Moz

The weirdest thing was several small collectable dolls. I looked up the brand online and found a few collector websites. If I'd got them 10 years before then they would have been worth a few hundred dollars... but I suspect the reason they were in with $100 worth of Duplo is that the owner knew they were worthless. But mostly what I find is mysterious goo stuck to the Lego. Toothpaste? Chewing gum? Glue? Excrement? Who knows... I just work through my collection of solvents and cleaning agents until one works or I run out of options. Most vanish in a bucket of warm soapy water, some resist caustic soda, vinegar and isopropyl alcohol (one at a time!) I don't think I've ever found money. The worst was some "non-smoking household" Lego that stank of cannabis smoke. I ended up assembling a couple of sets and selling them with the warning "stink of cannabis smoke" because I couldn't wash the smell off. The extra parts I just dumped, I'm not wishing that problem on anyone (cannabis is illegal in Australia).

So the solution is to buy the BrickTracks wheels and axles, rather than using Lego ones. I will have to order some and wait. For me HABricks postage is half what BrickTracks charge (USA postage is more than the cost of whatever I'm ordering).

I ordered their ball bearings in Technic bricks and one arrived disintegrated. The balls are tiny (as expected). Definitely not roller bearings. Tiny ball races like that are relatively fragile, I expected that, and when I was shoving axles through them I was appropriately careful. But still applied axial loads, especially because the tolerances on Lego axles and the bearings themselves meant that some combinations were too tight to fit together. Which makes it all the more surprising that one bearing fell apart in transit. I have emailed them but not heard back et (it's the middle of the night in Europe) https://ibb.co/JygMbpV the black blob is a Technic 1x2 brick with two holes, and part of the bearing race in it. Note 2mm hole through washer and tiny ball next to it.

I got the HDBricks ball bearing bricks, and I'm a bit unimpressed. One bearing arrived in pieces, and just generally the Lego axles+wheels I have don't stick together very well so picking up a model generally means half the wheels fall off. I suspect I need to 3D print some holders that have an exterior section like the Lego wheel holders do. It makes testing rolling resistance very tedious as I have to find all the wheels and washers then reassemble the test vehicle after every test. Does anyone have advice? Upside is that the BrickTracks R104 points are very nice. Injection moulding really does give a better finish than even the decent 3D printers that TrixBrix use. In Australia it's cheaper to buy BrickTracks stuff from Europe because postage from the US is extremely expensive (more than the cost of the tracks in any combination I can find). Now if only they offered more than simple points :)

Thanks for the link. Although given the limited advantage of the metal axles in tests so far I think I'll hold off until the HDBricks sample pack arrives and I can test those. Same seller lists in Australia, but only 10 sets of bearings... for 1/4 the price of 100. A different seller has 50 for ~$US18. If I want some I think I'll contact the seller you linked and ask for 100 :)

The recent ones, my Lego trains go straight from the old blue rails to what I can buy this year. I'm more a Technic fan but long covid means I have too much Lego time and not enough enthusiasm for yet another Technic car. I might have to see what I can do about your record though 😉

Rolling Resitance 3: Graphite More trials, sorted by time: W 4.4 W 4.5 Y 4.57 Y 4.57 G 5.3 G 5.6 R 5.9 R 7.3 (barely made it through, was the very first run so may be dubious) Red and Yellow are as before. Two new wagons with same weight to within 0.1 grams, but with graphite added. For the metal axles I tried to get some into the axle hole on the wheel as well as on the axle where it goes through the holder. I think the former is likely to be more important, so we get the wheels rotating independently more easily. G = grey, plastic axles with graphite W = white, metal axles with graphite. Ran on the R40 curved track from before. That helped, but the plastic axles are still better on curved track. Any more ideas?

Results with TrixBrix R72 curves (only 45 degrees of curve each way because that's what I have available). R72 is less dramatic but plastic axles still handle the curves better. When I get the ball bear races I think I'll test hose vs graphite lubricating the plastic axles. I could do a wiggle track but I don't really see the value as it's not something I use in actual layouts - I get the feeling it's something people do for house-size tracks because they inevitably have a big pile of curved track left over. Red/Metal Yellow/Plastic R72 5.33 (that's a bad run, discard it) 4.07 3.77 4.33 3.84 4.17 3.77 R72 60337 5.1 4.4 https://imgur.com/a/PZ1Oo1I A few photos, one showing what's left of my layout after I removed the tracks for these tests.

More tests done, and while I work on the R72 TrixBrix tests and some more 60337wagon tests, here's a 30s update: Those of you predicting that the plastic axles would work better on curves... well done! Day 2 Red/Metal Yellow/Plastic R40 curve 1 6.63 4.4 7.13 4.57 8.16 4.6 straight 3.1 3.53 3.1 3.5 60337 wagons on straight track 3.1 3.74 3.2 3.66 3.1 3.74

Cheapest I've found in Australia is $1.36 per ball bearing race which is IMO still unreasonable. But better than the $3-$4 ones from BB suppliers, or the $5+ onces from AliExpress (I am obviously using the wrong search terms) I have some HDTracks BB parts coming, I ordered a set just to see if the idea is worth pursuing. I have that but I need a really steep ramp to get the wagons through the last horizontal section so I've dropped back to 3 sections one way, 6 sections back, then 3 more to go straight down the ramp. I've also nailed the track down because the curves move a lot as the wagons go over them. And I'll dig out some 60337 wagons too. Once the sun comes up and I have enough light to make the camera happy I'll shoot some more video and collect more results. I'm thinking the video will be less slide show than last time and more of a "methods" section, with a summary slide and the rest here. Unless anyone really wants to see another ten or more 30s runs down the track.

I can't find an existing thread, so while we can still sort of get the older metal axles I thought I should make sure the new ones really are improved. So I made a simple test track and did some simple tests :) TLDR: my wagon with one pair of metal axles is significantly faster than the one with all plastic axles. Red Yellow 16.67s 19.8s 16.86s 19.9s 24.57s 31.97s For the last set I reduced the slope of the test track to make the difference even more obvious. I'd love to hear ideas for modifying my test setup to get better results. I plan do swap axles so I have all-metal vs all-plastic, and I will also do an R40 wiggle track to see if that's dramatically different. The test track is one of my 3x9 tabletops, with the left hand end 10cm or 8cm above the right hand end. It's ~2.3m long and very flat. The release is via a pin-in-hole mechanism so it should be fairly consistent between runs. The big issue turned out to be my camera not being great so I will need to set up better lighting when I do more tests. The wagons are 24 studs long with 16x1+8x1 or 12x1 bricks on one layer, then 6x1 bricks across those on top. There are photos in the video. They weigh 187.38g and 187.35g, with less than a 1x1 plate difference in weight. The photos of the scales have had the display area curves blown out so you can actually read the display in the video. The scales are cheap and the display is faint in real life.

That sounds interesting, as a non-car person the current crop of sets are very meh.

Obviously this means TLG is about to announce a new R104, 7 wide track system 😋 (I'm joking, ok, joking....)

Work area is reassembled, I'm still sorting things from boxes into the wooden trays. As you can see I'm working on something that has stud but let's just pretend that's not happening :) The three big shelves can have hinges and wheels fitted so it folds into a box 1.2m x 0.8mm and about 2m tall. When it's like that the desk part can be put vertically between the htwo sections so it's included. But this room has carpet and a wooden floor so the wheels don't work. So I took them and the hinges off. Shelves spaced for the plastic trays up top and the photocopy paper boxes below. Plastic trays are Australian "Fischer" brand, their dividers are fixed but are conveniently sized for Lego parts. I prefer the wooden ones that I made myself, because they're sized for exactly what I want. More details:

I just sold 3 circles of them on our local garage sale site. I was impressed that they sold at all, let alone for ~$AU50c each, but someone's grandchildren will be making wiggly lines of track all over the living room now... Edit 19 September, two months later: If anyone is still following this... my package got lost, I contacted Lego and they sent a replacement box. That has arrived and contained 6 loose straight rails and 11 bundles of four. The only weird part was that two bundles had joined themselves together, so I got four pairs joined together. Almost like the TrixBrix double length sections. And yes, 22 more pins.

I did think of that when I ordered exactly 30 lengths. It' will be interesting to see whether I get lots of 4 with pins then two extra, or 30 single tracks (with pins?)

I have my TrixBrix order! So of course I had a little break from work to put it together :) First impressions are that the injection moulded sections click together slightly more strongly than Lego does, and they're as nice as Lego - smooth, fit well, and the trains run very happily on them. A double 60337 "fast train" will do full speed loops of the R72 oval without any problems at all. It goes over but doesn't like the R40 crossover any more than it likes Lego's R40 switches. The Emerald Express shown is also fine with it. As expected the R72 loop just barely fits a 1.2m wide board, it's technically 1.22 from memory. But the free gift of a double length straight track is slightly oversize compared to a Lego baseplate. It's only the width of an "O" on a Lego stud, but enough to make it hard to attach to a baseplate. The link below has a photo, including a composite showing the offset between attached at not attached (I over-saturated the unattached image to make it more obvious). But without a tripod and ideally a macro lens it's a bit fuzzy, sorry. The 3D printed crossover and switches are clean enough for 3D prints, they work, but they're fragile. The "firmer click together" with TrixBrix injection moulded parts means you need to be careful not to bend or break the little tabs that overlap to make the rails. At least the one I mishandled bent rather than breaking. I would be willing to pay a bit more to get injection moulded parts. Bigger image and baseplate shots here: https://imgur.com/a/2izDZAO (sorry, handheld photos with cellphone so they're not as clear as they could be)

For me it's about space. R104 is ~1.8m diameter which really constrains what I can build since my layout has to be at least semi-portable. I'm in the process of switching over to tables 3 modules x 1 (~2.3x0.8m) which will hopefully be a good compromise between irritatingly small and unmanageably large. (making a 5 x 3 module table with a 3x1 hole in the middle). Way too much time in BlueBrick plotting layouts, and the TrixBrix order is an R72 oval plus bits to give me a layout that fits my current 2.4m x 1.2m table, while hopefully letting me run 1:45 scale trains without too many issues. My current layout really struggles once a wagon gets more than about 40 studs long. Top layout is pure Lego, and the obvious gap is a section of flex track. Bottom layout has light grey TrixBrix parts. Both fit on 2.4 x 1.2m sheet of timber (4x8 feet) and have two loops plus some storage. The Lego track is kind of ok for a locomotive with one or two 40+ stud long cars, but more than that I get derailments. I have been tempted to get the router out and cut a (1.2m less 16 stud) circle then run flex track round it, but a sketch using cardboard says flex track isn't great for that (albeit I only have about 20 flex segments so that's 1/4 of a circle).

Ask me again on Monday night, I have a Fedex delivery from TrixBrix scheduled for Monday. Assuming the floods don't stop that happening. They've stopped me cutting plywood for new tables to put my new track on, since I have to do that outside (or in the kitchen, which might lead to me not being allowed in the house for a while...) I've seen the 3D printed 4D Bricks stuff in a youtube review and it did not impress me. There's an Oz guy printing it here so I'm sure I'll see some at meetings once I start looking for it. But the general rough look and the need to hand-sand it to make it run properly, plus some of the switches in Alex's review not working makes me a bit dubious. This review:

If you can a 4k video from almost directly above makes it very easy (ideally move the camera slightly towards you). A lower frame rate is actually better because you're doing it to grab frames out of later. 4k is ~12MP and most cameras/editing packages now will give you very nice stills out of the video stream. You just have to remember that the camera is there and rotate the model/subassemblies so the camera gets to see all the relevant angles. I find that going over the MOC when it's assemble and taking lots of photos is also helpful. Disk space is cheap and it means later you can zoom in and go "oooh, that's what I did" to see how the final thing actually goes together. Second the LBG background. I use a bath towel as an assembly surface but a length of gray-ish cloth is cheap by Lego standards... flannelette or sweatshirt material in plain gray should be readily available, here it's about $20/metre in a 1.1m wide strip. Having a soft covering on the desk means small parts don't bounce much when you drop them, and the plain colour makes it easy to find things as well as making the photos easier to understand. If you're really keen adding a white (or black?) reverse side for the LBG chassis sections might help too, but I've never found it necessary.

... and my order just arrived. I have purple 7x13 ish sized frames now! Ordered ~6 June, arrived 28 June. Mostly now I can start building my 7-wide technic train wagons. The purple is just an "as well as" but could be cool.

Wow, that's a seriously impressive level of detail. Those bogies! And the door details!

I use a craft knife with a saw blade because that gives a fine cut without deforming the edges the way a blade would. I made a little jig out of Lego to get the spacing right. Basically the blade goes on one side of a Lego brick and the end of the axle rests on the other side. (and I put the axle in a a battery drill because I'm a bit lazy). Like this: https://www.metrohobbies.com.au/products/vallejo-hobby-tools-t06001-modeling-saw-set-with-4-scalpels

I have thought about that, but somehow my little purist heart is happier cutting genuine Lego to make something that TLG actually produced, just in tiny numbers. Same as I bought about 500 12-long axles and cut them into 5+7 lengths, and 3+9 lengths. Because axles should be black, obviously. Unless they're trans-white but I'm not (quite) mad enough to only use the old school axles. They annoy me too, but since I could buy the real ones in bulk I did that. Just... 9L axles in black for $US10 each... yeah nah. 12L and some careful cutting.

Yep, I couldn't see them on the Oz site when I looked just now. Most annoying. But the bigger frames are there (including 7x11 in purple if you're keen): Frame 7x11 black ID: 6265643/39794 $AU2.39 Frame 11x15 black ID: 6265646/39790 $AU3.28 Just ordered in Australia. As usual some prices are bizarrely more than double BrickLink, but those frames... yeah nah :) But from BrickLink I ordered a bunch of "axle 2l w' pin friction ridges" in black because the 1l version is hard to find and expensive, but I can cut the 2l ones down. This was the start of the Technic colour vomit and I will not forgive them! I have about 20 of the black axle-pin parts and they cost me an annoying amount to get. But they do wonderfully confuse Technic geeks when they see a MOC that uses them in the right places :)