Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

[Narissis]

AFAIK, the PFx Brick does not have that support out of the box. I'm not sure if it could be added via firmware. I do seem to recall Michael talking about the smart motor potentially having a DCC-compatible variant, but take that with a grain of salt. I wouldn't expect anything like that to materialize for another couple of years even if it does happen - after the standard versions of the motor.

[Ropefish]

5 hours ago, Narissis said:

AFAIK, the PFx Brick does not have that support out of the box. I'm not sure if it could be added via firmware. I do seem to recall Michael talking about the smart motor potentially having a DCC-compatible variant, but take that with a grain of salt. I wouldn't expect anything like that to materialize for another couple of years even if it does happen - after the standard versions of the motor.

Dang that’s a bummer, I really wanted to run my locomotive with a physical controller that isn’t IR but a Decoder is 100-200USD…. Suppose I’m better off waiting then.

[Brickblock1]

You could probably write some piece of software for your pc to allow such functionality given the PFx brick does have bluetooth support.

[ScotNick]

It seems like there were some prototypes at the "Bauspielbahntreffen" in Schkeuditz:

Bauspielbahntreffen Schkeuditz 11.08.2024 by Thomas Reincke, on Flickr

Interesting to see...

Edited August 13, 2024 by ScotNick

[Ropefish]

well ain't that a thing of beauty...

[_schwede]

Are there any signs of life?

In Germany, most of the track pieces are out of stock for quite a while.

Desperately need a pack of R56

Edited December 12, 2024 by _schwede

[SD100]

Michael had a great display at ToroLUG Toronto's Bricks in the 6, with a display of all the upcoming larger radii, and all the prototypes and pre-production models of the electric elements. The power feeders look great, lower profile than the 9v ones and they will save us all a lot of rewiring old ones. It sounded like we were getting a lot closer to seeing some of those things come to market. My wallet is still in pain, but it knows that the worst is yet to come... lol.

SD

[Narissis]

I hope you came to see my layout on the other side of the railing as well. :)

[SD100]

Lol, I talked with ya, I'm the BuffaLUG guy with the hair.

SD

[Narissis]

Hmm... how much does that narrow it down? :P

[Henry 991]

Do you have any information on future availability of PFx Bricks and accessories (XL Speaker and expansion boards)?

The products have been unavailable for several months now. I have not managed to reach the customer support.

I am asking here because I am not the only one with the issue.

[Nuul]

On 8/13/2024 at 6:31 PM, ScotNick said:

It seems like there were some prototypes at the "Bauspielbahntreffen" in Schkeuditz:

Bauspielbahntreffen Schkeuditz 11.08.2024 by Thomas Reincke, on Flickr

Interesting to see...

Waiting for quite a long time now for these, can't wait to get them (also the power pick up one). I know this motor will be stronger than the lego one (also 12 volt boost option?) so that looks promising. Hope it will be a bit quieter too since the lego motor can be quite loud sometimes (or is it just my motor?)

[derlumpi]

The blog on the Fx website was last updated over 6 months ago, stock is non existant - not good signs in my book. :-/

[Narissis]

That's not all that unusual; FX Bricks is a slow-moving machine given that it's run mostly by one person with a lot on his plate and who, by his own admission, is not at all diligent about posting blog updates. :P

What I can say following Bricks in the Six in November is that the wheels are slowly grinding away behind the scenes; more track radii are in the pipeline but do expect them to take a while to trickle out.

I believe the next big production push is for a restock of the switches so apart from the other things laid out in the roadmap from the last blog post, those will be some of the next things to expect back in stock.

[LM12V]

an update is out. In short, we are still on the high seas at least until the summer. There are already adapters for 9V and power functions, nothing for 12V. Yet he closes the post with the yellow-red train of the golden era

Edited February 10 by LM12V

[XG BC]

i mean 12v is just smal banana plugs anyways, so such a thing shouldnt be too hard to do

[Andy Glascott]

The version of 7740 in the post is a MOC running on 9v motor, I doubt there are plans to resurrect anything related to 12v sadly…. 

[GoHabsGo]

Great to read the news @michaelgale !

I'm so impatient

[HoMa]

23 hours ago, LM12V said:

Yet he closes the post with the yellow-red train of the golden era

You can read about the modernized 7740 train set my Michael at bricknerd

https://bricknerd.com/home/remixing-12v-trains-modernizing-classic-lego-trains-1-29-24

 

[derlumpi]

Nice to see an update! Thx Michael!

Curious about the adapter for PF as my son bought the latest cargo train and we are running out of batteries so fast. :-/

[Narissis]

The PF and PU adapter mention is interesting to me; last I spoke to Michael he suggested they might not bother with those because there are already other adapters on the market.

Maybe he found their quality wasn't up to his standards.

[Stereo]

I suppose functional reasons too, the official 9V-PF adapter can't attach to the new power pickup bogie design, cause the plug has PF on the top of it.  So right now you need a 9V plate or wire, then the PF adapter wire, then the PF device's own wire.  A wire with pure 9V on one end and pure PF/PU on the other would eliminate a step.  Or maybe it's not too late to change the bogie plate design to have a PF-shaped hole in the bottom? It's not like those antistuds connect to the wheelset.

 

Single brick adapters with no wires would also cut down on how much wire needs to be tucked into the model, eg. PF on top, 9V on bottom.  And then you don't need to design as many parts with the 9V studs (to my understanding, the most precise part) and can mount them directly on their modular power supply system.

[_schwede]

12 hours ago, derlumpi said:

Nice to see an update! Thx Michael!

Curious about the adapter for PF as my son bought the latest cargo train and we are running out of batteries so fast. :-/

If you are experienced in soldering, simple remove the battery compartment and solder 2 wires with a AA battery holder to the PU PCB. Instead of AA batteries, use 2 protected 14500 cells and you are good to go. It uses less space and gives a great runtime.

[LM12V]

19 hours ago, HoMa said:

Puoi leggere del set di treni modernizzato 7740 di Michael su bricknerd

https://bricknerd.com/home/remixing-12v-trains-modernizing-classic-lego-trains-1-29-24

 

Hi thanks interesting. But I don't want to upgrade my 12v. I would just like to convert it to the FX system without too much trouble, an adapter plug would be enough. It can also be done without it and I'm already half successful, but I would gladly get a professional adapter. Also it can be done in any case for train like 7740. But for 12v trains with red motor and pistons, this is impossible. I hope Michael thinks about it. That's all. I'm enthusiastic about the project and even if it's late I think the important thing is that it's worth it. We await the wheels.

 

[derlumpi]

8 hours ago, _schwede said:

If you are experienced in soldering, simple remove the battery compartment and solder 2 wires with a AA battery holder to the PU PCB. Instead of AA batteries, use 2 protected 14500 cells and you are good to go. It uses less space and gives a great runtime.

I got two left hands full of thumbs! ;-)