Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

[MellonHead]

14 hours ago, michaelgale said:

I shouldn't really reveal it, but we have already tooled the R120, R136, R152 and this is the shocker:  the R168!  No word on release date yet since we have to get the P40 production and fulfillment sorted out.  I've seen production samples from my HK team and didn't realize how BIG these curve elements get!  The R152 and R168 are monsters!

Totally read past this!! This is so cool, never expected R168 to be made and never even thought about it. R152 has probably the same size as an s32 straight element, so they will be big! Anything beyond r104 for is on my wanted list ;) .

I do have a follow up question about the curves though: are you going to make a special element besides R64P curve track for the switches as these are way to tight for big loco's, i do appriciate them to get you back in the system, but with the P40 switches comebined they're just not doing the switch justice. 

And really poking the beast here, but is there any concideration for bigger switches in the future as you are going to release such wide curves....?

I love the p40s (in a meterial way lol) and to have them in hand is truly an homage from you and your company.

 

[UltraViolet]

9 hours ago, Duq said:

@UltraViolet I was halfway through fixing my first switch when I heard about the tie bar replacements. I had also noticed the lettering, especially the part number, not being flush with the surface, and the extra headroom under the stops. I'll wait for the new tie bars now before I make more modifications.

One thing I'm curious about though. You say you tightened the springs. How did you do that?

  If you look really closely at my photo you'll see two tiny little stress marks where I grabbed the plastic springs with very small needle-nose pliers and bent them outwards slightly more by twisting.  If you attempt this, be extremely gentle, as it felt like they would break easily (or at least stress crack and break later).  I would have attempted to progressively bend them in more places along their length to lessen the stress, but I was afraid I'd weaken them too much after seeing how soft the plastic is.  I'm considering putting dry graphite powder lubricant (the stuff typically used to lubricate key locks) in the channel to further reduce any remaining friction (rubbing the tip of a soft pencil inside the channel would probably accomplish the same thing).  I think the tiebar might have been better off made in a slightly stiffer type of plastic, as I'm afraid it will abrade too quickly after many cycles.  Perhaps I will experiment with making my own.

  I will note, as an aside, that all these things identified are miniscule when compared against the main design flaw LEGO made in their original genuine switch.  Their tiebar position locking was so extreme that it created an epidemic of broken posts for holding the yellow throw handle in place.  Even moving the throw without the yellow handle is absurdly over-stiff.  The other major flaw they had was if you had two switches connected point-end-to-point-end and drove a motor through both curved routes, it would create an electrically dead spot where both wheels of a 9V train motor on the point side would be touching only plastic and could easily stall out the motor at low speed.  So, yes, even the 'big guys' make mistakes, but for some reason they chose not to address them.  Michael is beating LEGO's customer service by a mile!

[cptkent]

My shipment Fx Bricks switches arrived yesterday. This is my 3rd order, following on from the original PFx brick and later some straight tracks.

While I did receive the switches with the incorrect tie bar, that does not detract from my experience or the products I have received. The switches exceed my expectations, and I look forward to integrating them to my layout (there’s a hole that has been waiting to be filled).

I have followed PFx / Fx from the original kickstarter, and continually been amazed by Michael’s (and his team) ability to deliver great products and support, and an exciting roadmap forward. It’s an epic achievement that I am sure many underestimate.

Michael, you are to be congratulated on your achievements to date, and I thank you for your skill and persistence. I would place an order right now for R168 if I could, and look forward to seeing what else is to come.

[Ashi Valkoinen]

I would like to add my 50 cents to this conversation, too.

I got yesterday part of my order, including two pairs of switches (I ordered a really big batch and to four different adresses to avoid the hungarian post completely losing the order) and I inspected the tiebar on my switches, too. Unfortunately I got them from the latest batch, which have the wrong tiebar.

I found it really pleasing, that a dozen hours after the problem was revealed, @michaelgale (and his team) wrote a tutorial, how to inspect your switches and made a refund/repair process to let people know what will be next. As many products we use daily in our lives, when we discover a minor issue, we just go on and don't even expect the manufacturer simply taking care of it. So for me it was really nice feel to read the post "We are sorry", because this team has respect for the costumers.

The other part of the story is how we can access the tiebar itself and how we can pull the moving parts apart. This tiebar issue also highlighted that the P40s are a good products for the customers - we can disassemle, repair, rework (with 3D printers at home?) and inspect the product, and I'm pretty sure that later we can order replacement parts for our switches, too. If you loose a switching rail, the pin breaks off, a tiebar spring break off, later these can be replaced instead of buying a full new switch. There is also space for FX's first 3rd party manufacturers - a tiebar with stronger/weaker springs, ballast plates, etc, may be available in the future.

So this issue (however it is issue for both the manufacturer and the customer) also has shown us how problems like this shoud be discussed.

[jmorrin32MICHLUGmember]

Very easy to modify yourselves, easy to remove tiebar, Dremel tool elongates hole to oval shape, a little sanding, reinstall and even better operation

[cptkent]

28 minutes ago, jmorrin32MICHLUGmember said:

Very easy to modify yourselves, easy to remove tiebar, Dremel tool elongates hole to oval shape, a little sanding, reinstall and even better operation

Can I borrow your Dremel?

[jmorrin32MICHLUGmember]

a drill bit in a pin vise and a very small file will also do it

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by jmorrin32MICHLUGmember

[Ludo]

Someone already ballasted the R64P Curved track?

Any pictures available?

Thanks in advance. 

 

[dtomsen]

14 hours ago, Ludo said:

Someone already ballasted the R64P Curved track?

Any pictures available?

Thanks in advance. 

 

I'm on it, @Ludo 

First draft:

Edited November 25, 2023 by dtomsen

[brickstor214]

On 11/10/2023 at 8:27 PM, michaelgale said:

I shouldn't really reveal it, but we have already tooled the R120, R136, R152 and this is the shocker:  the R168!  No word on release date yet since we have to get the P40 production and fulfillment sorted out.  I've seen production samples from my HK team and didn't realize how BIG these curve elements get!  The R152 and R168 are monsters! 

I noticed it got very quiet on the subject of the motorized bogey as well as the track power feeders and power station speed controller.

[Szubi]

Phew! I guess I’m not the only one thinking it got very quiet on the topic of bogies and feeders :)

The Lego bogies aren’t getting any younger and clips and pins don’t grow back ;)

[SD100]

To be fair, the track is much easier to produce... Also, buying used 9v motors at around $45 where I'm at is probably a cheaper option at this point for power pickup. While running PF motors off a power pickup axle does sound like a great idea, the fact that my club burned up 4 9v motors our last show also demonstrates the challenges presented in trying to bring a similar product to market. If people are going to run the heck out of new motors they have to be able to hold up. People running this stuff under 8w trains was never what LEGO designed it for (And I wasn't). But if I buy a $100 motor from FX and toast it in one show, there is gonna be a lot of buyer remorse. If I toast a bunch of $15 PF motors, I'm gonna feel a lot less bad, lol. That makes me understand the process a lot more.

SD

[Szubi]

Michael Gale has said before that and I do appreciate that bringing the motor to market is a challenge and also not the first thing that the market wants. I understand that you need track to run on first.
However there is simultaneously a part of the market that would gladly take a pickup or a motor over track.

First. pickup; lighting the cars, or feeding power from the track to a PU motor. Let THAT motor get toasty in shows ;)

Second first. Motor; revitalize those old 12/9V era trains for occasional use, MOCs etc for those who don’t necessarily run them day and night, with the certainty that they have 0 mileage (stud-mileage? Studeage?). 

I’d much rather have a high quality new FXbricks motor than tear into the bottom of a used Lego one, ruining the casing. 
oh. Annnnndddd DCC capability. 
 

That’s my end of the spectrum. 
In fact, I’ll be shopping right after this for 4 9v motors today to Power my double length 7745, a heavy 7740 and power a 4561 based moc.
What I get is a bit of a lottery. 
ps. I got plenty of track for my small layout. 

[UltraViolet]

10 hours ago, Szubi said:

Phew! I guess I’m not the only one thinking it got very quiet on the topic of bogies and feeders :)

The Lego bogies aren’t getting any younger and clips and pins don’t grow back ;)

  If anyone has working 9V motors with a broken pivot pin, I'd gladly buy them.  I have six of them installed in builds that don't require the pin, so they could be better used in other builds that would need them.  The going rate on eBay even for one with a broken pin is now up to $90 Canadian plus shipping.  While Bricklink is still less for damaged ones, it's most often that the clips are what's broken.  Also, there's virtually none available within Canada, and shipping from the US got outrageously expensive recently, so I'd have to order from Europe at very similar expense.

  The main reason I like these motors versus what's in development, aside from the simplicity of direct electrical pickup, is that they can be pushed manually when off.  The new motors will have worm gear drive, which cannot be pushed manually when off.  I am hoping that the worm drive will vastly improve the low speed performance, which would be a great benefit, so then I can live with not being able to push them.

[zephyr1934]

22 hours ago, SD100 said:

To be fair, the track is much easier to produce... Also, buying used 9v motors at around $45 where I'm at is probably a cheaper option at this point for power pickup. While running PF motors off a power pickup axle does sound like a great idea, the fact that my club burned up 4 9v motors our last show also demonstrates the challenges presented in trying to bring a similar product to market. If people are going to run the heck out of new motors they have to be able to hold up. People running this stuff under 8w trains was never what LEGO designed it for (And I wasn't). But if I buy a $100 motor from FX and toast it in one show, there is gonna be a lot of buyer remorse. If I toast a bunch of $15 PF motors, I'm gonna feel a lot less bad, lol. That makes me understand the process a lot more.

SD

At BW 2022 Michael sounded like he is aiming for the motors to be maintainable. While a lot of time has passed and I'm sure the designs have evolved a dozen times since then, at the time the motor had a bogie plate on top, so if you broke a pin it would be cheap to repair. I bet he has something similar in mind for the motors, burn it out and you only replace the broken part for a lot less than a new motor. But that is pure speculation on my part. The case should be screwed together, so even if he does not design it as such, it should be easier to replace the motor than the original lego versions.

[brickstor214]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:21 PM, UltraViolet said:

If anyone has working 9V motors with a broken pivot pin, I'd gladly buy them.

There is a seller on ebay who is selling them specifically with a broken pin. They do cost (USD) $66.30 though and shipping would be another (USD) $22, which might be too much overall.
Is it allowed to post links to ebay? In any case: the seller's name is lubi-toys (train brick store).

[UltraViolet]

2 hours ago, brickstor214 said:

There is a seller on ebay who is selling them specifically with a broken pin. They do cost (USD) $66.30 though and shipping would be another (USD) $22, which might be too much overall.
Is it allowed to post links to ebay? In any case: the seller's name is lubi-toys (train brick store).

  Yes, that's the seller I was referring to.  They seem to have cornered the market for 9V train motors.  I bought a number of them from that seller a few years ago when the price was nearly half what is today, and that was for undamaged ones at the time.  If I were buying damaged ones now, I really don't think $90 Canadian Dollars plus shipping is a sensible use of money.  It's still possible to get them for less on Bricklink, but I would want to find a store where I can buy enough other parts I need at the same time in order to justify the shipping cost.

  With the prices what they are now, I'm leaning towards investing in the FX Bricks motors when they are finally released.

[Brickander Brickumnus]

Let's hope those FX Bricks 9V motors will be released sometime in 2024.

[cptkent]

My replacement ties arrived today. Well packaged and presented as usual, and bonus track pieces included.  Excellent service once again. Thank you Michael and team.

[El Schaeferino]

My replacement tiebars arrived. I replaced them according to the instructions given in the FxBricks-Blog of November 10th. However, after replacing the tiebars the switch-rails are out of power (only the switch rails are powerless, all non-moveable rails are powered correctly). Perhaps I damaged the thin metal/foil on the underside of the switch rail (it looks slightly deformed), although I proceeded with utmost care. Anybody else experiencing similar problems?

EDIT: I found the problem. The foil-thin metal on the underside of the switch rails was bent down (see image, bending indicated with a blue line). After carefuly bending it into an even position it works and both switch rails have power!

Edited December 27, 2023 by El Schaeferino

[MellonHead]

Mine also arrived this morning and i replaced them straight away! I am very happy with this solution, but i forgot who said it here in this forum but i agree that this brings more solutions for future damaged parts etc, which i think is pretty neat!

Even though the tie bar element is either for left or right switch configuration ( it is the same element with either left or right on one side of the tiebar ) i would recommend to try and not look in which position the tie bar works but rather check what is the best for the switch in terms of friction. This can overal help with the movement of the tiebars to make it even smoother, because sometimes the letters from the mold can catch very, very slightly on the openings between where it sits. 

As for what @El Schaeferino said, here's what i found: 

• When you push, pull etc. The switch rails out to replace the tiebar, there is indeed a small iron piece on the underside which bends a little because of the small square cutout hole where the switch rail makes contact with the rest of the switch for electrical power and it has to do with the fact that when you pull the switch rail out you probably ( as i have done) twisted end turned them to get them out but because of the angled pull, the iron contact bends slightly. With some gentle pressure from your nails you can bend it quite straight again, but be carefull though. Bend them slightly down but still attached to the knob which keeps it in place so that when you place them back in the switch they will pressure themselves better against the metal plate in the switch, but do keep them  attached to the knob tho!

 

• When placing the switch rails back after replacing the tie bar ( which has been checked for the minimal friction position ) i would highly recomend to first add the switch rails to the tie bar (do this 1 switchrail at a time ) and then, ( This is important!! ) place the switch rails in a straight maner back in the switch so the metal connector is aligned to the square hole so it doesn't bend or something for ultimate contact for the electrical power to feed through them.

 

• If you have done this, i would check if everything works the way it's supposed to do and if so, i woud check if the power is still consistant through the switch rails and if not you should check the switch rails again to get the iron part to make contact. 

 

I have done it in the way i writed above and all switches work fine!! What a difference in friction with those new tiebars, now i will drive the switches absolutely crazy lol! 

I am super happy with this solution and free track pieces, so no complaints for me here, thanks @michaelgale , Fx-team and JB-Spielwaren who helped with the service

[Ludo]

If I understand correctly, one should:

1. Remove both switch rails.
2. Remove the incorrect tie bar.
3. Place the new tie bar in the place of the old one.
4. Replace 1 switch rail and check for electrical contact.
5. if ok, place the second switch rail and check for electrical contact.
6. Ready.

[El Schaeferino]

In the Product Guide for the P40 switch Fx Bricks hinted that it may be possible to replace the R64 return curve with two R104 curves. This creates a small gap (1.78mm) that is too great to connect the curves directly to the divergent route, but when you insert two S8 straights they can absorb the gap at the joints with minimal stress to the material. This can even be ballasted and looks nice (see picture).

At Holgers website there is a small article about this idea.

https://www.holgermatthes.de/bricks/en/fx-bricks.php

[Jeff B]

Just wondering if anyone motorized the switches or how you are controlling them manually.  I tried modifying BT’s switch stands but the pin doesn’t slide far enough out for the track to make contact when trying to go straight?

[Ashi Valkoinen]

1 hour ago, Jeff B said:

Just wondering if anyone motorized the switches or how you are controlling them manually.  I tried modifying BT’s switch stands but the pin doesn’t slide far enough out for the track to make contact when trying to go straight?

I motorised the switches back in 2023 at Bausipebahn Treffen - I designed the motorisation without having any switches, just the photos of them and Michael lend me 4 switches for the show.

Ties' wonderful video shows them at work, too:

https://youtu.be/ih4UUo-5cOE?si=G_w3Y_btvb5-joaT&t=456

Edited January 6 by Ashi Valkoinen