2024 Update
It's difficult to believe that we're already halfway through 2024! We know that an update from us is long overdue. As always, we're grateful for the generous support of our customers and we're encouraged by the sustained demand for our Fx Track products. Many of our key products sell out consistently and we're working on keeping up with inventory for you all. Orchestrating the production pipeline of dozens of products at the same time as developing new products is always a challenge.
R72 Curve Track
When the R72 curve track was introduced in 2021, it was the second product in the Fx Track family and our first curve element. After introduction, several folks observed that the R72 would have a tendency to bend up from the inside edge. The amount of bend was variable and indeed not every R72 element exhibited this behaviour. Since the R72, we have introduced the R56, R88, R104 and R64P curve tracks. None of these other track elements have exhibited this inside bending behaviour and we are confident it is strictly confined to the manufacturing of the R72. In many cases, the tendency to flex could be remedied by gently twisting the R72 axially several times to relieve the accumulated stress between metal rail crimps and the plastic body.
It is critical for us to offer a quality product. We use our products and expect nothing less. As of March 2024, we have discontinued the sale of our remaining R72 inventory. At the end of 2023, we commissioned a new production batch of R72 curve tracks. We have recently received them and are now performing quality control inspection and preparing new retail batches. So far, we are pleased to report that the inside flex/bend observed on the 2021 production batch is completely absent from the new production batch. We hope to have these new R72 tracks available soon.
R120 and R136 Curve Tracks
We are happy to report that the next two curve radii in the Fx Track family, the R120 and R136 will soon be available. Retail boxed R120 tracks have been prepared and have been shipped to our Canadian and EU distributors via sea container. We estimate that these will be available in the shop very soon, and we plan on giving away a few boxes for some lucky folks at Brickworld Chicago!
New Stock
Popular products such as our straight tracks and the P40 switches often sell out. Rest assured we are working on ways to maintain consistent inventory. We are running in fundamental issues such as production capacity and long term we are looking at adding more manufacturing partners with the right skills and capabilities which can help us. It should not be underestimated how different our products are compared to other injection molded products in terms of tolerance and accuracy. It is relatively easy to make a TV remote or computer mouse, but LEGO compatible elements demand much tighter tolerances and tooling quality. These tolerances are critical to ensuring basic functional performance such as the all-important "clutch" power.
New Products
Since the debut of Fx Track in 2021, our product focus has been expanding the range of metal rail Fx Track elements. To date, we have released 4x unique straight track elements, 5x (soon to be 7x) curve track elements and the P40 left + right switch. The next phase of our product development is focused on "closing the loop" on the metal rail track ecosystem. That is, products which deliver power to the track and products which offer motorization from track power.
To this end, we have based our future power system on our re-implementation of the classic LEGO 9V power connector. We have keenly admired the ingenious 9V power connector and the system of accessories based on it. As such, we have invested a great deal of engineering and development in making this element. It has proved much more difficult to develop than we could have imagined. The precision and tolerances to manufacture a reliable electrical connector that also works as a functional LEGO element cannot be overstated. We have expended multiple iterations of tooling to perfect the design and we are getting agonizingly close!
Since all of our future electrical products depend on this "mission critical" element--we simply cannot afford to rush to market with a sub-standard implementation. That is why products such as accessory cables, track power feeders, speed controllers, etc. are not yet released. They all require a 9V electrical connector element which performs to our standards and crucially, can be manufactured reliably and consistently.
We have teased pre-production prototypes of cables, track feeders, speed controllers, and even motors. Rest assured that we are still busy working on all of these new products and progress is being made!
Power System Development
The Fx Power System is the next critical part of our product system. It finally enables all of the awesome benefits of the the metal rail Fx Track System. The following is a very brief summary of where we are at in this extraordinary and ambitious product development.
Power System: Connector
The Fx Power system is based on using a stackable and modular 2x2 plate electrical connector. This connector is functionally compatible to the retired legacy LEGO 9V connector. This connector element will be used all of our future electrical accessory products. Its design consists of 4x key components:
1. ABS plastic shell - this is currently in its 2nd mold version and is satisfactory
2. ABS plastic bottom cover - this is currently in its 3rd mold version and is satisfactory
3. PCB - this was completed as far back as 2021 and has required no changes as a result of our testing and development
4. Metal stud insert - this (by far) has been the most problematic component to manufacture to the level of tolerance and consistency we require. The 4th version is currently being tooled for pre-production evaluation.
As you can see, the metal stud insert is holding up our ability to proceed with volume production. It will be made in large quantities and therefore has to be correct. Our confidence is growing and each iteration gets us closer to full production.
Power System: Cables
When the connector is good-to-go, we are ready to start production of accessory cables in 5x different lengths: 128 mm, 256 mm, 512 mm, 1 m and 3 m. We have already performed qty 100x production runs to test the assembly procedure with our manufacturer and we're happy that we can proceed quickly once the connector is ready.
Estimated release: Q4 2024
Power System: Track Power Feeder
This element has been ready for nearly 2 years and is also waiting for the final version of the 9V compatible connector. We have also preformed qty 100x pre-production runs to verify assembly and are confident this can go into volume production quickly.
Estimated release: Q4 2024
Power System: Metal Wheelset
The metal wheelset is a stand-alone metal train wheel assembly identical in form factor to the traditional LEGO train wheel assembly. It provides an easy way to pick up electrical energy from the track and includes a 9V compatible connector termination for connections to cables, motors, etc. This element will allow easy conversion of existing trains using LEGO 9V, Power Functions and Powered Up motors with the use of appropriate conversion cables from 9V to the other standards. These cables are already available from other sources; however, we may introduce our own cables if necessary.
We are currently starting the tooling of the key elements of the wheelset. This includs the ABS mold and the metal wheel. We have built complete 3D printed versions for testing and the preliminary results are encouraging.
Estimated Release: Q4 2024
Power System: Motor Bogie
Although we have made good progress on our motor bogie design, including some function prototypes; we have prioritized our efforts on the metal wheelset first. This will allow us to de-risk common key elements such as the metal wheels and power pickup methods.
When the metal wheelset product is released, work on the motor bogie can resume with the added confidence offered by the wheelset development.
Estimated Release: Summer 2025
Power System: Speed Regulator
We have shown images and video of pre-production prototypes of a speed regulator. Electrically, we are very happy with the performance of this unit and have tested it extensively. However, when we started to cost the production of the ABS plastic molds and accessories, it became clear that this would be much too expensive to tool with an unacceptably high retail price.
Therefore, we had to re-think our form factor for this unit since it would be the form factor used in all of our electrical control panel elements. We took inspiration from the modular LEGO 12V electrical accessory system and designed a 16 x 4 stud brick form factor as shown below.
The Fx Power system brick is designed to be part of a system of accessories which can connect together to make modular control panels. Physically, connection can be achieved using LEGO plates or bricks between modules or by using Technic pins inserted into corresponding Technic holes in the power brick. The Technic holes also allow the integration of the power bricks into frames which allow the bricks to be tilted or mounted vertically or mounted to other structures. Electrically, the bricks share power with the use of magnetically captive electrically connectors with spring-compliant pins. This allows the bricks to be connected completely without the use of extra cables or connectors. The magnetic connections are completely orientation independent ensure captive and secure electrical connections.
This common form factor allows us to imagine a wide range of electrical control accessory products with the ability for customization with the use of printed 1x2 label elements as shown with the examples below:
Estimated Release for Speed Regulator: Q1/Q2 2025
Conclusion
Hopefully, it is apparent that our energy and focus has been aimed at developing our product system as quickly and rigorously as we can. This focus has affected our ability to communicate more regularly with you folks and we are working to get better at our communications and customer engagement.
The bottom line is that we are working very hard to bring the products which we know you folks are eagerly awaiting. We must also ensure that a quick schedule should not come at the expense of compromised product quality and functionality. The ultimate goal is to offer complete product system bringing the best creative, technical, and operational experience for LEGO train fans and other creative applications.