How to Make 9V and 12V Lego Train Tracks *-* Click images for Huge Pictures Intro: Make Plastic Lego Train Tracks Backwards Compatible with 9V and 12V Tracks Step One: Supplies Needed The only supplies you'll need are Lego track and some foil tape. (if you don't want to use real track, there's another method here using 'O' gauge model railroad track that looks like a lot of work) The foil tape can be had at any real hobby supply store or stained glass shop. This foil tape is actually meant to be used between pieces of glass and then solderedIf you don't want copper colored tracks you can buy stainless steel or aluminum foil tape (I don't mind copper tracks, but I'm sure others will disagree). I have found aluminum "flashing" tape at hardware stores, if you have a lathe or infinite patience you can cut this up into strips the correct width and then you'll have silver track. Otherwise stainless steel foil tape looks common online, I haven't ordered any but you can certainly look around.
New All Plastic Lego Train Track ***A note on the tape - I purchased mine from "Hobby Lobby" at ~$6 for 36 yards (7/32" wide) of copper strip. an adhesive on one side and is plain copper on the other. The important thing is that you get the cheap stuff and not the heavy adhesive or black/silver backed tape, as it will not conduct if you need to tape a section to another section (as you'll probably have to do for switch tracks, etc) I know this foil is also sold without adhesive, so make sure you get the correct Step Two: Check out the Track and the Train Motor Step Three: Get to it!Where is your club based? Unlike some model railroad clubs, NILTC does not have a permanent display anywhere. Our members are spread out over northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin making it hard to have any singly located display. The Club tries to meet once a quarter at Club members houses in varying locations throughout the western suburbs of Chicago. The Northern Illinois LEGO® Train Club is an adult club of LEGO® enthusiasts.
To be considered for membership you need to be: • 18 years of age, or older • Have reliable transportation • Have a reasonable source of income (this is an expensive hobby!)Include your name, age, where you live, what you like to build (city, space, castle, etc), links to any on-line picture sharing sites you have a presence on (Brickshelf, MOC Pages, Flickr, etc.), and any projects you might be working on. We will invite you to our next meeting to see how everyone gets along, and if all is good we will ask you to work a show with us. It’s very different seeing the display all set up, as opposed to all the work that goes in setting it up and tearing it down. If that seems to go well then we will ask you to display something with us to see where you are in your building. It could be vehicles, rolling stock (rail cars), a building, or a whole table display (30” x 40”). If that works out, then we will have a vote and ask you to join. Is this ALL made out of LEGO®?
Yes, for all practical purposes. The vast majority of what we build is from LEGO® bricks and parts. Some members also make custom decals, or stickers for their creations to add realism. Some members also use custom lighting to get effects. Where did you get all this LEGO®? The entire display is all made up from private LEGO® collections. Most of us have been collecting for a long time!LEGO® has been slow to embrace the community in a helping manner, but they are making positive steps to do so. In the last few years, the LEGO® Company has created some special programs for AFOL’s (Adult Fans of LEGO®), especially those that are involved in club that are out promoting their product for them. Mostly though, everything you see at our shows is either privately owned LEGO®, or material that has been purchased by the club. Did you design all of this, or are these kits? 95% of what you see on the display has been designed, or created by a club member. There are no instructions, no step-by-step processes, just a lot of imagination and hard work.
Most members work either from reference material, a picture, or just use their imagination to create their MOC – My Own Creation. LEGO® has made some really great sets though, and you will find those sprinkled throughout the display, mostly vehicles and some of the trains. Is the train battery powered or does it have a track pickup? The LEGO® System works similar to a Lionel train in that it picks the power up off the track. The tracks are electrified by a LEGO transformer which controls the motor that is attached to the train. You can tell the motor because most of the LEGO® train wheels are black, but the LEGO® motors wheels are chrome/silver. How do I get LEGO trains? I haven’t seen them in stores. Yes… we wish LEGO® trains were easier to find. For the latest line of LEGO® trains, extra track, train accessories . . . your best bet is to buy directly from LEGO®, using their Shop at Home service. You can also visit your local LEGO® Store as well, but they often do not carry everything you will find on-line.
I think there are five reasons. This is what I believe, not necessarily true but it is not very likely that the whole truth would be divulged for commercial reasons.1) Reliability of 9V Manufacture. It seems the 9V rail attachment machines were no longer reliable enough for all pieces of track. As an example, I had to have 3 points replaced because the ends of the rails did not match up with the ends of the plastic parts they were attached to. This meant the metal parts were either loose, protruding, receded or didn't make a good enough electrical connection to the next track piece. Replacements mean the financial return is almost halved for the parts that go wrong; this would not have been sustainable for the company so I guess a decision had to be made whether to renew some machinery or change the system. I guess the machinery had reached its design life anyway.2) Starting Age. Ever since the 1980s system changed to 9V, there has been a desire for kids to be able to start earlier with LEGO trains e.g. a direct transition from Duplo trains.
I started with blue rail 4.5V on my 5th birthday but the 9V system with transformer was really for 6+. With the 1980s system kids could have push-along to begin with, 4.5V battery at 6+ and 12V transformer at 8+. This is similar with Power Functions - push-along 4+, AAA batteries 6+ and LiPo batteries for older kids and adults. The AAA and LiPo batteries fit with the whole Power Functions concept across all themes so the outlet for the parts is not exclusive to the Trains theme and this helps to sustain them.3) Parts Range 1. As the adult fan community has grown, we have been more vocal in asking for more adventurous rail parts e.g. wider radius curves, crossovers, Y-point, double-slip. Quite a few of us would like to make a proper model railway out of LEGO so we need the real-shaped rail parts to do it. Plastic-only rails make this much easier. Some rail modifications have been most impressive by being fully-electrified but more people can have a go at customising rails if there is no electrical connection to worry about.4) Parts Range 2.
Descending from reasons 2 and 3, a piece that facilitates younger children getting into LEGO trains is the flexi-track. This enables a child to make a circuit every time. In theory it also allows adults to make any radius they like but it is not so popular with adult fans, partly because of the check rails; these help keep the train on the track at all angles but look out-of-place for a proper model railway except on the sharpest curves and bridges. The technology became available to do an infra-red receiver and a LEGO LiPo battery so that adult fans would have something better than (heavy) AA or modest-current AAA batteries to power a train. For the Trains theme to remain viable it was important for the adult market to support it; even though adult fans are only a small proportion of the total LEGO market they make up a larger proportion of it for Trains. The LiPo battery gives up to 800mA before the current trip kicks in. Even then it will try to restart the train. The V2 IR Receiver can drive 2 train motors;
it was designed to drive 2 L-Motors in Technic Crawler 9398.Unfortunately some adult fans have trains so heavy that they need more than 2 motors, which is where we revisit the question from the AFOL point of view. Whilst it would be just 2 motors per engine, it is important to control all the engines together. The theory is that each engine with its IR Receiver on the same channel would be fine with that but tunnels or the larger distances involved at exhibitions could cause a problem of derailment if only one engine received the speed command. This is why a slave H-bridge motor driver module is needed - driving many motors from a single IR Receiver. This was much easier with the 9V system even though a bench power supply or high-current regulator would be substituted for the 300mA 9V controller.At the moment the LiPo battery needs a plug to charge it. This needs to move towards inductive charging - stopping the train over a pad between the rails.These issues mean I still have reservations about Power Functions on the main line but I have built two shunting & trip-working engines with it.