coaster

That would be a change from what I saw earlier this year. It was the exact opposite when I saw it, such that there was about a .5mm gap between the edge of the metal rail and the plastic base. If they've made that change, then yes, it would work just fine.

I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I freely admit that I'm electrically stupid; I can do some basic wiring, but as far as capacitors go, it's over my head. My plans for myself though are to use these staggered through the entirety of the train, such that as long as I'm in contact with any tracks that are powered, my motor will have life. Not to get sidetracked here, but I don't have a lot of faith in the new ME 9V rails. I know the design they're pursuing, and the pick-up is intended to be from the top, not the side. As such, there's a good likelihood you'll intermittently lose contact since you'll only be touching on the corner of the rails.

Thanks. I plan to simply nickel plate the contacts. That's what LEGO has done, and it's certainly cheap and easy to do, and should have no problem holding up to this mild usage. I'd love to see pics! Here's an updated overall shot of the wheelset: A lot of you are concerned about maintaining good electrical contact. The LEGO 9V motor used spring loaded contacts on the metal wheel flange such that the flange always made contact with the rails, and I'm doing the same thing here. Popping the cover, here's what the insides look like: Isolating just the contact tabs, they look like this: As I said before, this has taken a backseat to the tracks project, but I haven't forgotten about it. There's just only so much I can do at once.

Nah, this is part of the Winter Village annual sets, and just happens to be a train this year.

I've had a few people ask, so figured I should answer here as well. The PF switches cost me about $150 apiece to put together, so that crossover cost about $300 to make. If you don't want to hold out for the Kickstarter, I can make you a switch or 2 (or whatever you want), with a few caveats: 1) It will be white, or I can spraypaint it for you. You will have to live with the surface finish not being that great. That's the nature of 3D printed parts. 2) There is some variance to the studs. Again, nature of 3D parts. I've optimized the dimensions as best I can, but some will be a bit loose, others a bit tight, nothing I can do about it. 3) I have not yet tested it with anything tougher than an Emerald Night. If your 10-wide 4-8-4 or whatever can't navigate it, I'm not taking it back. That testing is scheduled, but has not been conducted yet. Beyond that, I'm more than open to getting a few designs out in the field for further testing.

No, the voltage would be constant, provided the transformer can hold it. The motors aren't going to draw any more amps than they otherwise would. The limitation will be on the transformers, in which case you would simply need to add more of them to hold at 9V.

Need some paint, but these are fully functional. I can safely add them to the next kickstarter.

I don't see why not. I'm a mechanical guy, not electrical, but as far as I can tell the IR reciever or motor should be blind to the actual source, so long as they see 9V.

Nope, not dead at all. I work on it in between track prototypes, but unfortunately, the tracks have been taking up all my spare time lately. I've got this mostly figured out, there's just a few housing issues to resolve. I'd post an update picture, but the assembly is currently mid-revision and looks like trash. Once I get it cleaned up I'll post it.

The relative costs of those small straights is almost negligible compared to the overall project. Sure, we could trim it down and every little bit helps, but if I'm doing the 1/4 lengths, I may as well do the 1/2s too. I have been having the same thought that I'm going to need to bite the bullet and buy one of the tools out of my own pocket first. Guess I'll start saving my pennies for it. PM'd back. Any and all help is welcome! I should have something new to post fairly soon.

I like it. It seems to be a bit close of a fit vertically, maybe add one more brick before the arch?

And so it goes, we came up short. Not giving up on this, to be sure. I'll keep working and posting updates, both here and on Facebook. I'll work on getting better pricing and do a better job hyping it before launch. As I said before, we'll relaunch the Kickstarter to coincide with Brickworld Chicago. So stay tuned, sit tight, and if you have any ideas, by all means, post here or shoot me a message.

Thanks for the input everyone. By all means, please keep it coming. So it seems regardless of 9V, the switches need to be on the table. Got it. Switches would require a few things though at a minimum beyond just the switches and their components. What if I modify the initial offering to be: R88 standard curves (this allows for parallel tracks with the R104s, could be R120 instead to expand beyond ME) R104 standard curves R104 Left Switch R104 Right Switch R104 turn-out curve R104 siding curve (This and the turn-out curve are necessary evils of sticking to the stud-grid) 1/2 Length straight 1/4 Length straight Switches would be kitted to be 1x Left, 1x Right, 2x turn-out and 2x siding curves. Straights would also be kitted together in packs of 8x each. If building a switch ladder with the R104s, there's a weird length straight you need. Should one of those be included in the switch kit as well or just skip it? Whether 9V is then included comes down to the financials. 9V is viable if we can make a lot of track. The design is sound, and it's cheap and easy to execute per piece. However, the minimum run on the rails is 1000lbs. Since it's such a small cross-sectional area, that's enough to put together about 3 miles of track. Between that and the modified tooling for the bases, 9V would require an additional $45k. As into 9V as I am personally, are there that many of us left to support it? EDIT: To clarify, that additional $45k would be what's required to do the switches offering in 9V in quantity, not the portion dedicated to 9V in the current Kickstarter.

The proper foundation bit is key. Just setting them up on a table or floor has caused a few engines' demise. I certainly agree flex track is pretty worthless, though it is currently the only option for a 1/4 length straight. Still, that shouldn't absolve them from it not connecting properly.

It's sad to say, but if ME actually delivered reliably, there wouldn't have been any need for me to offer this. Also, many people don't care for their track design as 1) it doesn't match the LEGO track; 2) doesn't connect with the flex track and doesn't come shorter than the 1/2 length straight; and 3) isn't sturdy enough to withstand some of the heavier trains taking curves at speed, at least not without gluing it together. If we need to relaunch, we may include the switches next time around. That decision will shake out in the financials though. Hi Tony, you can back just a loop of a single radius. I added those reward tiers about half-way through after getting a lot of that request. As for 9V, there's still a sizeable contingent that prefer it (myself included). While we're only at about 12% of our goal, 76% of that money has been for 9V. Long term, my plan was to also develop a power pick-up wheelset that could be used to power PF motors, giving us a best-of-both-worlds solution. However, I will confess that dropping the 9V would greatly simplify this. But the addition of 9V accounts for less than 1/3 of the required start-up cost. Switches would be a more significant investment as it requires quite a bit more tooling, along with specialized curve pieces (the stud grid is not conducive to crossovers, sidings, and turnouts coming out of one piece). Quick straw poll: Which would you prefer to see in the initial launch? -curves and straights in both PF and 9V; -PF only, but include the switches.

Thanks kieran! I can't help you with the ME rails, but I'll make sure you get 9V ones.

Hi all, I've been watching this (sorry 3797, I missed where you had asked about Plan B), but didn't want to just keep spamming the boards without having any updates to share, though I have been quite busy on it. I've been trying to push this as best I can through a couple Facebook groups and contacting LUGs directly, but it's been a pretty tepid response to say the least. I don't think ME has done us any favors here. If you were considering pledging, please do! If we fail to meet the goal, you aren't charged anything, so there's no harm in pledging. Pledging though will show there's more interest to others that may be on the fence. If this falls short though, the plan is to reassess our costs and the pricing structure, and then relaunch sometime next year. I think what I'll do is time the launch to coincide with Brickworld (maybe even see if they'll let me present there), where it will certainly be fresh on everyone's mind. Between now and then though, I've done some more work on the switches, and I plan to make two sets of crossovers, one PF and one 9V. I'll clean them up, paint them, wire the 9Vs, and just basically get them as close to production looking as possible. I'll do the same thing with a handful of curves and half-straights. NILTC, you guys interested in demoing some prototypes?

Jim, I stole your picture of the crossover and added it to the prototypes gallery. Thanks.

Yep yep yep! Additionally, any remainder money will be immediately reinvested in switches. I will update the kickstarter, but after it is completed, a survey will be sent to each backer specifying desired color. By default though, the 9V tracks will be the old dark grey and the PF tracks will be the new dark bley. Yep, already done. I keep them off from the computer renders because embossed text patterns take an absurdly long time to compute. It also screws with the 3D printers when I make prototypes. The mark is called out on the prints.

Quite calculated. I don't do anything on this scale will-nilly. As I said, it's all about getting over that tooling hump. Once we get past that, costs decrease significantly to where I can do that without a problem. At worst, it takes a little longer for me to put all of them together. Thanks. I've been seeing a lot of comments about ME and other past promises of track, and I suspect a good number of people are indeed put-off by that. Nothing I can do about that though; it is what it is.

Yes, I did it in my Horizon Express. The only rub I found is the adapter cable is too thick to connect directly to the motor. When the train goes around a curve, the cord buckles and derails the train. I had to get an old 9V cord that was a lot thinner to go into the train first, then connect the adapter cable to that. Other than that, works great!

Let's play a little game, shall we? I've had a number of people comment that the pricing is too high. Unfortunately, there is a sizable tooling charge we need to overcome before anything gets made, but beyond that, costs do go down. So, I'll make everyone a deal. If this gets up to $75,000 in funding, I will double everyone's reward. That's right. If you pledged for a full circle of 9V R56 curves, you'll instead get two fill circles. If this gets to $90,000, I'll triple the rewards, and if we break the $100,000 mark, I'll quadruple them. Regardless of where the project ends, there will be different colors available as well. We'll be starting with the old dark grey and the new dark bluish grey, but also light bluish grey, reddish-brown, dark brown, and black could all be options (we'll have a vote on it).

Added more reward tiers for full circles of individual radii!

Indeed. For all the emails I had gotten about when I would finally start the Kickstarter, it sure has been quiet. Time for a media blitz I guess.

Hi Pizzareno, We will, but in the interest of walking before running, we're doing just the curves and straights to start. The switches by themselves are just too costly to produce without the regular track to help support it.