Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

[Wimmer]

@michaelgale : Received my three boxes of S32 Straight Track. Just unwrapped them and they look very shiny and pretty. Just one problem now;... I don’t have a motor, feeding cables, speed controller and enough track to make anything working now... 😉 

So I’m hoping that the missing pieces will be announced soon ?  But I have lots of patience 😃 

For now: Job well done, Sir. Gorgeous track, pretty shiny rails and sleek packaging !... 👍🏻 

[Ashi Valkoinen]

@michaelgale May I ask about the Track System?

Half a year or more ago I found a document somewhere on your website which presented ladder yards built using FX P40 switches, the R64P curve at the last track and some S1.6 and S3.2 straight segments to make the perfect alignment for the ladder yards making all tracks fit to the standard geometry, but now at this menu ( https://www.fxbricks.com/fxtrack/ , "System Catalog" ) the short straights now disappered. Are theynow out of the plan?

[michaelgale]

@Ashi Valkoinen The short straights (S1.6 and S3.2) are not out of the catalog.  They will be made.  We're still deciding how they will be packaged.  They could be packaged with the switch, or as a separate pack of "short straights".  We're leaning towards offering them as a pack of short straights since folks are likely to need very different amounts depending on what they are building.  It will likely come as a box of 8x S1.6, 8x S3.2 and 2x or 4x S8.  The website needs updating.  The short straights do not appear on the catalog page since they are likely to cause confusion without an explanation about how they are used.

 

[Ashi Valkoinen]

Thanks for clarification. 

Now I also found were these were presented:

https://www.fxbricks.com/fxblog/?post_id=26&title=fx-track-system-+-other-news

(S16 and S8 pieces cut to 5 equal sections in the middle of the figure.)

And yes, the useability of these short straight segments is very wide - ultimately theywere designed for the ladder yard, but as a 9V-conducting piece they offer a lot more if it comes to design ladder yards with unique perpendicular spacings (for wider platforms) keeping it still modular, or designing lateral offsets for mainline tracks. I don't want to extrapolate from my personal needs but designing my future layout plans using FX P40's and having an another station with tons of TrixBrix R104 switches required many times using S1.6, S3.2, S4 and S8 segments to come alive.

Maybe the box of short straights you mentioned and a combined, larger box "ladder yard" including more P40 points than a single pair and these short pieces would be great.

[McWaffel]

@michaelgale congratulations to making a fantastic product. I bought two packs of straight track and when I got them, I was surprised how good the quality of the product, but also the packaging is. I will for sure buy more in the future! Very happy with the product.

now I have a few questions: I was recently at a friends house playing with his LGB trains. And I was blown away by how the G scale trains move using DCC. I was wondering if your DCC compatible motor bogies will also be able to start/stop slowly like that? Also, since his layout is outdoors, connection between the wheels and the track can be spotty at times, so he has connected up all carriages to the loco via cables, so that if for some reason the loco has a bad connection, the wheels on the carriages can pick up power. Do you plan to make something like this possible as well? And lastly: have you considered making wheels for the bogies swappable, so that one can build locos with steam drivers? Or are you planning to release a bogie with large wheels? 
 

thanks in advance for answering my questions and for making a great product 

[fhurlbrink]

For the people, who understand German: The hero of the stones in Frankfurt at the Main river in the heart of Europe in his wonderful little shop on a fantastic day has made a review about the Fx Tracks system. It will be a celebration:

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by fhurlbrink

[Tcm0]

3 hours ago, fhurlbrink said:

For the people, who understand German: The hero of the stones in Frankfurt at the Main river in the heart of Europe in his wonderful little shop on a fantastic day has made a review about the Fx Tracks system. It will be a celebration:

 

He basically said "I can't tell you much about them because they are none of my affiliates". And he didn't mentioned the german distributer jb spielwaren (which would be important for german customers)

[Black Knight]

18 hours ago, Tcm0 said:

He basically said "I can't tell you much about them because they are none of my affiliates". And he didn't mentioned the german distributer jb spielwaren (which would be important for german customers)

It's a pity he did not mention JB, but to be honest: Had he mentioned them and everyone came in an realized the tracks were out of stock, that would lead to great frustration. It is good he praised 9V, maybe we're lucky and he will do another video on the topic when tracks (and motors) are actually available.

[fhurlbrink]

23 hours ago, Tcm0 said:

He basically said "I can't tell you much about them because they are none of my affiliates". And he didn't mentioned the german distributer jb spielwaren (which would be important for german customers)

To be honest, that's true. But he mentioned the adventures of the (package's) backside. Nothing, you have to fear, but there is the system explained.

He did not mention JB Spielwaren, but he put a link into the video description http://bit.ly/FXBricks8832 which redirects to Michael's website S32 Straight Track (fxbricks.com) and this website references JB Spielwaren for EU customers.

[Wabbajack]

On 4/17/2021 at 6:59 PM, Tcm0 said:

He basically said "I can't tell you much about them because they are none of my affiliates". And he didn't mentioned the german distributer jb spielwaren (which would be important for german customers)

I am a fan of Thomas, and he is probably cautious about any possible legal troubles.

[Black Knight]

18 minutes ago, Wabbajack said:

I am a fan of Thomas, and he is probably cautious about any possible legal troubles.

Well, if anything, legal troubles have made him famous! His number of youtube-followers always rose by a tremendous amount when he went into his calculated legal provocations with TLG. He has some contract with BlueBrixx which JB is a direct competitor of. And Thomas is foremost a businessman, so...

[Toastie]

10 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And Thomas is foremost a businessman, so...

... and he does a very good job! I am very happy that he is "around". Challenges TLG - as well as others, for sure. Has affiliations - so what. I like diversity - even when biased to a certain extent. I don't like churches of the bricks, regardless where the come from.

Furthermore, I learned a lot from just seeing his videos. Not staring, but asking questions.

Best
Thorsten

[Black Knight]

8 hours ago, Toastie said:

I am very happy that he is "around". Challenges TLG - as well as others, for sure. Has affiliations - so what. I like diversity - even when biased to a certain extent. I don't like churches of the bricks, regardless where the come from.

I think this is a misunderstanding: I meant to say that: no, HdS did most probably refrain from mentioning JB in his video not because of legal issues, but more probable out of financial considerations.

I like to watch his videos, too. But he is much more cunning than his cozy video style might lead you to think. Everybody -- including TLG and HdS -- just wants your money. HdS often says in his videos of how stupid fanboys of TLG behave, because they are ignorant when being taken advantage of. Don't be a fanboy of HdS either. ;)

[Vilhelm22]

@HoMa has posted on his Instagram page a clip of the Fx Bricks 9v track, including both the S32s and the R72s - it’s clear that the information ’coming soon’ on Fx Bricks’ site can be taken to mean very soon indeed, if it’s at the pre-release independent review stage now....

[Sunil766]

Care to share for non - Instagram peers? :-) 

And I thought r72 was already announced for June..? 

[HoMa]

@Vilhelm22 and all others, here is my YouTube version of the clip you've mentioned. I digged out some very old 9V MOC rolling stuff and 8-wide and rather simple build engine (all done in the eary 2000's) and gave it a go on Fx Track.

About the availability I know that JB Spielwaren is the reseller partner for Europe (including the UK, no idea since Brexit). On fxbricks.com JB Spielwaren is mentioned as official reseller for the EU, hmm. And on fxbricks.com the R72 curves and S32 straights seems to be sold out already.

Fx Track is a very, very good third party product, probaly the best I've ever seen. The quality is supereb, starting with the box design and ending when running the trains on it. I started this post here when Michael announced the Fx Track idea at Brickworld 2019 in Chicago. Back then he handed out a prototype piece of the upcoming S32 straight. Compared to that the final product did another major step ahead: better color matching to dark bluish grey, Fx logo on the studs, special identification on the studs about the radius or lenght. Highly recommended!

Now I am looking forward to the large switches and for power pickups or motors …

(I got my R72 and S32 as review kit directly from @michaelgale, only had to pay the custom and shipping fees)

Edited April 27, 2021 by HoMa

[Wimmer]

22 hours ago, HoMa said:

@Vilhelm22 and all others, here is my YouTube version of the clip you've mentioned. I digged out some very old 9V MOC rolling stuff and 8-wide and rather simple build engine (all done in the eary 2000's) and gave it a go on Fx Track.

About the availability I know that JB Spielwaren is the reseller partner for Europe (including the UK, no idea since Brexit). On fxbricks.com JB Spielwaren is mentioned as official reseller for the EU, hmm. And on fxbricks.com the R72 curves and S32 straights seems to be sold out already.

Fx Track is a very, very good third party product, probaly the best I've ever seen. The quality is supereb, starting with the box design and ending when running the trains on it. I started this post here when Michael announced the Fx Track idea at Brickworld 2019 in Chicago. Back then he handed out a prototype piece of the upcoming S32 straight. Compared to that the final product did another major step ahead: better color matching to dark bluish grey, Fx logo on the studs, special identification on the studs about the radius or lenght. Highly recommended!

Now I am looking forward to the large switches and for power pickups or motors …

(I got my R72 and S32 as review kit directly from @michaelgale, only had to pay the custom and shipping fees)

I love it. The engine doesn’t even slow down in the curves !...

Also, I’m in love with that engine and the hopper car right behind it... I need building plans, please ?...

  

[Wimmer]

@michaelgale : Hi Michael,...  just a few more questions about your track and your store. 
Is there an explanation why a lot of your track items in your store state “coming soon”, but are already sold out ?

How far out are you with a replenish of straight track, and the 72 and 56 curves ?

Will the switch make it as well, and do you have any updates about those ?

Is there any way I can make sure that in the next releases from the R56 and R72, and the straight tracks;... I can make sure I have a chance for purchasing them before it says “Sold Out” in the store. 
 

Thank you for answering....
 

[zephyr1934]

11 hours ago, Wimmer said:

Hi Michael,...  just a few more questions about your track and your store. 
Is there an explanation why a lot of your track items in your store state “coming soon”, but are already sold out ?

How far out are you with a replenish of straight track, and the 72 and 56 curves ?

Will the switch make it as well, and do you have any updates about those ?

I think most of what you are seeing is "coming soon" in a storefront application that does not say "not yet available". As far as I know he has only released s32 tracks. I know Michael said that the first batch of s32 was a small run that sold out a lot faster than anticipated so future production runs will be larger. I believe they sold out in a few weeks, I don't know if FX has a mailing list, but if you keep checking every few weeks you'll probably be safe next time something is in stock.

Meanwhile, r72 are being produced but have not yet been available for purchase. If I recall correctly, at last word s8 and r88 were the next elements in development with a target release of some time in late 2021.

(I have no inside news, I've just been following the posts closely given my collection of 9v trains)

[Tube Map Central]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:56 PM, Black Knight said:

Well, if anything, legal troubles have made him famous! His number of youtube-followers always rose by a tremendous amount when he went into his calculated legal provocations with TLG. He has some contract with BlueBrixx which JB is a direct competitor of. And Thomas is foremost a businessman, so...

Sounds intriguing. Go on, tell us non-German speakers more, perhaps in a new thread in the correct place (community, apparently)

[Duq]

 

3 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

I think most of what you are seeing is "coming soon" in a storefront application that does not say "not yet available". As far as I know he has only released s32 tracks. I know Michael said that the first batch of s32 was a small run that sold out a lot faster than anticipated so future production runs will be larger. I believe they sold out in a few weeks, I don't know if FX has a mailing list, but if you keep checking every few weeks you'll probably be safe next time something is in stock.

Meanwhile, r72 are being produced but have not yet been available for purchase. If I recall correctly, at last word s8 and r88 were the next elements in development with a target release of some time in late 2021.

(I have no inside news, I've just been following the posts closely given my collection of 9v trains)

 

On 3/4/2021 at 4:20 AM, michaelgale said:

We are already getting our next production runs setup with our manufacturers for much larger production batches of not only the S32 straight track, but also the R72 curve track.  We are also going to try to expedite the introduction of the R88 curve and S8 straight track into the product catalog.

[michaelgale]

Hi folks!  Sorry for the delay in updating you guys with updated product availability.  We've posted a detailed update on our site here:

https://www.fxbricks.com/fxblog/?post_id=46&title=new-fx-track-product-availability

TLDR:

1. Pre-orders of S8, S32, R72 and R88 tracks start June 1, 2021

2. Deliveries expected to start late July/early August depending on sea container shipping.

3. No per-customer quantity limits

4. R56 and R104 available in 2021, confirmed schedule TBD

5. P40 switches currently in tooling -- complex manufacturing with many parts, but expect availability in 2021.

6. Motor bogie, power accessories in detailed design / some components in prototyping

Thanks again for your awesome support, feedback, reviews, etc. -- we can't wait to bring you guys more products and are committed to applying the very best of our engineering and design skills and quality standards to these exciting new products!

[lego9vtrainfan]

Great update @michaelgale, thanks for sharing! Looking forward to R136 tracks someday too when the system evolves to that point. 

[zephyr1934]

12 hours ago, michaelgale said:

Hi folks!  Sorry for the delay in updating you guys with updated product availability.  We've posted a detailed update on our site here:

https://www.fxbricks.com/fxblog/?post_id=46&title=new-fx-track-product-availability

TLDR:

1. Pre-orders of S8, S32, R72 and R88 tracks start June 1, 2021

Excellent! When will you have pricing information for the various elements that are releasing on June 1?

[M_slug357]

13 hours ago, lego9vtrainfan said:

...Looking forward to R136 tracks someday too when the system evolves to that point...

Too soon lmao