Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

[El Schaeferino]

More news:

https://shop.fxbricks.com/blogs/news/bogie-plates

 

[GoHabsGo]

Nice idea !

[derlumpi]

Really well thought of! 

[emm]

Just bought my 1st Fx Track and i have to say it is expensive but I am very impressed with the quality of the product.

I am looking forward to the additional product.

[legotownlinz]

Why another 4x6 bogie plate? This part can already be bought from third parties in black.

[Narissis]

The intent is to package one with each motor, so I imagine they wanted to keep production in-house instead of sourcing third-party ones. This way FX Bricks can maintain control of that production (and more importantly to Michael, I imagine, the quality assurance for those parts).

[LegoAlf]

Any news on the 9V motor bogie? I think that's the one we've all been waiting for in the 9V world.
It might be fine to get some wheel pickups - but what's that compared to a fully functional modern 9V motor replacement?
I'd even take it without the removable bogie plate or the planned inside electronics (although both are a welcome addition to the bogie itself - the latter one especially for all DCC friends).

If I had to guess, the biggest difficulty is developing a suitable system for picking up power from the wheels. One-piece metal wheels (seen mounted on the motor bogie prototype in the Schwabenstein 2022 video) are not necessarily the best choice. It was not for nothing that the Lego engineers used spring-mounted metal discs for the wheels in order to keep friction as low as possible, even in curves and switches.

Does anyone know what the current status of the motor bogie is?

[Narissis]

In development, but there is still a lot of fine-tuning to be done.

All-metal wheels are all but assured; they'll be the same as the ones in the pickup bogie and that's almost ready to go. As of November the sticking point with those was finding a suitable surface treatment for the metal to get a nice black colour without negatively impacting conductivity.

The reason the first-party 9V motors had to be spring-loaded was because the contact surface was the flange, and the load-bearing surface was a rubber O-ring, for traction. On the FX products, the wheel will conduct through its tread so the spring action won't be necessary (though you'll probably need to be a bit more diligent about track cleaning to maintain good performance). The solution for conducting power from the wheel into the unit is virtually the same as TLG's, in fact: small leaf spring contacts touching the back of the wheel.

As for what actually remains to be engineered on the motor, Michael could correct me on this if he has occasion to pop in here, but my understanding is that it has more to do with finalizing the internals.

[zephyr1934]

3 hours ago, Narissis said:

The reason the first-party 9V motors had to be spring-loaded was because the contact surface was the flange, and the load-bearing surface was a rubber O-ring, for traction. On the FX products, the wheel will conduct through its tread so the spring action won't be necessary (though you'll probably need to be a bit more diligent about track cleaning to maintain good performance). The solution for conducting power from the wheel into the unit is virtually the same as TLG's, in fact: small leaf spring contacts touching the back of the wheel.

Early on in this endeavor I think Michael had praised the spring loaded flanges of the 9v motor and sought to mimic them and presumably use traction bands on the treads. I bet that proved a lot more complicated to implement. At any rate, he has been metal on metal for several years now.

[ejayb]

15 hours ago, LegoAlf said:

Any news on the 9V motor bogie? I think that's the one we've all been waiting for in the 9V world.
It might be fine to get some wheel pickups - but what's that compared to a fully functional modern 9V motor replacement?
I'd even take it without the removable bogie plate or the planned inside electronics (although both are a welcome addition to the bogie itself - the latter one especially for all DCC friends).

If I had to guess, the biggest difficulty is developing a suitable system for picking up power from the wheels. One-piece metal wheels (seen mounted on the motor bogie prototype in the Schwabenstein 2022 video) are not necessarily the best choice. It was not for nothing that the Lego engineers used spring-mounted metal discs for the wheels in order to keep friction as low as possible, even in curves and switches.

Does anyone know what the current status of the motor bogie is?

I’m not planning to get into 9v, so my take my opinion with a grain of salt, but 9v motors replicate something that’s already available. Power pickups open up new use cases. 9v powered PF for multiple train operation and medium/large motors for more torque and realistic speeds 

[LegoAlf]

2 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

I bet that proved a lot more complicated to implement

That was my thought, too. The original TLG 9V train motors run very well with this construction, even today. I still have four of these in my sets and they run extremely well and have no issues at all. My 12V engines from the 70s and 80s don't run anywhere near as smoothly and reliably, even though they are in very good condition.

I think one of the big advantages of the original 9V motors is the "side current pickup", which is less prone to dust. Therefore I hoped we get a mimic of that system with the new FX Bricks motors.

[Toastie]

9 hours ago, LegoAlf said:

(...) big advantages of the original 9V motors is the "side current pickup", which is less prone to dust. (...)

... and is sort of "spring-loaded", which almost guarantees good contact to the rails.

Best
Thorsten

[M_slug357]

Will FxBricks also sell a track cleaning kit...?

[Narissis]

IIRC he wrote at one point about having tried the plain metal wheels and finding that the traction was good enough that the rubber treads aren't really necessary (plus they foul the track as they deteriorate).

As for cleaning kits... well, he has an article about track cleaning over on BrickNerd, lol.

I've always thought it'd be fun to build a track cleaning car with motorized cleaning heads, but I'm not sure how to make it navigate switches while still cleaning that contact corner of the rail. I suppose it'd be easier to design one based on all-metal wheels contacting on the tread surface, though!.

[Pelzer117]

On 2/26/2025 at 5:34 PM, legotownlinz said:

Why another 4x6 bogie plate? This part can already be bought from third parties in black.

I think the same. FX bricks should focus on products who are „especially“ for 9V. Like the motor, metal wheelset or the 9v cables. For all other stuff, there are enough suppliers.

They can sell bogies if they want. But let other produce them. Molds are expansive!

Edited May 2 by Pelzer117

[Ludo]

8 hours ago, Pelzer117 said:

On 2/26/2025 at 5:34 PM, legotownlinz said:

Why another 4x6 bogie plate? This part can already be bought from third parties in black.

I think the same. FX bricks should focus on products who are „especially“ for 9V. Like the motor, metal wheelset or the 9v cables. For all other stuff, there are enough suppliers.

They can sell bogies if they want. But let other produce them. Molds are expansive!

Edited 8 hours ago by Pelzer117

Perhaps they can be molded in the same mold as the 4x5 bogie plate?

With a 'little' extra cost you catch two fies at once?

Also important is the fact that you can order all those parts in one shop instead of ordering in different places around the world.

This also saves on shipping costs, which can also add up considerably.

Here in Europe these can cost between €10.00 and up to €15.00 for a small package depending on the country where you order. 

[SD100]

On 3/29/2025 at 9:11 PM, JGW3000 said:

Perfect for a Snowpiecer MOC, just need about 200 or so more cars

 

On 5/3/2025 at 3:01 AM, Ludo said:

Perhaps they can be molded in the same mold as the 4x5 bogie plate?

With a 'little' extra cost you catch two fies at once?

Also important is the fact that you can order all those parts in one shop instead of ordering in different places around the world.

This also saves on shipping costs, which can also add up considerably.

Here in Europe these can cost between €10.00 and up to €15.00 for a small package depending on the country where you order. 

Last I saw he was going to produce both sizes...

SD