Greetings members! First post here and hoping this is the most appropriate forum...
So I have a four year old which brought me out of my dark ages, like major relapse. Even though she's been playing/building (mainly Friends) since she was two, I broke down last summer and got "our" first Modular (PR). Since then, we've built six more Modulars, a few 16x32 MOCs, a PUP train, and a table set-up that accommodates thirty (30) 32x32 baseplates. THEN, my parents sent me my sets from the '80s which contain ~14 9-stud road baseplates. At first, I just planned to use them as-is, perhaps in a different part of town with a separate road "circuit" (I also have the modern 6-stud road plates), but there is just too much space to fill, even if I add a tram line. So I'm hoping for pointers...
1) I thought maybe there would be a way to build out some type of transitional plate to go from wide to narrow streets. Despite the jarring color difference, I'm still amenable to this - does anyone have suggestions or done similar with good results?
2) With a whopping 9-studs, should I move the Modulars from their dedicated baseplates to join and take over part of these old streets? I understand the drawbacks there, but don't see much benefit. Note that the layout is U-shaped and "one sided", i.e. 80 studs deep (two 32x32 baseplates with room for one 16x32 plate).
3) Insert a 16 stud base between the road plates and build (likely with jumpers) across all three, creating an alley in the rear of the buildings. I even could use modern 6-stud roads for the facing side and the old plates for the rear alley - in this scenario there would be 31 studs on which to build between the streets, an easy sacrifice for any modular I can think of. Considerations/advice on this method? Should I lift the building base one brick plus jumper plates for stability?
I'd planned on lifting the buildings eventually, and doing full tile streets. But there's something charming and unique about the old roads, so I'd like to incorporate them in whole or in part.
Comparison for reference:
This is a great read - I bought the PUP hub 88009 and motor 88011 to retrofit a train for Christmas. You *do* save money on the controller with the app, but the connection shuts down if you try to take photos/videos (at least on iOS). Your write-up on the sensor is spot-on. I don't have it, but need the possible features to repurpose the PUP hub/motor and train for a back-and-forth tram in my city, i.e., no loop. Seems like a no brainer, but here we are. Hope LEGO realizes this.