Brick-Built Lego Railroad Track

[L-Gauger]

This thread concerns a building project that I'm only in the very earliest stages of prototyping... but for some years now I've wondered whether it was possible to build a track for Lego trains that was made from only non-train specific Lego elements, preferably common parts. So, this thread is for discussing all things related to brick-built Lego train track. Topics can include, but are not limited to:

Have you tried making a brick-built track before?

What technique do you think is most detailed? Most economical?

How would you build a curve with a radius that lands on the stud grid? 

Should we AFOLs try and develop a modular standard for brick-built sectional tracks? 

This might also be a great place to discuss the gauge possibilities that brick-built track provides, like Q gauge (1/48 scale, 4 stud gauge) Ln2 gauge (2-stud gauge) and the broadened horizons of S gauge/Ln3 gauge (the normal Lego narrow gauge/rollercoaster gauge.) 

Here's a photo of one early prototype I made on top of a MILS module, with two tracks. My model of Railway Series "Rusty" is parked on the Ln2 track, and the unoccupied track is triple-gauge (Standard L gauge, Ln3/S, and Ln2.) 

[djm]

I did build a Diamond Crossing, more than 10 years ago. Have a look at this thread: 

 

[TeriXeri]

Those 1x4 fence pieces were one of the first parts that could unofficially partially function as rails, and released almost the same year as blue rails too.

[JopieK]

Very nice @L-Gauger! Looking forward to seeing the next steps / builds.

[L-Gauger]

@djm your work on that crossing is impressive! I might have to study your design and see if any of the principles could be applied to making a frog for a railroad track switch... 

@TeriXeri I never considered using 1x4 fence elements as rails... have you tried doing so before? It seems like it might make a good stable track. 

@JopieK thank you! Although I'm still early in the prototyping phase, I think brick-built track could have a lot of promise to expand the horizons of track geometry without the need for third-party parts (thus keeping the purists happy...) So far it seems like the most cost-effective track can be made by inserting tiles between the studs of plates using the "pony-ear" technique, like below. Personally, I think track made this way looks fairly realistic...

I've successfully built some sectional and flex track using this technique (the pictures shown are of flex track,) but its primary disadvantage for L gauge is that  the crossties must be 7 studs long, not 8: 

The seven-stud ties means that at least four parts must be used per crosstie: 

Plus the odd dimension means this system differs from the standard eight-stud length for crossties in Lego track. 

What other brick-built track systems are out there? I know the Logging Railway set included a brick-built track for its trestle bridge... but what other building techniques make a useable, realistic-looking track? 

[TeriXeri]

1 hour ago, L-Gauger said:

 

@TeriXeri I never considered using 1x4 fence elements as rails... have you tried doing so before? It seems like it might make a good stable track. 

The tall fence has the fence centered, so regular train wheels could fit , however the piece can be fragile, so putting any sort of prolonged weight/pressure on it could probably have the piece crack somewhere eventually.

I never tried short fences as they aren't centered so would not fit standard train wheel / wagon parts.

Edited 7 hours ago by TeriXeri