Madreddog Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 There used to be some pretty awful very cheap flexi track being sold by many retailers. I've been looking around but I can't find it. Ideas anyone? I need a lot and Peco has priced themselves out of the market for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 I haven't seen Formoway for years 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Vigor Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 22 minutes ago, Madreddog said: There used to be some pretty awful very cheap flexi track being sold by many retailers. I've been looking around but I can't find it. Ideas anyone? I need a lot and Peco has priced themselves out of the market for me. The cheap and nasty stuff may have simply rusted away? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 e bay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 I bought some a good few years ago from a trader at an exhibition. The web is only cut on one side and the rail doesn't slide through the chairs on the other side. I still have 8 lengths of the 10 I bought. As you said, cheap rubbish. Don't bother looking for it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexAshton Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 It's cheap and nasty for a reason. Don't complain about your £200+ sound fitted loco not performing faultlessly on 'cheap and nasty' track. Quote Quote + 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madreddog Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 Ebay is out because the only stuff on there is priced higher than I can buy it new RRP for. I need this track for a fiddle yard project which could 'swallow' up to 300 lengths if my brain can make it work that is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40034_Nick Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 10 hours ago, RexAshton said: It's cheap and nasty for a reason. Don't complain about your £200+ sound fitted loco not performing faultlessly on 'cheap and nasty' track. I agree... Your track is the foundation for your layout.. if you need to get one with right its the track 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madreddog Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 The track worked perfectly well as long as you didn't try to either bend it or pin it down! I'll be bolting it down to avoid the sleepers shattering. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobisher Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Madreddog said: I need this track for a fiddle yard project which could 'swallow' up to 300 lengths if my brain can make it work that is. That kind of quantity, if you talked to Peco direct I think you should be able to get a deal... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2022 (edited) For a fiddle yard, the track doesn't have to look realistic so you can make your own cheaply. E.g. rails soldered to widely spaced copper clad strips. Edited November 25, 2022 by Harlequin 1 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinofLoxley Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Say that track is £2 per metre. Mixed stock of wagons and locos at new prices is going to be north of £200 per occupied metre. So if you can afford to populate the fiddle yard, the track isnt where the bulk of the cost lies. Of course a lot of that stock has already been bought but the argument still stands. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madreddog Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 22 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said: Say that track is £2 per metre. Mixed stock of wagons and locos at new prices is going to be north of £200 per occupied metre. So if you can afford to populate the fiddle yard, the track isnt where the bulk of the cost lies. Of course a lot of that stock has already been bought but the argument still stands. I'm a bit of a hoarder. There, I admitted it! 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 45 minutes ago, Harlequin said: For a fiddle yard, the track doesn't have to look realistic so you can make your own cheaply. E.g. rails soldered to widely spaced copper clad strips. And with that quantity, you might still be able to follow frobisher's advice and negotiate a deal with suppliers on both the 600 yards of rail and on all that copper clad. Your local model shop isn't going to be sitting with 300 yards of Peco Streamline in stock anyway, so it would need to be ordered specially. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nick C Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2022 1 minute ago, Madreddog said: I'm a bit of a hoarder. There, I admitted it! On this forum, that's not unusual... C&L sell code 75 rail for £120 for 100m, so even going that way, by the time you've added the copperclad you're going to be looking at well over a grand... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinofLoxley Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I got three boxes of code 100 in an auction, not the obvious place, for net half retail price or a bit less even after buyers premium and shipping. Some pieces used but all mint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madreddog Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 Aha! Hoarding does work... found a bit which is marked 'GT Italy.' Ideas anyone? I can only find overpriced scrag ends on ebay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Presumably they have gone out of business. I can only see reference to GT Italy in forum posts from 2012 and 2014. One supplier was suggested in one, but the link doesn't work and another highlighted Model Power as a distributor, but they seem to have ceased trading in 2014. Even the cheap stuff from China isn't that cheap any more. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/HP27HO-Model-Train-Railway-HO-Scale_1600226119010.html?spm=a2700.pc_countrysearch.main07.22.621f3b6aTqb1N5. At that price, you are as well buying from Peco. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madreddog Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 I find it really hard to believe that Peco is the only option. There has to be something cheaper out there surely?????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium cctransuk Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 25, 2022 28 minutes ago, Madreddog said: I find it really hard to believe that Peco is the only option. There has to be something cheaper out there surely?????? Cheap - what's that? Ahh - I vaguely remember now; an extinct concept, often associated with false economy. CJI. 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikcdab Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2022 You need too visit some swapmeets. Last one I went to (last week) there was decent quality peco flexi at £2 A length. You won't get it any cheaper than that. And I echo what others have said. Your track (and baseboards) is the foundation of the layout and going cheap is a massive false economy. You will l forever regret the poor running. Do it properly and it will repay dividends. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobisher Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 A quick sanity check shows that Rails and Hattons seem to have the best online prices, Peco is the cheapest cost per yard, followed by Bachmann Branchlines... The Peco track is definitely slightly more refined than the Hornby/Bachmann stuff so a bit of a no brainer at retail prices. Ebay is not the place to buy Peco from it would seem. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold sjp23480 Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2022 Put a notice in wanted. I suspect a few RMWebbers have got some spare used track stashed away and prepared to do a deal. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 2 hours ago, Madreddog said: I find it really hard to believe that Peco is the only option. There has to be something cheaper out there surely?????? Peco isn't the only option, but the alternatives are generally more expensive. You could have Hornby - 24 lengths for £134.95 - https://uk.Hornby.com/products/flexi-track-bundle-bundleh2 - That works out at £5.62 per length (at RRP) The equivalent from Peco is just £4.96 per length at RRP - https://peco-uk.com/products/flexible-track-wooden-sleeper2 If you have more money to spend, then you could go for C&L - their closest equivalent is £8.50 per length - https://www.clfinescale.co.uk/online-store/OO-FLEXITRACK-CODE-75-BULLHEAD-HI-Ni-NICKLE-SILVER-RAIL-ONE-METER-THICK-TRACK-BASE-Branchline-Mainline-Versions-on-options-p228709959 The reality is that if you're looking for new track, Peco isn't really all that expensive. If it's too expensive, then you either need to scale down your layout plans (so that you need less) or look for second hand track, which you can probably pick up at swap-meet type events. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted November 25, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2022 I spent the summer of 2020 relaying the entire fiddle yards of Ravensclyffe as I’d used cheap flexi for them. They are now Peco. The scrapped cheap stuff is still rusting in the garage! Andi 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now