flex-i-track

[chaploniste]

I have seen very little written about this fascinating product.  I have purchased several "rolls" of it over the years, but I never had the chance to run any trains on them.  It was originally manufactured by the Flex-I-Track company in Chicago, and later by a company called KayWood Corporation in Michigan (Benton Harbor?).  I have no idea when it was introduced or why it is no longer available or who owns the tooling.  It seems that a product like this is more practical than Gargraves flex track for free form curves, since it can be reused or reshaped as the user requires.  Does anyone know anything more about flex-i-track or what became of it??

[ADCX Rob]

Try running some trains on it and you will see quickly how fast the novelty wears off.

[butleryard]

There was also a switch made for this type of track and the switch was reverseable.

You would just flip the switch over for a right or left switch. They also made a metal viaduct for over and under

track plans. It was about 4' long.

As ADCX Rob stated try running some trains on it and you will understand why it is not made any longer!

[Curmudgeon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSSGVnvAvSI

Visualization of it, the noise, the hard to define curves, the e-units dropping out, the whistle picking up on it's own.

The description below the video tells it all.

I've had some come through in boxes of stuff years ago, pitched it.

Good for a showcase in a museum.

[chaploniste]

As a TCA member, I was able to find a number of articles in the TCA Quarterly archives on flex-i-track.  There was no information on the quality of running, as shown in the replies to my original post.  Apparently, though, flex-i-track was popular between 1937 and 1941.   Did Kaywood continue making flex-i-track after World War II or was it only a pre-war product?  To those who responded to my original post thanks for the information.

 

[chaploniste]

Chicago manufacturer was Parfait Products, 1500 North Ogden Avenue, Chicago, Ill, not Flex-i-track.

[chaploniste]

My last word and observation:

I watched the video.  The problem, that the user is having, is intermittent contact between the third rail segments and the stranded copper wire that comprises the actual current conductor running the length of the flex-i-track.  The user can correct this by sliding a comparable length of 18 gauge copper wire or number 3 stranded picture hanging wire into the underside of the third rail, in the space between the ties and the rails, leaving space at the ends for track pins.  Given the age of the track, it is likely that the original copper wire strands are oxidized and no longer make good contact with the running rails.   I just set up a 25 foot length of flex-i-track to see how it worked after making the upgrade to the center and outer rails stated above.   I ran my Lionel no. 60 trolley as a test engine.   The result didn't change operating quality from the way it ran in the you tube video!  Apparently, like marklin's stud contact center rail, the irregular surface created by the segments in the flex-i-track require a long contact shoe to bridge over the segments.  Marx electric trains had this arrangement.   I don't know about prewar lionel, or other makes, but flex-i-track does not work well with closely spaced contact rollers!!  In addition the short wheelbase of the trolley caused the car to bob up and down on the outer rails.  ADCX, BUTLERLYARD, AND CURMUDGEON GOT IT RIGHT--FOR POST WAR TRAINS!  As a further test, I ran a modern era WILLIAMS NW-2 on the same upgraded length of track and the engine ran flawlessly.  Apparently the massive weight of the diecast chassis components, the electronic e-unit and flywheel equipped motors, and widely-spaced contact rollers permitted the engine to run without problems.