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On 8/8/2013 at 3:05 PM, Robert Cailliau said:

Robert, I just have to say thank you for the great resources about dimensions and other lego/duplo descriptions.
This was very helpful, to create a modular OpenScad lego/duplo interfacing tool. It's basically only creating standard blocks, rail interfaces and base plates and here it's also possible to tweak brick dimensions for all other projects. You could then export to STL & print.
So it starts to be more interesting, when using this base module to create more advanced track systems:

07fd4d4a5755af8ecf0a341056fcc72b_preview

And there are many more tracks possible: a lot of standard track options; many crossings; many funnels.

On 5/2/2014 at 8:40 AM, Robert Cailliau said:

zg0, I made an attempt, not very good, of linked bogies:

post-79532-0-86941100-1399012535_thumb.jpeg

post-79532-0-13593900-1399012562_thumb.jpeg

(and that puts me at the limit of my media)

The link itself is heavy because the axles are needed to adjust the length, which is not a whole number of units.

Also, kinematically this is only an approximation, but it works better than unlinked bogies. There is very little friction.

The gears are there only to get the 4-unit beams onto their middle.

I did not bother with hooks etc. but it rolls fine. Not yet made it go over a bridge though.

This is also great. Actually, I was thinking about creating a DIY 6x6 driven locomotive (also about standard train length). So I also need some flexibility in the wheels. My first attempt was unstable version, this one looks better.
But what holds this mechanism straight, when moving over a straight track? In this case the wheels colliding against the rail-flange? But that will give a little friction..?
If more people are interested about such a design, why not start a new topic about this?

Edited by edge_nl

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Quote

just added a Bricklist of 'All the DUPLO Trains'.

Quote

all Thomas sets missed.

I deliberately decided not to include the licenced themes - "All the Duplo Trains that run on track, excluding licenced themes & Dacta but including the Intelli-train". I could add a new Bricklist for them later.

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Hi there!

I'm trying to find the length for this rare LEGO Duplo short straight piece (pretty sure the part number is #4665) -
71cq1dM1PHL._SL1500_.jpg

Could anybody enlighten me and fellow Duplo fans with the track length or how many it takes to form the equivalent of a plain, straight Duplo track?

Many thanks,
Jan

Edited by DuploLayoutsOnMac

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There you go:

 

DuploRails.jpeg

 

So it's three studs by four.

These bits are useful to close some layouts with tracks at angles other than 90º.  However, they do not stick to plates or blocks and there is quite a lot of play.

The answer then is: 3x8=24, so 8 small ones will have the same length as 3 standard ones. Nothing in between.

Edited by Robert Cailliau
add detail

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On 11/30/2018 at 1:14 PM, edge_nl said:

Robert, I just have to say thank you for the great resources about dimensions and other lego/duplo descriptions.… … … …If more people are interested about such a design, why not start a new topic about this?

Goede middag Edge_nl,

For some reason I did not see your thank-you (thanks!) nor your very interesting 3D printing suggestions for  more rail formats.

Sorry for that, I just saw them this morning.

And yes, a topic for 3D printing of compatible parts is a very good idea.  I have a printer (Ultimaker-2), but the grandchildren have outgrown Duplo…

Does a 3D group of topics not already exist?  I have not looked. In any case, Duplo rails do not require the same precision in 3D printing as standard Lego pieces do.  Unless parhaps for sticking to Duplo bricks.

Thanks!  (I've got OpenSCAD too)

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Hello Robert,

Quote

The answer then is: 3x8=24, so 8 small ones will have the same length as 3 standard ones. Nothing in between.

Many thanks for the response! Wow, that's a funny piece then.

I'll go ahead and add them to the LEGO Duplo library in our macOS track planning apps so our users can include them when designing Duplo track plans!

All the best,
Jan

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It is a funny piece in more ways than one.  It follows the old style, where they could not be put on top of bricks or plates because the coupling bits went down too far, getting in the way of the studs of the plates or bricks.  Therefore they cannot be used to build on supported slopes or bridges, only laid out flat.

You may wish to explore

/L/Lego/Duplo/Train/Rails/Dimensions/

(on first visit you may have to click the "Englsih" button and then reload the link; I'll change that asap)

So who wrote the track planning app?  Can I get it?

BTW, also note this:

/M/Mathematics/APR/Description/

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Sorry for the delay - missed your reply!

Our track planning apps for Mac include multiple LEGO track libraries (https://www.railmodeller.com/libraries.html)

The free edition can be downloaded from the Mac App Store and we provide an overview here:
https://www.railmodeller.com/express-edition-en.html

LEGO_RM.thumb.jpg.c626b416dfbb23b70e9644c218eee47e.jpg

Thanks again,
Jan

Edited by DuploLayoutsOnMac

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Hi Jan!

I had not understood the thing about the generalised track layout program!

Fantastic.  That is NOT an easy thing to write.  I played a bit with the free version, looks great.  You have taken everything into account…  I did in my younger days (60 years ago) play with some Märklin and remember the tool they had: a plexiglass cut-out drawing tool.  With all those different circle radii.

All the best with that!

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Hi everyone,

I've got a one-year old LEGO DUPLO cargo train set (60198) that has a damaged motor.  The part is HUB No.5, 28743.  The good news is that LEGO was good enough to send me a new engine piece to replace it.  However, after successfully taking the thing apart, a motor replacement seems a simple enough job.  Desolder two leads, install a new motor, solder the leads, reassemble.  The difficulty I am having is figuring out what motor to replace it with and where to find such a thing.  A picture of the interior of the unit is attached.  You can see the motor is labeled R 852H which doesn't seem to correspond with anything through Google that I can see.  

I'd welcome any suggestions as to potential sources of motor replacements or equally, to hear from anyone else who has tried repairing one of these.  It seems like a big waste to just toss the thing, as the rest of it works and works so well.  My kids certainly enjoy it!

 

 

IMG_3436.jpg

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4 hours ago, WestCoastLegoGuy said:

Hi everyone,

I've got a one-year old LEGO DUPLO cargo train set (60198) that has a damaged motor.  The part is HUB No.5, 28743.  The good news is that LEGO was good enough to send me a new engine piece to replace it.  However, after successfully taking the thing apart, a motor replacement seems a simple enough job.  Desolder two leads, install a new motor, solder the leads, reassemble.  The difficulty I am having is figuring out what motor to replace it with and where to find such a thing.  A picture of the interior of the unit is attached.  You can see the motor is labeled R 852H which doesn't seem to correspond with anything through Google that I can see.  

I'd welcome any suggestions as to potential sources of motor replacements or equally, to hear from anyone else who has tried repairing one of these.  It seems like a big waste to just toss the thing, as the rest of it works and works so well.  My kids certainly enjoy it!

 

That motor looks similar to the one in the LEGO Power Functions M motor.  Is the manufacturer molded on the end cap of the motor like with the M motors?

motors.jpg

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Yes, the motors look the same.  It looks like Hoi Po Motors is the manufacturer of the thing (how I missed that looking at it the first time around is anyone's guess!).  The shape of the motor is identical to the two have on the left.  Hopefully that means that these aren't too hard to find?

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That's true.  Looks like the whole motor set is about $40 CDN plus shipping off BrickLink.  I did find a site online that looks to sell the motors:  http://www.alienmotor.com/product_info.php?products_id=99 The website looks like it hasn't been updated since 2013 so I'm not sure it's still a going concern; I've written to them to find out.  The motors on their own are about $5 USD, so a good bit cheaper.

I'm also looking to do this partially for fun to see that I can fix the thing myself.  I don't need the extra unit (got the fee replacement from LEGO) so the goal here is to avoid  adding to a landfill when a few bucks for a hobby motor and ten minutes of soldering will create a backup engine.  Looking on eBay there are more than a few of these engines that are broken and it would be nice to get them working again to create a DUPLO train fleet (why I'd need to do this who knows, but I like fixing stuff, so there you go).  

That said, I appreciate the quick replies!

 

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:-)

Yes, I have fixed some of them, since I'm also in the group of people who simply cannot throw anything away if it can be repaired.  There is a worshop in the basement complete with 3D printer and metal working miniature lathe + milling machine, and with a lot of "materials" that "might come in handy", and they often do.  But I have none of these motors.  My pages about opening Lego locomotives are of no use to you, as we have nothing as recent.

And by the way, that set looks like it is not DUPLO, but normal.  Correct?

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Thanks Robert.  No, it's definitely DUPLO.  This is the set it comes from:

https://www.lego.com/en-ca/product/cargo-train-10875

One of the reasons I thought I'd post is that I didn't find anything on this particular problem, and thought I could add something to the literature, as it were.  The curse of science training, I suppose.  :)

I will keep looking for a source for the motors.  Maybe I'll hear something from the Alien Motor Company (how does anyone make this up!)

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That's better!  In your first post you mentioned 60198 (or did I read it wrong?) which is definitely not Duplo.

10875 is duplo and cute.  As usual, it has only 4 straight rails against 18 curved ones.  When my wife & I  started buying Duplo trains for our granddaughter we noticed the lack of straight rails.  We then bought lots of them second hand, which has been very successful.  However, the Lego marketeers have cleverly changed the colours over time so that the older ones don't look very good when mixed with new ones.  There are at least four different colours.  Fortunately little kids are not (yet) influenced by fashion and don't care.

(ah, the curse of science training… and maybe the alien motor guys watched too much Doctor Who)

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On 12/20/2020 at 12:13 AM, WestCoastLegoGuy said:

Yes, the motors look the same.  It looks like Hoi Po Motors is the manufacturer of the thing (how I missed that looking at it the first time around is anyone's guess!).  The shape of the motor is identical to the two have on the left.  Hopefully that means that these aren't too hard to find?

I think they sell them in minimum quantities of 1000 or 10000.  You may have to send them a request for quotation (RFQ).

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4 hours ago, dr_spock said:

I think they sell them in minimum quantities of 1000 or 10000.  You may have to send them a request for quotation (RFQ).

I was envisioning maybe two or three.  :)

I have found some hobby places that sell similar shaped motors with similar specifications, so I might just try a few of those to see if they work.  They're literally a couple of bucks.

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On 12/20/2020 at 11:58 PM, Robert Cailliau said:

That's better!  In your first post you mentioned 60198 (or did I read it wrong?) which is definitely not Duplo.

10875 is duplo and cute.  As usual, it has only 4 straight rails against 18 curved ones.  When my wife & I  started buying Duplo trains for our granddaughter we noticed the lack of straight rails.  We then bought lots of them second hand, which has been very successful.  However, the Lego marketeers have cleverly changed the colours over time so that the older ones don't look very good when mixed with new ones.  There are at least four different colours.  Fortunately little kids are not (yet) influenced by fashion and don't care.

(ah, the curse of science training… and maybe the alien motor guys watched too much Doctor Who)

No, you read it right!  I have no idea what I was typing there...I think I misread a Google Search result and didn't click through the link.   You are right that the number routes through to a regular LEGO train set, which is definitely NOT what I have on my hands. 

Indeed, the Alien Motor guys seem to have vaporized from this earth as with their namesake!.  Their e-mail box is full so no joy there.  Won't try to place an order with them, which is too bad, as they look like they had the solution!  I think I will write next to the Hoi Po Motors group and see if they can help.

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Maybe you can fly a TARDIS back to when you can order from Alien Motors.

Never mind.  It's probably much more useful four your child to get some more straight rails.  But I found a motor here:

https://www.banggood.com/fr/20MM-3V-DC-Miniature-Electric-Brushed-Motor-For-Smart-Robot-p-1017125.html?akmClientCountry=FR&cur_warehouse=CN

and here

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/3x-miniature-moteur-DC-DIY-Toy-130-petit-moteur-electrique-3-a-6V-basse-tens-F1/363204090655?hash=item5490a69b1f:g:eBwAAOSwKBRaz3k7

and here

https://www.amazon.fr/Moteur-SODIAL-electriques-12000RPM-vitesse/dp/B01E9TDBGW

I don't know but they sort of look like they might work.  I could order & send if you wish.

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I have just bought a second hand 10874 Duplo steam train and accessories. When I place in it 4 AAA (1.2V) rechargeable batteries and press the green button underneath the light lights up and when you push it it goes, it doesn't manage to get up the bridge. Also the stop, reverse and fuel (stop for a short time), light sensors all work but the sound one doesn't.

I replaced the batteries with new ALDI 1.5V non rechargeable batteries. When I press the green button it lights up but then when you try to push it nothing happens, also pressing the button again the light will not go on.

Any ideas what the problem is?  

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