Aaron

It arrived today! So much goodness, but now it's time to start adding ballast to all of this track. This might take some time, but I'll post pictures when my layout is finished. Everything looks great, though.

I gave up trying to electrify plastic track, and fully embraced power functions. Everything I tried (copper tape, steel tape, etc.) just wore down eventually.

I haven't given up hope. I'm sure they're super busy, and with a small staff it's probably a challenge to sort through thousands upon thousands of items. I know how it feels to work in retail, and the fact that I've had three recent orders from ME Models turn out great is proof to me that they're real, hard-working good people. I think I just worry a bit too much sometimes when there are delays, but I really have faith in them.

Any estimate on when my Kickstarter order might be shipped to me? I hope I haven't been forgotten...

I have a shelf displaying a ballasted double mainline segment, six 32 x 32 baseplates long, and two baseplates wide so that I can display trees on one side of the track. This allows me to display up to four 1:38 scale train cars, with two per track. The rest of my trains are stored in plastic containers. I'm a bit nervous to post pictures of anything until it's all finished though.

Nicely done. Wish I could see it in person, but I doubt I'll ever have another weekend off at my current job. Oh well.

I only wish my order would arrive so that I could ballast my curves too. I thought of something cool that I want to experiment with.

I like the power functions system because it functions the same way that real trains do. I like making LEGO trains as close to real trains as possible.

I'm probably at the very bottom of Rail Santa's list...

Interesting. I'll take a look.

Hopefully most people already realize that LEGO's switches are too tight. Wide radius switches will eventually be created, whether ME Models does it or not. Give it a few months, and if nobody else does it, I'll at least come up with something, either by creating a "Frankenswitch" from modified parts, or using SketchUp. Whether or not anyone will ever mass-produce them is an entirely different situation that depends on if there's a demand for it.

Are you going to put the r120 switches on Shapeways, by any chance?

Even that r120 looks nice. The bigger, the better!

I have 10-wide 85 long coaches with body mounted couplers ready to test when my r104 track arrives with my backer kit.

I'd be interested in r104+ switches even though they wouldn't match my ME Models track.

Nice! This looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

The axle holes are too loose for that. I suppose I could just kragle them on, but I might try to find another use for them first.

I use power functions wheels, which have thicker flanges and treads, which is why I only need a 4 stud gap between the wheel sets. Haven't used the old wheels in over a decade, since I discovered that individual wheels mounted on flick-fire missile pins are virtually frictionless and offer way more flexibility for custom bogies.

When I was a toddler, I would have preferred an adult targeted train set over anything. Kids have a lot more potential and higher attention spans than most give them credit for.

Standard LEGO wheels don't have that kind of gap with my wheel sets, though. They work just fine.

My initial test was on ME Models track, which the wheels work fine on. I tested it on power functions track, and it doesn't stay on the track very well. I fixed my computer, so I'm going to give SketchUp a shot and see what I come up with when I have free time Monday, since I work nonstop Friday through Sunday. Here are two images of a wheelset on Power Functions track. The first one is centered, but the second one is shifted just slightly. There appears to be about 3mm of extra space (1.5mm per side when centered) between the flanges and rails. Extending the rear inner circle to about 1mm thick so that the flanges are pushed out more, then concaving the front of the wheel proportionately (so that it still takes up 1/2 of a technic bush on the axle) should help, as well as extending the conical treads by about 1mm. Real train wheels usually have deeper concaves on the inner part of the treads, so it would not only function better with these improvements, but also look more realistic.

I received 8 gray nylon plastic wheels today. They look and feel great, and are much more rigid and durable than I had expected. If there's one issue I have, it's that the technic axle hole is a bit too loose. The wheels are a wobbly, though thankfully they're about the same thickness as technic 1/2 bushes, and can be reinforced on either side unlike the stock LEGO wheels which are slightly thicker. The wheels stay on the track, but would be more secure if the conical perimeter of the inner section extended out further while keeping the innermost technic axle hole section the same thickness as a 1/2 bush. I'll try to highlight this with pictures later.

Sweet deal! Thanks Mike!

Any update on the timeframe for mixed orders?

I use normal plates and turntables on everything. You should have no problems whatsoever if you use 4 x 4 turntables.