I have never given Fastrack a try, because of the cost and the fact that I already have plenty of original Flyer track. If I were to use modern track I would probably go with Gargraves.
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S gauge FasTrack is still for sale on the Lionel site. The question is will they make additional runs after the current inventory sells out. Were I using FasTrack I would purchase all I would ever need now while it is available.
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I already have all the AF Fastrack I expect to need. I also have plenty of SHS/MTH S Trax which mates up with Fastrack if you cut off the plastic interlocking tabs.
But you’re right about buying enough now. In a minority scale like S you never know if basic items like track will be available in the future.
Paul
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I collect nothing but American flyer I do however have a Lionel American flyer Christmas boxcar from the year I got married , I’m not a fan of all the electronics they put in them I love the old talking station and the whistling billboard. they sound the best to me.
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Quite honestly neither am I. Having worked as a copier repair technician I have a bit of mistrust in sophisticated electronics. They could last 20 or more years or blow tomorrow, you just don’t know. And personally I think the engineers are putting all the “gee-whiz” features into the electronics not to impress the customers but to really impress each other. We saw it in the copier business, electronics packed with features the customers would never use and that just added to the expense.
Me? Just give me a whistle, maybe a bell, and smoke and I’m happy.
me to 60 + years old and works like new. can’t bet that!!
and love the choo choo
The problem with electronics to me, is not that electronics are inherently bad, but that especially today, they’re not designed in a way that is conducive to repairs. An old Lionel ‘Sound of Steam’ board from the '70s is electronic, but it’s fairly simple. It’s very doable to repair, too- it will potentially take some new skills and knowledge, but much of it builds upon things already established if you fix your own vintage trains.
But one of the greatest advances in electronics has also been the downfall for us “DIY” people who like to fix our own things: miniaturization! Everything is tinier now. And while this allows the latest and greatest everything to be so small it can fit in your pocket, it also means that you can’t make board-level repairs so easily, if at all. Once the manufacturer stops making replacement boards, it’s over- and if they’re prone to failure, you probably wind up feeling a lot like somebody in 1950 watching the wheels on their 400E starting to fall apart in their hands.
I think the issue isn’t that electronics exist, it’s that they aren’t designed to be easily maintained and repaired by the end user. And, well- maybe that’s just never going to be practical, based on what people want out of their electronics. It’s a tradeoff.
Oh, but I do wholeheartedly agree, American Flyer choo-choo is the best!!! Can’t beat the classics 
-El
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At least you can get wheels for the 400E–and most of the rest of the prewar SG equipment. And you can do the replacement yourself.
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to me fixing them myself is half the fun take a old train that dose not run take it a part fix it the satisfaction is amazing.
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There it is and it’s nothing new. We stopped being able to do in-the-field board repairs on copiers in the 1980s, the increasing sophistication wouldn’t allow it.
Board repairs today require specialization that the average business (or individual) can’t afford or justify.
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Blockquote
[palallin]
At least you can get wheels for the 400E–and most of the rest of the prewar SG equipment. And you can do the replacement yourself.
You can get them now… but back when the wheels were first starting to go bad, I do not believe there were many (if any) replacements on the market. Thankfully folks like McCoy, MEW, Bowser, and others appeared and began to manufacture aftermarket wheels.
-El
Point taken, El, and maybe someday someone will come up with aftermarket, replacement electronics you can plug into the modern stuff–but–for now, the 400E is a better bet than the modern engine over the long haul.
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Dallee Electronics ( https://www.dallee.com ) has a whole conucopia of electronic products handy for resuscitating engines with blown boards. I’ve used their electronic E-units and they work very well. Easy-install drop-in they’re a great way to at least restore conventional operation.
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Personally I always thought a locomotive with Lionel’s magnetraction, Flyer’s choo-choo bellows, Marx’s smoke output and Flyer’s air whistle inside a large postwar Lionel shell like a Santa Fe style Hudson or the 736 Berkshire would be the ultimate “high tech” train.
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Now that I would buy.
Now that I would buy. 
“Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania Station?”
Sounds like a real Frankenstein locomotive!
Dallee sounds like a great option for conventional control (which I prefer anyway).
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What gauge would this Frankentrain be in? Please say S! Lol