21 replies to this topic

[drdavewatford]

OK, here's one for all you train wizards out there.

Has anyone devised a way of joining the new DkStone track with the old blue track so that a train can run from one onto the other without derailing ?

Clearly the different types of track aren't designed to fit together, but I wondered if anyone had found a decent workaround using jumper plates or anything else to bring the two types of track sufficiently close together that trains can cross the gap.

Thanks,

Dr. D.

[Holodoc]

Sorry, I can´t help you here.

But I´m interested in what the others will come up with.

I don´t have both kind of tracks at the moment to be sure, but IS there actually a gap when you try to combine both?

[SavaTheAggie]

Yes, and the solution is indeed jumper plates.  The gap becomes incredibly small, almost to where they touch.  You can see the results from experimentation here:

http://news.lugnet.c...n=28979&t=i&v=a

(Read through the whole thread for all the details)

--Tony

[drdavewatford]

Great ! I just knew that someone would have already gone through the pain of experimenting, thus saving me the trouble !

Thanks for the link.

Dr. D.

[TheBrickster]

Thanks for sharing Sava.  Interesting design to combine the tracks.  This will be very useful in adding a few grey track sections to my 9V layout (for a track building scene).  Nice!

[simonskluk]

Hi there

The best way is to use the flexible train track segments, by slicing them you can create 'addaptors' from old blue (70's) and old grey (80's) train track to 9v/pf track, i use the blue when going through tunnels and hills and try to keep the 9v/pf track in view.

i will try to take a pic tonight to show you

cheers

si




OK, here's one for all you train wizards out there.

Has anyone devised a way of joining the new DkStone track with the old blue track so that a train can run from one onto the other without derailing ?

Clearly the different types of track aren't designed to fit together, but I wondered if anyone had found a decent workaround using jumper plates or anything else to bring the two types of track sufficiently close together that trains can cross the gap.

Thanks,

Dr. D.
[/quote]

Edited by simonskluk, 03 February 2010 - 02:15 PM.

[Captain Zuloo]

This may or may not be a silly question, but what is DkStone track?

[Rick]

Captain Zuloo, on Feb 3 2010, 09:22 PM, said:

DkStone track?

DkStone, 'dark stone' the color, also know as 'new' dark gray or dark bley.  

[Captain Zuloo]

Rick, on Feb 4 2010, 06:29 AM, said:

DkStone, 'dark stone' the color, also know as 'new' dark gray or dark bley.  

Thanks Rick. As soon as I saw Stone, I thought that horrible Jack Stone line must have produced train track.
But now I'm back in the loop. Thanks.

[domboy]

I have been searching for solutions for mixing 9V/RC track with older 4.5V/12V track, so I hope the moderators don't mind if I bring back an old thread. And if anyone wonders why bother, I want to include two old sets (7838 and 7835) in my layout without changing out their track... I guess I'm just weird that way... but hey, that's 64 studs worth of track that would be wasted!   Though I did buy four additional 4.5V/12V track pieces via bricklink to use in my conversion attempts.

Anyway, as many of you may already know, those two track types don't mix easily. The old track pieces are exactly sixteen studs in length, but the newer prefab pieces protrude approximately a half-stud extra on each end to connect to another pieces. This is the root of the problem!

I first found the solution that SavaTheAggie posted.

SavaTheAggie, on 03 August 2009 - 07:23 PM, said:

Yes, and the solution is indeed jumper plates.  The gap becomes incredibly small, almost to where they touch.  You can see the results from experimentation here:

http://news.lugnet.c...n=28979&t=i&v=a

(Read through the whole thread for all the details)

--Tony

And that works rather well from my own attempts. Disclaimer: I used pieces I had on hand, so attempts at color-coordination are not very successful.



The trains I have tried on it have no problems, and the slight indent/groove on the inside of the RC rail does not seem to pose a problem.

The main drawback to this method that I've found is it is not possible to mount it to a baseplate, as one side of the connection is going to be off by a half-stud. It may be possible to do with ballast, but I don't have the pieces for that.

So I sat down with a bag of random parts to try to come up with a solution that could be mounted to a base plate, and built without modifying any pieces. I also wanted it to conform to Lego's track system as much as possible, i.e. the smallest official track pieces, the flex track, is four studs long, so I envisioned building a transitional section that would be at the minimum of four studs in length (well, 3.5 plus the .5 overhang of the RC track), or multiples thereof. That way it would be easy to include without throwing off everything after the transition. Here is what I came up with:




Again, this is built from pieces I had on hand so the coloring is a bit strange... though I have grown very found of dark red now... and I'm a sucker for printed pieces that are just there because they're cool.  

But I've managed to brick-build a functional transitional track that seems to work very well. Finding a way to fill that half-stud off-set was a royal pain, and I'm not sure this is a legal build. There may be a better way, but I'm fairly new at MOCing. I had a an 8x16 base plate to add to my 16x32 base plate, so I went with 7.5 stud transitional section. This results in the track filling up the 32 + 8 studs worth of baseplate exactly (nothing hanging off either end, or ending prematurely). There is still a very small space between the RC track and my brick-built section, but it doesn't seem to be an issue. I would really like to have fit this on a single 32 stud base plate, but I discovered flex-track can't mount to base plates either. Do'h! I'm thinking an ME-rails half length track section would be just the ticket, but I don't have any of those.

After all this I am curious if anyone else has come up other solutions, better, simpler, or just different.

Edited by domboy, 17 August 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[Anticyclone]

That's pretty ingenious, domboy.

[JopieK]

This of course also is a good option for narrow Gauge track to combine the 12V / 4.5V style straight tracks with the quite new indy 4 wide gauge curved and up/down tracks .

[TheQ]

This seems very neat and handy trick. It definetly helps people like me who own only loop or two of newer tracks and would like to expand the rail network further. Of course, one problem that comes from using the older rails is the color difference between the tracks but I am sure that clever builders can make it work with some nice coloring. Blue might be bit hard, thought, but perhaps it could work as some space rail?

One thing that could improve your design, as far as I can see, would be to remake that "rod-clip-tile-holder" in bricks. I think few basic SNOT bricks like 52107 could hold those 1x4 tiles in place? The said SNOT bricks could be then moved outwards by using those 4070 aka "headlight bricks". I'll try to do some testing in LDD and post the results here later.

[Hrw-Amen]

May have to have a go at this myself as I do have quite a bit of blue track from my youth.

Just out of interest does it actually make any difference to the running of the train as to if those 1X4 tiles (The ones held in place by the rod/clip arrangement.)are in place or not? Or is it just for cosmetic purposes?

[domboy]

TheQ, on 18 August 2012 - 04:18 PM, said:

This seems very neat and handy trick. It definetly helps people like me who own only loop or two of newer tracks and would like to expand the rail network further. Of course, one problem that comes from using the older rails is the color difference between the tracks but I am sure that clever builders can make it work with some nice coloring. Blue might be bit hard, thought, but perhaps it could work as some space rail?

One thing that could improve your design, as far as I can see, would be to remake that "rod-clip-tile-holder" in bricks. I think few basic SNOT bricks like 52107 could hold those 1x4 tiles in place? The said SNOT bricks could be then moved outwards by using those 4070 aka "headlight bricks". I'll try to do some testing in LDD and post the results here later.

Blue might be weird, but I'm not too picky on light gray vs dark gray vs dark bluish gray, at least not yet. One could always put the less desirable colors in a less visible space, and I think someone previously suggested that.

I am interested if you find a brick-built solution for the 1x4 tile part ("rod-clip-tile-holder")... I don't have any extras of the 52107 piece you mentioned. I spent quite awhile trying to find a way to fill that half-stud space and couldn't get anything to match up seeing as the tile has to end in the middle of the stud to match up with the rails... so it's really a half-stud off 90 degrees to the rails. If I was doing ballast on this it might make things a bit easier to get to match up as I could use the "1x2 tile with one stud" piece...

Hrw-Amen, on 18 August 2012 - 09:05 PM, said:

May have to have a go at this myself as I do have quite a bit of blue track from my youth.

Just out of interest does it actually make any difference to the running of the train as to if those 1X4 tiles (The ones held in place by the rod/clip arrangement.)are in place or not? Or is it just for cosmetic purposes?

Actually the 1x4 tile is the important part of the brick-built section, as without something to span the half-stud between the new  and old rail types (or the brick-built rail) there is a very noticeable and jarring bump as the train moves over it, and according to the discussion at first link I posted, having that space increases the risk of derailment.

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions by the way!!

Edited by domboy, 20 August 2012 - 06:26 PM.

[TheQ]

domboy, on 20 August 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

I am interested if you find a brick-built solution for the 1x4 tile part ("rod-clip-tile-holder")... I don't have any extras of the 52107 piece you mentioned. I spent quite awhile trying to find a way to fill that half-stud space and couldn't get anything to match up seeing as the tile has to end in the middle of the stud to match up with the rails... so it's really a half-stud off 90 degrees to the rails. If I was doing ballast on this it might make things a bit easier to get to match up as I could use the "1x2 tile with one stud" piece...

Picture is link to larger image

I tried couple of different solutions and the design shown above seems to work the best. Filling half brick area is really hard, I would even say impossible, so I had to try the second best route: Filling the area in such a way that it would minimize the empty area. Above design is not perfect as the tile is bit out from the exact "route" of the train wheel and the empty area is not as minimal as it could be but I do not think those are big errors. Of course, since I don't own newer PF train engines and don't have those older rails with me now, I couldn't test the design. If anyone can, I would gladly hear how it works out!

Edited by TheQ, 22 August 2012 - 07:07 PM.

[graphite]

Could the half stud coverage be accomplished just by using a 1x1 or 1x2 brick with the hollow side studs and placing the 1x4 tile with it's bottom studs in the holes instead of around the holes?  Sorry I don't have parts with me right now but can post a picture later if that doesnt make sense.

[JopieK]

of course it could! one could even consider using the new 1x2 jumper tile with something

[domboy]

TheQ, on 22 August 2012 - 07:06 PM, said:

Picture is link to larger image

I tried couple of different solutions and the design shown above seems to work the best. Filling half brick area is really hard, I would even say impossible, so I had to try the second best route: Filling the area in such a way that it would minimize the empty area. Above design is not perfect as the tile is bit out from the exact "route" of the train wheel and the empty area is not as minimal as it could be but I do not think those are big errors. Of course, since I don't own newer PF train engines and don't have those older rails with me now, I couldn't test the design. If anyone can, I would gladly hear how it works out!

Interesting design, if the picture is accurate in real bricks that very well could work. I wish I had the right parts to try it! (I don't think I have any extra 1x1 brick with stud on side, or whatever the official name is.) I do agree, filling that half-brick area is a lot harder than I would have thought! It's too bad lego never made some sort of adapter to transition between train systems...

Edited by domboy, 30 August 2012 - 07:18 PM.

[Pulsar]

I was looking for other possible ways to solve this riddle, and i found something... i'm sure many of you will dislike because it's oficially not lego, but it's too interesting not to post here.

It seems someone designed "the missing piece of track" between 9v and 12v tracks, and submitted it to a 3D printing service. You can actually order it. I haven't bought or tried it, so i don't even know if it works. I'm pretty sceptic because a 3D printed model can in my mind never be as accuratly constructed as actual lego. Has anyone tried any of these?

[kieran]

Looks good all connected up, not a bad price either. I have no 12v track so no use to me but can see how this would come in handy

[domboy]

Pulsar, on 15 September 2012 - 05:00 PM, said:

I was looking for other possible ways to solve this riddle, and i found something... i'm sure many of you will dislike because it's oficially not lego, but it's too interesting not to post here.

It seems someone designed "the missing piece of track" between 9v and 12v tracks, and submitted it to a 3D printing service. You can actually order it. I haven't bought or tried it, so i don't even know if it works. I'm pretty sceptic because a 3D printed model can in my mind never be as accuratly constructed as actual lego. Has anyone tried any of these?

That's exactly the kind of thing I meant when I said it's too bad Lego never made an adapter... official Lego or not that is really cool!! I obviously haven't tried it either, but it's tempting...