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Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

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37 minutes ago, hankdelsi said:

whoohoo just preordered r56's I assume these would help with derailing of shorter wheel spans??

Yes - the wider the radius of a curve, the less likely derailing is.  The chances of train derailing on Michael's future R156 curves will be insanely low.  LEGO's R40 curves might as well have been made for derailments - you can't even take most official Lego trains around at speed without them derailing.  Compare that to the grand curves on the PennLUG layout...

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1 hour ago, Vilhelm22 said:

Yes - the wider the radius of a curve, the less likely derailing is.  The chances of train derailing on Michael's future R156 curves will be insanely low.  LEGO's R40 curves might as well have been made for derailments - you can't even take most official Lego trains around at speed without them derailing.  Compare that to the grand curves on the PennLUG layout...

powerfunctions ones dont work because of the relatively high cg due to the battery box 9v ones should defo work

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@Matt Dawson We're still working on it! I've got working prototypes on my desk!  Its a gorgeous item of track, but it is made out of a lot of parts and needs to be carefully assembled.  That's what we're working on now:  documenting an assembly procedure for our manufacturing partners to ensure reliable and efficient assembly.  Furthermore, we're likely going to re-tool a couple of items to optimize the design in a few places.  If this was a pure plastic switch, then it would have been job done months ago.  However, a metal rail switch requires all sorts of metal components (which you don't see from the top) to ensure electrical continuity across the entire rail.  The P40 switch also has 2x electrically live switch rails attached to the tie bar--in fact it is the ONLY Lego track switch with two switch rails.  It is so gratifying to run a motor bogie slowly through each route of the switch with out stalling!  

 

Thanks all for pre-ordering the new R56 and R104 curve tracks!  We're glad you guys continue to show your support and faith in our products--it's much appreciated!

There's so much in the pipeline, and unimaginable mountains of work left to do.  Everything from design, prototyping, product certifications, dealing with supply chains, customer support, etc.  We appreciate your patience as we do our best to turn ideas into real products suitable for market!

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On 1/1/2022 at 11:13 AM, Matt Dawson said:

AAWUweXbe7V2kw25mTqKQDrMbRHWJH4f3TK_oIyY

:pir-skel: Can't copy this to dump it into Google translator - now that makes me curious (the cannot copy thing): What does the "_olyY" bit mean? I have deciphered everything else using my brick-built Enigma :pir-huzzah1:. Don't want to post it publicly as this may make some folks nervous :pir-wink:.

OK, as my former graduate student Ruben Wrist'grf:?!_0 would phrase it: "Yeah, dude, man you're really old".

Heehee.

42

Best
Thorsten

 

 

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23 hours ago, Toastie said:

:pir-skel: Can't copy this to dump it into Google translator - now that makes me curious (the cannot copy thing): What does the "_olyY" bit mean? I have deciphered everything else using my brick-built Enigma :pir-huzzah1:. Don't want to post it publicly as this may make some folks nervous :pir-wink:.

OK, as my former graduate student Ruben Wrist'grf:?!_0 would phrase it: "Yeah, dude, man you're really old".

Heehee.

42

Best
Thorsten

 

 

i have something better than your brick built enigma. it is called the wayback machine. with a little bit of luck you can see the thing through it.

Edit: it says no permission if you follow the link so youd have to hack into google to see it.

@Matt Dawson youd need to set the image to always be visible not just for a short period i dont know how this works though i use flickr

Edited by XG BC

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1 hour ago, XG BC said:

it is called the wayback machine

Well, to be honest: Most of my Google internet searches actually point to the WayBack machine :pir-laugh: - so basically I am browsing the WayBack machine, when being online. Nice place. 

Right click on the ?!42_* told me it is apparently an image ... but to no avail.

Got it - thanks for the advice!

Best
Thorsten 

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On 12/15/2021 at 6:48 AM, Matt Dawson said:

I'd personally hope they would opt for the BrickTracks approach of a reversible rotating switch mechanism that can be mounted either side of the turnout.

If you look at the picture on the Fx website you'll see the slide for operating the switch has a Technic pin connection on either side:  https://shop.fxbricks.com/pages/fx-track

@michaelgale What will the range of movement be for the slider? In that photo it appears to protrude half a stud on one side of the track. Will changing direction require a half or full stud movement?

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@Duq The range of movement is 5 mm (a little over half a stud).  This is basically the range of motion required to move the width of the rail plus flangeway clearance.  One of the changes we're likely going to make is the spring tension in the switch bar.  In our prototypes, we're finding that its a little too aggressive, i.e. it locks each route *too* well.  We think that a more modest spring tension will perform much better.  In our switch, this range of movement is a much more critical value than single-rail switches since it represents the symmetrical clearance required for both routes.  Whereas a single blade switch only requires enough movement to clear the flangeway.

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@michaelgale can trains force the switch to change when they pass over from a diverging route to the narrow end (i.e. trailing-point movement)

Will that lock the switch over to the other side or will is spring back to its last set position?

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@McWaffel Generally, trains will not likely be able to force the switch to change route in a trailing movement in its current configuration.  Even with reduced spring tension, the train would have to push the switch blades at least 3-4 mm to overcome the over-centre spring point and change the route position.  We made this switch to have more in common with other model train switches and I guess more like the real thing too!

@cptkent The R120 is definitely in the roadmap/pipeline.  All the curve track elements are designed and ready to go.  It's just a matter of manufacturing capacity, scheduling, priority, and managing our costs.

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@michaelgale Could you give us any estimated schedule on P40 switches in production, _IF_ everything goes well?

(I ask this for selfish reasons - if it is still months for they come I'd pre-order some R104 curves, but if pre-order will be available soon then I save my founds for the points - 6 pair I'll need!)

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It's probably a bit too late to change the design, move the slider closer to the hinge point of the switch blades to make the blades move the same range with only a half-stud move of the slider.

I haven't really thought about designs for controlling the points but a half stud movement feels easier to achieve than a 5/8 stud movement.

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I just noticed that the prices for straight track elements on jb-spielwaren was increased by ~18% from 60€ to 70€. This is a bit of a bummer, to be honest. I bought two packs for 60€ each back in March. The current going-rate for used 9V straights is 3,50€ on bricklink, which would be 56€ for the same length of track. I understand that that’s a used product vs. a brand new product, but with this price increase it‘s now a 25% difference. Or in other words: used 9V track is about 25% cheaper. To me, this makes buying straight track from FxBricks obsolete. 
Only the new geometries are now interesting, because those are obviously not available from the used-market

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43 minutes ago, McWaffel said:

I just noticed that the prices for straight track elements on jb-spielwaren was increased by ~18% from 60€ to 70€. This is a bit of a bummer, to be honest. I bought two packs for 60€ each back in March. The current going-rate for used 9V straights is 3,50€ on bricklink, which would be 56€ for the same length of track. I understand that that’s a used product vs. a brand new product, but with this price increase it‘s now a 25% difference. Or in other words: used 9V track is about 25% cheaper. To me, this makes buying straight track from FxBricks obsolete. 
Only the new geometries are now interesting, because those are obviously not available from the used-market

maybe a supply issue? remember that this is a nice product produced in low volume

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Yeah it is probably because of increased shipping and supplier costs. However it’s nearly a 20% increase within a year.

Personally, I would (and will) still buy switches curved track and motors, but straights make no sense to me anymore

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@michaelgaleIs it on purpose that you can only pre-order R56 tracks at JB-Spielwaren, while the R104 are in the shop but cannot be (pre-) ordered. JB-Spielwaren unfortunately do not answer on their mail-address for FX-Tracks.

Edited by Black Knight
problem solved by JB

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On 1/16/2022 at 4:04 PM, McWaffel said:

I just noticed that the prices for straight track elements on jb-spielwaren was increased by ~18% from 60€ to 70€. This is a bit of a bummer, to be honest. I bought two packs for 60€ each back in March. The current going-rate for used 9V straights is 3,50€ on bricklink, which would be 56€ for the same length of track. I understand that that’s a used product vs. a brand new product, but with this price increase it‘s now a 25% difference. Or in other words: used 9V track is about 25% cheaper. To me, this makes buying straight track from FxBricks obsolete. 

There is one clear operational advantage to the double straights- it cuts the number of rail joints in half, which is beneficial for large loops. I have a roughly 10 ft x 10 ft loop (roughly 80 normal track segments?) with two power drops and the 8 double straights that I have probably eliminate the need for a 3rd power drop on that loop. They effectively counter the increase in rail joints that comes when I jump from R72 to R88 on my outer loop

 

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6 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

There is one clear operational advantage to the double straights- it cuts the number of rail joints in half, which is beneficial for large loops.

Yes but you could also just run another power cable, which you should anyway and that’s better than any joints by a long shot, so not really that good of an argument, and surely not worth spending 25% more over

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Another thing one might consider is that the S32 tracks are Dark Bluish Gray and even with the price increase still cost approx. the same as two used Dark Bluish Gray LEGO S16 tracks on Bricklink, at least in the EU. 

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@michaelgale I had one question I wanted to ask related to the metal composition of the rails. I saw on your website that the rails are made from nickel-plated copper beryllium, and I was a little concerned seeing the copper beryllium as I've heard of health issues regarding beryllium dust. How durable is the nickel coating? Would it wear down over time at the rail joints from connecting and disconnecting tracks together or wear down where the metal wheels contact the edge of the rail, exposing the copper beryllium?

If I were to modify any of the tracks to different geometries, would special PPE be required if I'd be cutting into or grinding the rails with a Dremel? I've heard that the main hazard with the beryllium alloys is breathing the dust.

I might be being paranoid, but also just curious.

Thanks

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