collectormania

very interesting DIY. i will try it for my trains, thanks for sharing ;-)

hum, bad news for me i will have to find another solution to control my layout thanks for reply @Cosmik42

@Toastie ho ok i understand now ;-) i hope someone could help me with the arduino i sent PM to @Cosmik42 but got no reply at this time

@Toastie i will control my switches with 4dbrix motors, i already have a few ones and for the future i will buy the motors without their control box but use Arduino to control the switches. it is a lot less expensive than the complete 4dbrix solution i Don't understand what you wrote :

yes that's what i want ;-) i think the lego sensors are too expensive, and the limitation of PU hubs are a problem too the Arduino sensors are really cheap we can add a Bluetooth module to an Arduino, so the BAP may be able to connect with the Arduino, no? i think we have the same if we use : PU Hub with 2 servos for switches and Arduino with Bluetooth controlling 2 servos i begin in my automation project, i try to find the best solution the big problem is to know here is each train i will read again all this topic, but do the BAP control possition of each train, does it really work? i'm speaking with a man who create apps for train, and he developped great things to contro lthe layout but he say the problem with lego train is that current Don't come from tracks but from battery, so we may control with an Arduino Inside each train (no problem it is very cheap, a nano Arduino cost 3 euros) he has an app which work for it, but not possible to control where are the trains...so this is the problem if the BAP can contro lwhere each train is, then the problem may be solve... this is the link : https://arduinorailwaycontrol.com/index.html

hi, did someone use the BAP with Arduino? i need to know if it is possible to control Arduino with the program thanks for reply

hello, finally i bought some leds from China seller, the leds are great, very small and fit in lego pieces (i made adjustments and cute some lego studs to fit perfectly) i really love them i made 2 gas sphere for my future petrochemical factory, and i put the leds on them, it is great i will try to take pictures this afternoon

hi, thanks for replies, i don't want to go on DIY solution because i can' use a soldering iron, last time use one i was 15 and it was ....30 years ago not sure i'm still able to use this, so i preffer precable options i find some leds in China from the company vonado, the price is a lot more interesting and no need of soldering iron... i made an order and i may get them this week, i will let you know if quality is good enough for the price...

Hi Cosmik42, will you make the software compatible with 4dbrix switch motors? I have a few ones and i would love to use them with BAP...and do you think you could add arduino compatibility too? The distance sensors are really cheap and arduino offer lots of possibilities...i read that the lego colour sensors don t work very well, arduino colour sensors are less expensive perhaps will they work better...at this time i did not try any solution for automation, i m trying to find the best solution with cheaper accessories. Original lego sensors are too expensive...so i think to use arduino...i hope you can add this to the software...thanks for reply

hi everyone, i'm planning to add light on my layout ,but i Don't know which company where i can buy them i found 2 different companies : Bricks Delight https://bricksdelight.com/ the prices are good, the shipping cost is offered for 50$, but they send from China, is anyone already bought some of their stuff? i found some of their links going to old lepin pages, so not sure if they are serious and if orders are safe... and i found Brickstuff https://www.brickstuff.com/ and their european reseller : https://www.sunnysavers.co.uk/brickstuff/ prices are more expensive, shipping cost is expensive but i read that they are the original designers of the leds i Don't know what to do, i need help, thanks

Hello, thanks to all for comments, i wil ladd new pictures as quick as possible with the new design, it is going ver yslow at this tiem to make the tracks again (and again and again…)

i used the ncontrol program from 4dbrix to design my layout, and it is really interesting, and they have listed of course all of their custom tracks, just a problem for the multi level layout... this is a copy of my 2 levels layout, it was really easy to do with ncontrol :

all you saw on ths first post is now destroy, and i begin to create another design, and i change again 3 weeks ago, and redestroy everything!!! i'm crazy... now i hope the next design will be the last one this is the layout design with made with 4dbrix ncontrol program : the layout have 2 levels, the down tracks are ground zero and the upper tracks are ground 1 the tracks unfinished are connections of the 2 levels for ground zero, the left place is the train yard, i will have 10 trains waing in this area, plus 2 series of wagons waiting on 2 lines with decouplers the right place for ground zero will be a sbway with 2 trains running and 2 trains in waiting areas for the 1st floor on the right it will be the town with 2 tramways on the left the train station will be up the 5 tracks and i will make a industrial zone and commercial zone the very left place will be a petrochemical zone with a train yard for single locomotives on the top... i just began to create this layout, i wil ltake pictures as soon as i made it... the 2 levels will be 18 bricks high, the tracks that go fro mground zero to ground one will take 24 tracks for the inclination... the decouplers and the motor switches will be 4dbrix ones i will use their program ncontrol to control them i would like to make automation for the layout with IR detectors, i will certainly use some arduinos at this time i Don't really know how to dot the automation, if someone here already done a thing like this, i'm open to get ideas... i think for some automation scenarios like : a locomotive go from the loco yard on first floor, it go to the ground floor to search wagons in one of the wagons line, it make a few turns and then go back to the empty wagon line, decouplers cut the locomotive for the wagons, and then the locomotive go back to it train yard on first floor... my problem is i really Don't know how many IR detectors i need and where to place them on the layout, and how to use them with ncontrol or other program...if someone have some ideas i take them thanks for reading

hi everyone, i created this topic to show you my lego train layout i began 18 months ago, and i already change all 2 times, i begin now the 3rd design i made... this is pictures of the 2nd design i made : my custom train station : i find it on the net, i did not created it myself : th city area : the ballasted tracks : industrial zone : this pictures are from 3 months ago, now i finished to ballast all tracks it was already a lot of time and a lot of money to do this...

hi everyone, i'm David , 44 years old, i live in France...sorry if i make mistakes in English, as it is not my first language ;-) i felt in lego world 18 months ago, i was first a Playmobil fan, and especially a train fan with playmobils trains it was not possible to create a great layout, customisation is very difficult in Playmobil, we can only cut, paste and paint the existing parts anf it take lots of place so i decided to take a look at the lego trains, and since then i bought lots of things and besoin a very big layout i have the change to have a big space in my first garage, so i created tables with 8 baseplates by 27 baseplates i'm now at the 3rd attempt of my layout, everytime Something was not good enough so i made radical changes now i'm planning the 3rd layout and i think it will be the last one (since the next one of course, lol) it will be with 2 levels, a big fortified city with modualrs, a big industrial zone the ground zero will be a big train yard i planned lots of things, now juste need time and…..money...