When I was designing my new Bridges for the “ballasted” track I bought several pieces of both Fastrack and Real Traxs. Both of these tracks work, both are more noisy than other types of track… I’m always surprised to see some folks condemn either one or the other…
These are starter set track systems, a quick and dirty way to achieve the finished look of ballasted roadway. They also work on floor layouts and other temporary set ups. If I was to use it my preference would be for Realtrax but only because it is made from heavier materials and I’m more “retro” than most folks. Both these track systems are fine for their intended purposes.
I’ve used, and have, both FastTrack (Lionel) and RealTrax (MTH). My personal recommendation would be the FasTrack line for reasons that have been amply covered in other threads here in the recent past. If you’re having problems with your RealTrax, it’s likely due to bent or misformed connectors at the section ends (caused during assembly, when you pushed the sections together). That is probably the most common problem with the RealTrax design.
All the lionel engines I’ve run on the track since I posted last night run terrible. They all spin the wheels really bad, my postwar alcos won’t even move. It’s not a lack of power, it seems to have something to do with the rail surface. I’ve run 2 old postwar hudson type steamers, an mth 2-8-0(runs like a champ), alco, Dash 8-40C. Do you think it’s possible it’s gotten some type of lubricant on the track? I whiped it a little with paper towls and the track seems to be clean. I love everything about it except the fact that the engines wont run on it.
Well, now, the fact that you’re running some postwar models may help to explain something. For one thing, if your locomotives are equipped with Lionel’s Magne-Traction, they are designed to operate most reliably on conventional tinplate (steel) tubular track, not on nickel-silver track, which, I believe is what RealTrax is made of (I hope I’m right about that). Newer trains–those which do not have the Magne-Traction feature–should operate well on RealTrax.
I have several Magne-Traction-equipped locomotives that won’t even pull their own weight on the nickel-silver Atlas track that I use for certain of my layouts. These same locomotives perform just fine on the Lionel FasTrack that I’m using for my Christmas layout.
Could be that this is your problem.
Also, I would recommend using a clean scrap of cloth to clean your rails, not paper towels. The towels can shred a bit and leave little fragments that could cause problems at some point. A scrap of cloth is much better, and it will hold together better. A discarded T-shirt, cut-up into pieces, will give you a good supply of track-cleaning cloths.
I was thinking the rail composition might have something to do with it, but I didn’t think magnatraction made that big a difference. I also wasn’t cleaning the rails with the paper towel, just whiping a portion of the rail to see if there was any kind of dirt/oil buildup.
I use both FasTrack and Real Trax in my Christmas layout. I’ve had several problems with the Real Trax - even when connected to the underlying board, it sometimes comes apart. Also, I’ve found certain pieces won’t run on it: a Lionel handcart and trolley are what come to mind. Way back when I was running strictly Real Trax for my Christmas layout, and it wouldn’t stay together on the carpet, which is why I graduated to attaching it to a board. The two steam engines I used were heavy enough that the momentum would slowly pull the curves apart. I’ve recently used FasTrack on just carpet for my wife’s Halloween display and have not had that problem. I’d recommend either attaching the Real Trax to a board, or switching to FasTrack.
Realtrax is nickel silver. Some years ago I bought three sections of it, pried off the outside rails, and used them to replace the outside rails of a long section of O27 tubular track. I put this at the end of a siding to have a test track that I can use to compare tractive effort with and without magnetraction.
Magnetraction does make a big difference. My 2360 GG1, for example, pulls 2.14 pounds on steel rail, but only 1.61 on nickel silver. I tested my two 2243 F3s, which have much less weight on the drivers, at .42 on nickel silver but twice that on steel.
I keep hearing about the problem with RealTrax coming apart. MTH makes connectors that fasten to the bottom of the track and holds the sections together. My on the floor Christmas layout was put together using these connectors and I could pick up the entire circle of track and it did not come apart.
Bob, is right magnitraction is worthless unless it is on steel rail. Bob, did you ever do a corrosion check of the two track types?
No, but I would certainly expect nickel silver to do better than steel outdoors, even with the tin plating. Indoors, I don’t think it usually makes much difference.