lego9vtrainfan

The Fx Bricks shop homepage has been updated with “Coming soon - 2023-06-12” and an image of the switches. That’s Monday, so looks like the preorder date is confirmed!

Very encouraging post from Fx Bricks — I think 2023 will be a pretty exciting year. :)

For those keeping track of such statistics, I ordered qty 24 straight tracks and received 6 bundles with pins… but 24 is an easy one.

Great model and execution — supported!

Nice video, advice, and source for the wire. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice build in a small footprint. Supported!

Similar to SD100, I have used this setup many times too and it works well. Connect both one train motor and the PF control switch 8869 to one terminal on the PF receiver (V1 or V2), and then connect the second train motor to the PF control switch terminal so that it has the opposite polarity. I use this set up (with some extension cables) to power each end of two 10233 Horizon Expresses placed back to back, along with various MOCs… one motor pulls, the other pushes, which really helps for points, curves, etc. Note that the control switch is only necessary if your train motors are oriented in opposite directions… if you can make them face the same way, this part is not necessary. I will defer to others with more electrical experience here, but my understanding is that the V2 receiver really only becomes worthwhile if you need to drive multiple L or XL motors that draw more current than the PF train motor.

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

Cool idea and very nice execution — love the floor and display design as well.

Second version... upped my wedge plate game for what I think is a cleaner setup on the bottom that makes a few more studs available on the top. Comments, improvements, or alternative approaches welcome! Ballasting BrickTracks R104 switches - second version by Lego9vtrainfan, on Flickr Ballasting BrickTracks R104 switches - second version by Lego9vtrainfan, on Flickr

Thanks for your reply. My switches arrived Here’s where I’m at with ballasting efforts so far: DC86CD52-B95C-4618-8134-9DB1CA371FEC by Lego9vtrainfan, on Flickr 7D797E37-7072-454D-BC65-CBDC7301EF80 by Lego9vtrainfan, on Flickr Obviously some parts are not in their final colours (I was missing some of part 6179 in dark bluish gray, for example). To explain, my intent here was to create ballast that (1) is freestanding / fully attached to the switch since I build a lot of my layouts temporarily on the floor and don’t have baseplates, MILS modules, etc. underneath the track, and (2) provides as complete of coverage under the switch as possible. There aren’t a lot of attachment points on the bottom of the switch, particularly around the mechanism itself. There are also a lot of curves, etc. that conflict with studs (meaning parts with partially tiled surfaces had to be used), so this created some challenges and likely room for further refinements! It would actually be way easier to do it with a baseplate underneath, since then you could build up to the switch from below without needing to fasten everything to the switch. I may try that next, or perhaps others already have done some experiments. Ideas or improvements welcome!

While I am eagerly awaiting my order of BrickTracks R104 switches, I wanted to see if anyone who has received theirs (or worked with other R104 switches) has tried ballasting them. I am certainly planning on ballasting mine to match the track I have already ballasted using the l-gauge.org / PennLUG methods, so perhaps we can collect different ideas in a thread — I’ll share mine once I receive my switches and have time to experiment!

Stunning work and great video too! Thanks for sharing.

Interesting topic :) For me it’s applying decals / stickers... used in moderation, I find these can really bring out realistic finishing touches in a model, but I really get stuck at this stage. The designing / ordering / sorting / building parts are all good fun though!

Many thanks @coaster for working out all of the details and for bringing this product to market. Very excited that we are almost there — I’ve put my preorder in :)