Bulk Train Track

[jimim]

I know this is a very basic question and a google search gives many results, but I wanted advice on quality.  It gets expensive if I want to buy packs of track from Lego.  Is their a company that makes or sells track that is good quality and very close to Lego's quality?  I have found some on Amazon and google but don't know what is good or isn't as good.

 

I am ordering a bunch of stuff from TrixBrix.  The elevation pack. a triple switch so my son can park trains not being used and some crossovers.  They all look really great.  He doesn't sell packs of straight track or the R40 curves.

Spirit World is the one on Amazon I noticed.  I went to BrinkLink but I don't know what is considered a good price or what is expensive.  Spirit world for straight is like 1 dollar per piece in USA money.

Thanks so much for the help as always.

 

jim

Edited November 18, 2017 by jimim

[deraven]

ME Models has good rail packs available, and they make straight rails as well.  If you don't need 9v track, just buying in bulk from Bricklink (or an eBay auction) is probably the most economical way to go.

[Venunder]

Depending on what you mean by "bulk"

342 deals are usually available in the UK.

Add on a few different cashback options and you can usually get tracks at about 50% of the Lego RRP. 

Edited November 18, 2017 by Venunder

[CaL]

And also take a look at 4Dbrix from the USA.
They also have a European shop on Bricklink.

I was quite surprised by the quality TrixBrix achieved and already own two triple switches :)

And as far as I understood Bricktracks.com does produce MOLDED curves in different diameters, which should have an even better look than 3D-printed ones...

[jimim]

thanks everyone.  i'm not seeing straights in a lot of the above companies mentioned.  just switches and diff curve sizes.  so if i go the brick link route what is a good price in USA dollars for a single R40 curve or straight piece?
 

thanks!

jim

[ALCO]

@jimim if you look up the straight or curve on Bricklink you can see the current average price and the average for all the sales in the last 6 months.

[JEB314 (James)]

@jimim I have a plausible suggestion:

Black Friday is incredibly soon, large shops will do discounts or offers.

In the UK in the last month, 2 shops: Tesco and Argos have had 3 for 2 on all Lego, thus 33% off each set if you buy 3 of the same, say 3 track packs, 3 point sets or even 3 of a set like 60051 (which is what I did, one set = £79.99, therefore by buying 3, I got each at £53.33 which is better than half of the Lego Shop RRP!

Look  at ToysRUs, Walmart, Target and others (early in the day) on Black Friday and you could do an absolute clean up on cheap train related (and others theme) Lego Sets.

Its also a good time buy sets that are retiring soon, as you can keep them for say, 2 years, and then sell them for like 1.5 to even 2 times the price in some cases!

Just some thoughts, as I've saved and made 100s of pounds around Black Friday for quite a few years now!

Regards, James

[zephyr1934]

I just googled lego compatible track and found the sprite world track. Never tried it, but the pictures seem fine. You will have a hard time finding lego straight track for $1/segment (cheapest in quantity on BL is $1.67). From lego I think you get 8 straights for $20 (plus more flex track than you ever wanted). I suppose if you don't mind the bumps of flex track, those are $0.19/segment on BL or $0.76 per the equivalent of a straight track segment. You can put down 2x plates to keep them straight. I think folks liked the Enlighten straight tracks as a lego alternative, but I think they are out of production now. The one hitch is that they are brown (stay away from their switches though, not worth the hassle).

I think ME is out of the business, and I suspect 3D printed track will never come down enough for straight to be competitive with Lego prices. So that leaves molded track like sprite being the likely cheapest option. Of course buying lego brand train parts (even second hand) when they make what you need helps send the right message to lego that the trains are a good investment for them

 

 

[jimim]

I ended up buying a bunch of spirit world brand. I’ll let you all know how they r when they come. I also vote for my son a bunch of stuff from TrixBrix. The ultimate crossover pack. The elevation package. And a few other things. We should have a pretty good supply now to get 3 trains mover at once without too much difficulty for him. Hopefully. Lol