@Formendacil said:
"Are we sure this isn't the Random Part of the Day?"

Nope, that is the piece from the Trolls 2 movie.

A rather pitiful RSOTD

definitely a "miss" on these.

These proved useful in kid-built layouts: taught them hands-on what worked and what needed work. I personally substituted regular pieces of track (both straight and curved) with these until I had enough pieces in bulk to replace them, and when used in these stock shapes they ballasted well. So there is that.

@ElephantKnight said:
"These seem to have a bad rep in the community.

Considering these aren't black, white, or even neon green, I can totally see why. Dark bluish grey is such a useless colour for Blacktron.

And wow, It seems like just yesterday these were brand new parts."

We need a trans-neon green mono-rail version produced pronto!

@cody6268 said:
"These seem to be the bane of many LEGO train guys' existence. From what I have heard, these are prone to causing derailments.

I know a lot of model train companies make something similar in HO, but I've personally avoided them in that regard too. I can see the point in allowing radii of curves that don't exist with standard track parts (LEGO or other), but certain arrangements, locomotives, and rolling stock are very sensitive to small radii curves. I've never experienced that much, as my 1/87 locos are small shunting locomotives, as that was what was cheap (Marklin Henschel Shunter and DRG Class 089; as well as a Lionel Scout in O27). "

Scale model train flex track is nothing like Lego flex track, and TBH flex track is my preferred track of choice in modeling projects. They usually come in lengths a yard or a meter long, so using them reduces the amount of rail joiners needed creating a smoother ride and easier electrical connections as long as you avoid kinking the track. I have used Atlas, MicroEngineering and PECO brands for flex track and all work, with some strengths and cons to each.

Lego flex track is nothing like model train flex track. Lego flex track is the spawn of the devil!

Didn't think these would be particularly effective train tracks. Nice to see the comments back me up on that. Smug mode engaged! XD

These are absolutely GREAT for laying out tram tracks through a city.

I remember back in 2009 I went to the Lego store and bought this for my train to add on to it, good memories :)

Strange there were no new train sets released from 2007 to 2009, so you would have to already have sets from 2006 in order to be able to do anything with these? Primary use is to expand the diameter of an oval track to allow multiple ovals inside ovals, and at points which don't quite join, meaning you would only really need a dozen of them at most. This means 60205 makes a lot more sense as getting more straight track is a higher priority.

@LegoDavid said:
"Any LEGO Train fans can tell us how useful they found those pieces if they own any? I kind of fail to see what you would do with 64 of those "flexible" tracks, which I don't think can even probably attach to regular System plates."

Just using a few may be useful. They should have included straight rails and just a few of the flexible parts. 64 seems rather pointless. For 9V they may be interesting to interrupt the track, to let the train automatically change to another section with a different speed. It's probably been done before, but now that we're discussing this part, I should put it into practice.

At first sight I thought this was a destroyed star destroyer or something and started to laugh.

These things…

Well I never saw PennLUG use them, and those guys have a pretty demanding track setup.

@jkb said:
"Ah, yes, a set from back then, when everything was better. Thy just don't design sets like this anymore! I mean, look at it: No weird colours, so it IS possible to avoid them! Today, they would've dumbed it down, so the dumbest kid can claim success and CS/PR don't have to deal with angry parents od dumb kids.
Yeah, back then, LEGO wasn't for everyone and as a result, we got beautiful, sophisticted pieces of art!"

I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.

@Wrecknbuild:
The reason they include 64 is that it takes four of these to equal a regular curve, and it takes 16 regular curves to form a complete circle. They’ve basically stopped selling curved track, so you get a pile of these instead. For established Train hobbyists, it’s just a nuisance...but so are regular curves after you’ve hit triple digits. There’s a reason why old dark grey curves still cost about what they did before the 2004 color change.

For someone new to the hobby, toss these in a box and buy loose curves off Bricklink. You’ll be much better off. They look better, you can ballast them, and they won’t derail your trains so easily.

@peterlmorriss
I would expect PennLUG probably uses 9v track even when operating PF or PU trains, as many long-established LUGs with large track collections tend to do. You can run a battery train on 9v, but running a 9v on plastic track becomes very challenging. My TMNT Shellraiser just sits on a single 9v motor, with internal bracing due to the brick-built graffiti using a lot of 1x1 and 1x2 plates. I’m not sure I could even rebuild it to fit a standard battery box, and if I did it probably wouldn’t have room for a PF IR receiver. Unless I mounted it sideways so you could LOS it through the rear window...

I want an alternate model for the parts in this set. Anyone?

@cody6268 said:
"These seem to be the bane of many LEGO train guys' existence. From what I have heard, these are prone to causing derailments. "

Appreciate your comment. I was wondering on how well they work and this tells me a lot. Will avoid buying :)

@Formendacil said:
"Are we sure this isn't the Random Part of the Day?"
It seems Huwbot kinda lost track of things.

When I was getting back into lego I almost bought these. But then I never did and never set up a train layout. I missed out on the fun times. Including derailment. Sounds like it would be fun to witness.

@AllenSmith:
When you assemble drain pipes, there’s one end that’s flared to fit over the other end of the next pipe. The flared end is the “upstream” end, with the straight end being the “downstream” end. Since drain pipes don’t operate under pressure, the PVC ones usually have just a friction fit, and you add some solvent glue to keep them from separating, and just in case of clogs. Assembling them like this means that water that reaches the end of one section of pipe needs to flow back uphill to escape the flanged section. Assemble them backwards with the flange at the low end, and now water that comes down the pipe can work into the seal between the two sections of pipe until it eventually creates a leak.

LEGO train track has a similar problem. I’m not a trainhead, so I never really thought about it myself, but one of the other guys in my LUG pointed out that each rail forms a handshake joint with the next section of rail. As the wheels ride along it, on one side they roll off the inside tip onto the flare of the outside tip. On the other rail, they roll off the flare directly into the blunt end of the inside tip. On a straight section, the wheels kinda center the train, so you’re riding more on the top surface than against the inside surface, and it doesn’t matter much (plus, the track geometry means you’re always riding from tip to flare on the left, and flare to tip on the right, regardless of which direction you go). Where you get problems is the curves. Running around a curve, a motorized engine (or anything being pushed by the motor) will lean into the outer rail (it’s trying to drive straight), while anything it’s towing will drag along the inside rail (it’s being pulled to one side). If you have a finicky train and you run it clockwise, it will always transition from tip to flange on the corners. Run it counterclockwise, and it will always be going from flange to tip, and the sudden bump is like riding over a pothole. Going the other direction is also like hitting potholes, but where the back edge has been beveled so you have a much smoother ride coming back out of it (trust me, it makes a _huge_ difference when driving at freeway speeds).

So we tested it. For short and basic designs, like the My Own Train engine, it doesn’t seem to make much difference. For long, complicated steam engines with articulated bogeys, stick to CW travel. Traditionally, we’d always run a double loop with one going CW and the other CCW, but now we only do that if there’s something fairly simple, and anything finicky we try to only run CW.