Subject:
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Re: All plastic track
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Wed, 17 Aug 2005 18:50:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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2232 times
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In lugnet.trains, Jake McKee wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Ross Crawford wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Jake McKee wrote:
snip snip
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2. After years
of waiting patiently for new track geometry and expansion and always being
told that it’s expensive and will take time, we get new track we don’t
want: All plastic.
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...and a committment to L Gauge (and I’m saying L Gauge rather than 9v). As
I mentioned at BF, we’re not replacing the current system (like we have in
the past when switching from 4.5 > 12v or 12v > 9v), we’re “stretching” it
to include additional components.
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Just to clarify Jake, will you be referring to both (Play and Hobby) as L
gauge? That would make sense to me as they are all the same gauge. But it
might confuse “real” train modellers - when we want to display at a train
show with our L gauge layout, they might think (when Play Trains are
launched) that we mean Play Trains, and turn up their noses (even more than
they do now).
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Actually, that’s a very good point. I was using L Gauge to refer to anything
that uses the track gauge (distance between rails, obviously) currently used
for both the Play and Hobby trains.
But I don’t pretend to think that I should be defining the usage of L Gauge -
I’d actually turn this question back on the community... what do y’all think?
Jake
---
Jake McKee
Community Liaison
LEGO Community Team
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For the public exhibitions with model railway clubs that I’ve done over the last
four years I haven’t referred to “L-gauge” because no-one outside the Lego
community has heard of it! Instead I have used “8mm:1ft scale” because that is
the scale of my trains, which corresponds to 1 stud to the foot and also 4ft
8.5ins to the 37.66mm gauge of standard 9V metal track.
I have some questions too:
Q1. When you say the new plastic track will be compatible with the continuing
metal track, will it be exactly the same gauge (to the inner gauge corners),
such that if an existing 9V train were given a battery box it would run happily
in the new plastic track or a combination of track pieces? Bear in mind that
12V track is not exactly the same gauge as 9V track, even though the rail
centres are still 40mm apart. If the plastic track will be exactly the same
gauge, I think it can also be called “L-gauge”.
Q2. When you say there is a commitment to “L-gauge rather than 9V”, is there
also a commitment to 9V smooth power for the continuing metal rail system?
Changing motors to another voltage would be very expensive for me! I’m
personally not so bothered about the controllers though, since they will only
drive 2 or 3 motors when I regularly use 4 or 5! I have been using a dual 3 Amp
power supply instead, since it will happily drive a load of 1 Amp (4-motor
Pendolino train) all day without the thermal cut-out operating, unlike a
standard controller. Does anyone else find controller current limits a pain?
Q3. How does the demise of the 9V light and sound system parts (including
electric plates, which I want but which don’t appear in sets any more) affect
the commitment to 9V for the future? Surely long-term viability is better with
a more substantial parts base?
Q4. Have extra types of 9V metal track (such as half straights) been ruled out?
Will any extensions to track geometry be implemented only in the new plastic
track?
Q5. Will the new plastic track be a sensible realistic colour? I think light
bley looks OK as concrete and black looks OK as if ash, coal or oil has spilled
onto the track bed. Dark bley is more difficult though.
Q6. Will the new plastic track use discrete rails or standard pieces? Discrete
rails would be better for custom track beds but I suspect standard pieces are
the way a play train is likely to go.
Please say what you can and say if anything is undecided or a “not yet” issue.
Thanks.
Mark
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: All plastic track
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| (...) Actually, that's a very good point. I was using L Gauge to refer to anything that uses the track gauge (distance between rails, obviously) currently used for both the Play and Hobby trains. But I don't pretend to think that I should be (...) (19 years ago, 17-Aug-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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