system

I was checking briklinks, and I fount these thing :) I never heard of it before... They are small, and "everything" (controller, motor, battery box, etc) is included (compared to RCX/NXT). I'm thinking to get 5-6 of these modules to play myself and with kids. Not only cars, but going try to make train, cannon, and other crazy ideas ;) Questions: 1. Does color matter? a) could blue module be controlled by red rc? b) do modules have any differences inside? 2. Do rc have any channel setting? e.g. if i have 4 RC, will they conflict? 3. Do i need only one data cable? As i understood it suite to all colors. 4. Any more modern interfaces available? usb? other RC options? 5. Could I put custom sound to speaker? 6. What are purpose for fiber wires? 7. Where to get the software?

I wasn't able to find good way to electrify 4 wide tracks.But I was able to rearrange furniture in my flat, so will use standard tracks. After reading this forum I decided to follow advices and not go extreme at first :) I'll start with basic RC trains, and will add centralized power later. Now just need to decide should i get 9v tracks right now, even for RC trains...

Still investigating various options. Is there any switches for 4 wide tracks? I saw some video with them, but can't find any detailed images/instructions. Another question: what about metal rails with combination of middle rail for power supply? E.g. rails have + and middle metal rail have -. Then trains could go in any direction. Of course this will require some modifications :)

I have Banbao Railway Remote Cargo Train. It is older set, with normal leg minifigures. I mostly agree with what Annie said. Just want to add that banbao bricks are not compatible with lego ones. BanBao blocks is about 15% higher. The other sizes seems the same. So it really easy to mix with lego, and them have a mess in pieces. I attach few pictures that show differences.

I'm not sure if I understood you correctly. Could you provide some pictures? Can I buy needed pieces from ordinary shop or bricklink? Is it something like that? Could you please explain a little more, how NFC is used? Or may be some link to read. I'm thinking to build 50-100 meters of rails total. Thinking more about what I want: I'd like to avoid batteries and radio communications to trains. DCC seems right way to go. Train controls could operate via BT/WIFI in future (initially only from PC). DCC functionality: - trains - speed (none, x1, x2, x3) - direction (2 cases) - lights (I'd like to support 3-5 independent lights) - sound (1 signal bundled with train is enough) - switches - what is better, define new position or "switch action"? - lights - traffic and buildings - bridges - turntable - other structures Powered rails. Suggestions for small gauge? Like this one: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=5656858 Should it be rails, or something in the middle? Also i wonder if any powered monorail exist. Just remember my old metal toy: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$T2eC16RHJFoE9nh6nwCEBQUPS!CdTg~~60_57.JPG With this i could make any curves, elevations, slopes etc. Still easy enough to setup/disassemble. I could make switches, intersections. It may transfer power, and plastic pieces could separate powered blocks. The only problem - I have no idea where to get it nowdays. Meccano seems a bit expensive, as I need mostly straight rails. PS: still open to ANY ideas :)

I actually don't care at all how they look like, as long as they run on rails :) They could have opened battery boxes, wires, etc. Btw thx for link, I'll investigate more on the idea with Brio tracks.

Hello I need some help with building custom railroad :) I bought some basic Lego City trainset a while ago. And my kids enjoy it a lot. But the problem, is that if i add more tracks, it become too big for my appartment. Currently width of tracks are 3.8cm. I'm thinking of smaller tracks tracks with 2.1 (anything between 2.4 - 1.6) cm Was inspired by this video: Another problem is that my kids like railroads, but not trains :D For me main requirements are: Much smaller size than current lego city. I could go as smallest as possible, as long it could carry motor and cople of minifigures. Tracks done from non-rare lego pieces. Run multiple independent trains at once controlled via remote controlls. Connecting cars is not important to me at all. Train could look like a block/platform with couple of minifigs on top of it. There should be switches and preferably intersections. I should be able to make elevations with rails (to make bridges etc). I need help with finding if it is possible and what parts i could use. 1. What suite me best: powered rails or trains with batteries? I'm going to make powered switches anyway. 2. Switches. What would be good way to power them and how they could be done? Puting wires across is not a problem. i'm going to have 20-30 switches. 3. Curves and elevations. Would be good if curve could have 15cm radius. 4. Voltage. If batteries I prefer to stick to 1,5-3V if possible.If powered rails, everything goes. 5. Motors. I will need 3-7 of them, so building or buying custom is not a problem. 6. How to put axis? 2axis on each side of car? or maybe some better suggestion? Further ideas. a) Switches operatable from train remote controll. E.g. a NFC mark placed near switch. Trains controlled trough central server (remote contolls talk to server instead of trains). When train comes close, to switch, it transmits NFC mark to server, and on control user could press "switch button". Everything could operate trough BT or some other wireless technology. b) Traffic lights. Probably controlled by server. Any available software? Could setup linux/win PC for that. PS: I know that there are model train sets for HO and S scales, but i'm looking for Lego solution.