Sorting my transition out... with LEGO
WARNING! Some LEGO gets attacked with a knife in this post!
Hi there,
Since building my permanent track, the one bit I was never happy with was the transition from the ramp to the run out, many 'Heath Robinson' type bodges was used with various levels of success until today when I had a very rare brainwave.
Idly fiddling around with a LEGO baseplate, I realised the gap at the bottom of orange track is exactly 3 studs wide and is also thin enough, when turned upside down & cut to size, to slide beneath the aforementioned orange track.
It also occured to me that the baseplate would have enough flexibility, yet at the same time, enough rigidity to make good transition pieces.
The baseplate I used had a length of 32 studs, these base plates come in various lengths, the largest I've seen is 48 studs (there may be longer out there, I'm not a LEGO expert), so you can choose a length to suit your particular needs.
Anyway, four strips of 32 studs by 3 studs were cut out by using a steel rule and making several passes with a hobby knife, these were then screwed down in the appropriate place.
The end result has given me a sturdy & smooth transition that I am very pleased with and was very simple to achieve.
I was also able to make some 6 studs by 3 studs track joiners with what was left over.
I hope this may prove useful to some of you.
Kevblokey
Discussion
Bravo! I never thought of trying Lego flats for sizing...stupid me! And they're just rigid enough to bend without breaking and not too flimsy either. Man, now I feel stupid! Only thing to consider is how much give there will be when cars roll over the plastic. I'd be interested to see how your strips hold up when a 60g+ car goes over it, just for research's sake. A bit of foam or something under would be plenty if you need more support.
- Hi, I think the longer the piece there would be less rigidity, that said, the 32 stud long piece I used has the optimum length for my purposes and on first impressions, doesn’t seem to flex when weight passes over it, I’ll try and get some slow speed footage with some heavyweights going over it and post the footage on here. — Kevblokey
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMiV6K_LSeY&t=20s A heavy metal block proved just how rigid the end result is... — Kevblokey
A brilliant idea sir! I believe this solution will work as well for normal track connections on the flat. Here in the USA at Dollar Tree stores there is a generic brand of "Lego" style flats and bricks that are only a dollar per pack. The flats come in 2 sizes and I imagine are considerably cheaper than LEGO brand. The greater rigidity and length of the plastic flats when cut to size will cut down on potential seperation of track pieces. Perhaps a similar store/product is avaiable in the UK?
Great simple idea. And you can apply more lego beneath to elevate the track!
Many thanks for posting this solution, and I will definitely be incorporating it into my track. Well done!
The idea of using elongated Legos, makes perfect sense. It does give you a sturdy, and smooth like transitioning. The first idea that I have had was to use" tongue compressor" the jumbo sized popsicle sticks double in size. using them as the connectors to help the track stay straighter . "but " the only thing about the tongue compressions , they are not totally as wide as you would want them to be. They also , if you use two of them will cause a lump in the middle of your track, far away from smooth . But this is a way better idea ! not only just for transitioning but also for all around smoothness. though of the 32 by 32 that I have purchased , the flat Lego sections, definitely overrides the tongue compressor connectors I was using and through out that there is no cars jumping off track going over the tongue compressor , swaying side to side due to the track bulking up in the middle etc. Great solution "kevblokey" It works on my track , the way it's meant to be that we all talk about ."Smooth" all around. I test a lot of situation to see what work best. To Keep The Speed !!!????????????????
Brains as well as beauty huh? Wait, no, scratch the beauty part!
Great solution to a very long running issue. Well done KB.