ATTENTION!!! If you would like a longer continuous piece please simply purchase however many 2" sections you want and then tell me in the "Note to seller" during checkout, not to cut it into 2" Segments (or whatever special instructions you want me to do).
Description: This is a bit of a long story but basically I got tired of using regular silicone fuel line that everyone buys to use on my HO Scale Trains (including several brass trains) as it always seems to vibrate much more on my trains than my original walthers black rubber replacement Flexible drive shaft (they stopped producing it years ago but I had a bunch of it that I was able to keep using it for years since I personally had a huge stockpile of it)! So finally I actually found a well known Plastics and Rubber Manufacturer here in the USA that I contacted to see if they could make me different density tube / hose so that I could recreate the perfect drive shaft that I used for years when manufacturers still made the flexible black rubber drive shaft we all remember! SO, Long story short, I spent months and months working with this manufacturer and after testing dozens of materials and even more varieties of those same materials settled on 3 different types of flexible drive shaft materials with 3 different density's (or technically its called "Durometer Shore Hardness). Anyhow, It was tough finding these 3 materials (and hardness levels) because in general the 'Softer' the material the better it grips the motor shaft (although this was not true, for the best material I found....see #3 below) but, the more vibration it gives the locomotives motor shaft since it flexes out of shape the faster the motor spins! Whereas in general the 'stiffer' the material the less it gripped the shaft but the better it performed in several other was such as less vibration which actually gives the train more smooth clean momentum through less vibratory centrifugal force (which actually gives the train more actual power) with a much smoother and even quieter sound. So because of these two desirable characteristics I was searching for, I had to not only find the right material but then also adjust the wall thickness to actually draw out the most desirable feature of each type of material. Anyhow after months of research and testing, these are the three different flexible driveshafts I am going to start offering from here on out! These 3 are listed at the link below in my "Other" Store category! These are the 3 different types I now offer starting from cheapest (but worst performing, although still performing better than the usual clear silicone fuel line that we have all been forced to use for years now) to the most expensive but best performing: #1- Black 100% High Temperature Silicone tubing which is the softest of the three which again causes excessive vibration has great overall grip strength (although not nearly as good as #3) but had the highest vibration and power loss through said vibration, so to counteract this effect I actually had to have the manufacturer thicken the actual side walls of the Silicone to stiffen up the hose to bring down the vibration, and (see photos of each listing for OD's & ID'S of the 3 different tubing's). This particular silicone tubing has a durometer Shore Hardness of 60A. 2- Black Norprene Material Tubing (which is the second best I found) is a highly refined Rubber / Petroleum Hybrid that was designed to be able to withstand more repeated bends than any natural rubber or Silicone substance on earth, and is totally impervious to any chemicals as well as high heat and or high pressure and this one has a medium wall thickness with a durometer Shore Hardness of 61A. 3- Black Santoprene Material tubing which again is the best substance that I found (it is actually substantially better than even the old tubing that was manufactured specifically for model trains, which I was able to compare it directly with the last piece of old tubing I had)! This is actually a very sophisticated thermoplastic elastomer, which is a mix of EPDM rubber and polypropylene. It is resistant to a wide range of solvents and chemicals, making it ideal for very high performance applications as it has the highest abrasion resistance as its literally "Tougher" by a huge amount, than the other two, it is even fairly difficult to cut as an extremely sharp knife has to be used! Also, it is totally chemical resistance and the highest heat resistance of any other currently known tubing substance! Of the dozens of products I tested it by far had the highest grip strength (as measured by twist strength before slippage) of any of them and runs much more quietly and smoothly even though it is thinner walled than any of them since it has a Durometer Shore hardness or 64A, with the only real downside being that it is more expensive than any I tested (which always seems to be the way it goes, the best always ends up being the most expensive). Again all 3 of these are listed at link below, and I sell them in single 2" sections!If you would like a longer continuous piece please simply purchase however many 2" sections you want and then tell me in the "Note to seller" during checkout, not to cut it into 2" Segments (or whatever special instructions you want me to do).
Condition: This is brand new right from the factory where I had it made, and I am simply cutting it off in two inch segments from a large roll of the material! Lastly, please note, that this material is a good bit more expensive to have made then just simply using the clear silicone fuel line most hobby stores sell (that we have all used for our trains driveshafts in the past) as fuel line is not designed to be used for driveshaft but is rather designed to be mass produced to be used as low pressure hobby fuel line. so please beware that this is for those type of people (like myself) that prefer to have the best drive shaft material rather than having the cheapest. Thanks.