Berthil

That's not possible because the gear rack needs to have a 1/2 stud offset. What you can try is use round plates with hole. With the round plate with hole you have more points to attach the gear racks and they also tend to hold firmer. I've gone back to the Akiyuki lift gearing, it has more jumpers for the gear racks and more gear racks. But that was not the reason I went back to the Akiyuki lift, that was mainly speed and easy of operation for the train.

Looks very promising but 2 challenges still need to be overcome. Buffering the balls when the lift is up and keep the lift low enough after an inbox that is 10L high. At least these were my challenges because I wanted it to be part of a GBC circuit and didn't want to add a belt to the inbox. But of course you are free to do what you want :)

Nice idea, well done! I was also planning to do something with all these brick separators in a GBC so I might use your 'caterpillar insect' idea :)

I think basic setup and pneumatic cilinder position is visible well here What seems a shock absorber is a connector with 12 axle and three soft shock springs to get enough travel. If needed I can try to make a better picture. These make initial force to get the lift up much lower and dampens the lift on its way down. The problem with the scissor lift is that when the lift is up balls must be contained until the lift is down again. This can be solved by adding yet another belt or something that stops when the train is not there but then why not make a higher belt like you have made now. So pneumatics seemed the best solution in this case.

@Doug72 good idea with the vertical lift. I might build my own version and use it as a backup for the pneumatic scissor lift as I didn't test the scissor lift yet for more than an hour. I very much doubt if the train can develop enough force to drive a scissor lift fast enough but you came up with clever solutions before so looking forward to your version.

Welcome @rskamen and thanks for introducing yourself. The tracks are current Powerfunctions RC Trains tracks (so not the old 9v system which have metal tracks): 53401 for straights 53400 for wide curves 85976 for the narrow curves (hard to get in Dark Bluish Grey) 60128 for the crossover (2 pieces), very hard to get as Doug mentioned 88492c00 flexible tracks to make ends meet 53404 and 53407 switch tracks I read you want to start with my compact layout. That's good but please be aware I have build a pneumatic module to load the train at the start. There is no building description of this one and pneumatic parts are also expensive. But may be when you get at this point you will come up with a new loader module to lift balls over the trains :) Good luck and as Doug says, we are always here to help when you get stuck.

Mostly this is caused by wrongly positioned gear rack causing the 8t gear to walk 'over' the gear rack tilting the whole train but your gear rack is in the right position You might however want to remove the yellow guide or make it higher, I think the 8t gears on the train axle ends may be climb up the yellow beam. The extra plate is okay and helps smoother entry and exit.

Holiday well spend, got IKEA Detolf No. 7, sprayed it silver and put the RoscoPC Matra MS80 in it. Also cleaned all other cabinets inside and outside. One spot left for model No. 14.

First post updated with a 20 minute video with lots of details of all 8 Brickative modulars Also details pictures of the interiors in my Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/r53/albums/72157698690928321/with/43186107535/

Seems to work well, good job. Having no switch make me curious how you will load and unload the train. Especially unload because loading can be done with the 'Train Through Unit' on a train with no switch. Small tip. It's better to remove that axle connector and the bottom and use a 9L axle. The connector touches something there.

And some wings :) Looking forward to the video, also without wings and propeller :)

Finished converting the carrier back to Akiyuki drive so now without worm gear. The train has to work less hard, works very smooth and whole cycle is now 22 seconds instead of 29, a considerable win. To keep the carrier down without train I added the below switch. Tested for half an hour and works very well.

Both :) they are in fact 6 soft springs, 3 on each side. 6 to get enough travel distance and damping and while compressed they aid in getting the lift back up. They also tilt the bottom of the inbox so 3-way function for this mechanism.

I've tried to speed up the worm gear carrier of the Rotary Dumper some more apart from the already present 24:8 gears. The lift could do with some more speed in my compact train layout. But as already expected, it's too much for the M-motor in the train. There is no real speed gain as forces get too high. Also the train jumps out of the carrier because of the high forces. I have now build the Akiyuki gearing back in the carrier but keeping our simple switches. Best of both worlds. This runs very smooth with the four 24t gears for every lift beam and no gearing down and gearing up like with the worm gear. The two 8t gears on top of the 24t keeping the train down in the worm carrier sometimes also hook against the train in my setup. With the 4-gear drive they can be left out. But of course the lift wants to come up with the counterweights and no train. I have made a simple switch at the bottom front to prevent that. Still have some testing to do but seems to work. Will post a picture soon.

Correct on the fact it's neat but poorly named, I've build one which can carry the correct name :)

Correct, all tracks in this setup are one brick high. This for several reasons given below as I intend this to run for 7 days ate LEGO World 2019 and not only for a movie :) Entry and exit of the train for all modules is smoother. you may have noticed in your layouts, on a slippery surface the smaller modules tend to shift because of the spring operated train reverser switch shooter. Since there is not much room for the train to pass in a lot of places in this setup all track connections are attached with bricks so the tracks don't shift. 1 brick height is needed for the narrow curves with hoses and shaft below the track from train reverser switch to scissor lift. Passing module is much more stable now and doesn't fall apart when picking up and moving to events but the 1 brick height can be left out

Nice! Actually I intend to make the inbox about 4 studs longer after running it for 7 days at LEGO World. It works fine as it is now but I had it as first module of my setup and sometimes the inbox would overrun and if it is longer it is better reachable for the previous module. I can make instructions but I think the hoses should be included and that would probably be the most work to include in the digital file and instruction.

@dunes Nice! I however made some changes after 7 days of running at LEGO World Utrecht. Balls kept on jamming, especially on the output. It was actually the module that needed the most attention of all the modules I had with me. I made the entry a sharp edge and exit more convex following the curves of the ring so balls don't jam. I'll make some pictures.

Pneumatic Scissor Lift finished and made a video together with the compact train layout. Some pictures: Don't mind the balls, forgot to clean them out after a small mishap and already had broken down the temporary studio: Compressor internals by Quanix. I tried to incorporate a pressure switch and spend a lot of time on it but it didn't work well with the trains that operate batch-like: Full track layout, only 1,5 meter length from curve to curve Internals of the scissor lift: And the bidirectional passing station as promised:

Very nice overview! Soon I hope to have the pneumatic train loader ready to be added to the list. The build is progressing well and I got almost all the mechanics working. When finished I will also make good pictures of the passing module.

@MajklSpajkl nice build, I like the Red :) I lubricated the turntables with PTFE but there is still quite some force needed to turn all six. May be take 5 in the rebuild? I think the neck braces are needed for the right gear distance, otherwise they indeed skip or are too tight depending on position. I hope you get yours running smoothy!

Yes, the axle from one side needs extension to the other side with 8T gear (this for both sides) and I've made the whole module symmetrical and more sturdy now.

@Doug72 this would be part of a full circle with GBC modules so other modules will bring the balls to the pneumatic loader. When I display alone I intend to use the curves and unloader/loader module to bring back the balls from end to beginning with the trains and passing module and lots of tracks. So double win for this setup, can be used in either situation. The crossover is a (costly) original LEGO part. But I may be should have gotten the TrixBrix version if I wan't to mechanically switch them although I think there is already enough to see and figure out without the switch :) Pneumatic scissor lift module will also be nice to watch so even more to see when finished.

Below my progress on a very compact train layout to be used during events on narrow tables. At the right a new pneumatic module will added to fill the train over the track. For this the timer will be delayed so the train will have to wait less for the rotary dumper to finish. I'm also thinking about placing a train driven switch to switch the crossover directions. With a switch one train will run the full track but still two can run at the same time. Do you think this switch will be worth the effort and will make it more interesting to watch? Changes I have made are: Passing module is now a parallel waiting station to sync the trains so they don't collide. This means the module works in both directions instead of the original one which worked only in one direction I've shortened all spring switches inside the track with 2 studs to make room for tracks and trains passing the switches Severed the rotary dumper and added a bridge between dumper and lift. Still the rotary dumper can be clicked together as one module. Modified 180 degree turns on ribbed hose that run smoother All trains on lithium battery pack. When the pneumatic module is finished I'll make a full movie with all details.

@Doug72 nice idea and well executed without giving up! I just finished designing a VERY compact train layout with two loaders, two unloaders and two trains that fits on a 60 x 200 cm space where all trains run through all modules. The second loader will be have one or two pneumatic scissor lifts. The compressor of 100% LEGO with pressure switch I have already build. Now waiting for parts to complete the track and starting to design the pneumatic scissor lift.