[No, FX Bricks is NOT an option for me - see description] Custom LEGO track lengths for my city

[@JANGcity]

Plastic & FX Bricks tracks are a completely different color: New bluish gray vs. old stone gray. Visually incompatible. Not a feasible option for me, at all. Zero interest.

[@robertlatko3688]

could you use aluminized tape instead of wire and solder to maintain continuity?

[@yellowsdotlxf]

Could say its a place where they recently fixed some ties or ballast. But completely understand wanting colors to match. Keep up the good work man. Love your city layout.

[@JANGcity]

@@robertlatko3688 If the tape is adhesive, no. Adhesive is not conductive.

[@hippiemcfake6364]

@@JANGcity Is there a "lore" video on why LEGO switched to a different gray? Did the world lose the ability to make the original gray? If there was enough interest, surely FX Bricks could easily make them in different colours?

[@stuchly1]

Right? How hard is it to understand the guy probably knows all these things would be an option but has his own reasons why those things wouldn't work for him. I'm just happy I can sit down and watch this project come together. It's amazing.

[@Zveebo]

Have you considered using a completely incompatible solution which would entail you replacing every single track in your city, Jang, rather than straightforwardly modifying a handful of bits of track for minimal cost as demonstrated on the video? Because as a person on the internet, I strongly think you should.

[@JANGcity]

Since you put it that way, I can't help but accept that you're right. I will change immediately. 🥸

[@theroaringbricks]

@@JANGcity finally! The community won, guys😂

[@jajproductionsfruitcakefil8489]

Fair enough. I used to be in the party of 'You can't do that! LEGO can't be modified! Heresy!' but then I got into the trains side of the LEGO hobby myself, and realised that it's very hard to get anywhere satisfactorily whilst maintaining a completely purist mentality. And also, I grew up and realised that LEGO is a toy, and that life is too short.

[@kentslocum]

I agree that the most frustrating part of being an AFOL is LEGO trains. There are so few options and so much lock-in once a system is chosen. I have the latest Powered-Up system with the dark bluish gray unpowered track, and while I can definitely see the benefits of 9V, it's too late to change course!

[@tylerttinsley]

Completely valid technique. If you ever have to use plastic tracks I recommend strategically placed caves to hide the new grey.

[@BirbarianHomeGuard]

Cutting legos always seemed like a no-no, but these tracks are the exception. Just like a model railroad. If it’s conductive, sturdy, and the lego math adds up, it works!

[@lbricks7631]

Fascinating to see how you modify those 9 volt rails.

[@Andrew-se4tg]

This is why I went back to model kit building, I can take any materials I want clean them up, glue them together, prime and paint any color that makes sense...👍

[@EvanMoon]

You take simple Lego things and take it to another level. Well done Jang

[@BrooksBricks]

I'm not experienced with soldering or anything like that, so seeing the minute work done here to create the new configurations is pretty neat! And as long as it's functional and does the trick, very awesome! Glad that this will help you accomplish the goals toward re-working the rail systems!

[@Britishbricks]

I’m no stranger to cutting LEGO, but I’ll always prefer to using Fx track (keep in mind I never really had any 9V track to begin with), especially for larger curves. Glad you found what was best for you :D

[@guleri]

Smart way to do it when you use the 9V track, I only use the "new" plastic track so I can use the flex-bits. I agree that it looks best when all track looks the same.

[@bricksmodified]

Hey JANG Nice to see a LEGO enthusiast using tools to modify official LEGO pieces :-) Since you started modifing pieces and love trains: There are possibilities to use the old 12V signals and switch remotes. For signals you can also cut the metal of the dark gray tracks to maintain the same color on your layout. Kind regards from Switzerland

[@massimookissed1023]

I think traditionally they use thermite to weld tracks together. Not sure of thermite's compatibility with ABS ... Coathanger wire makes good rebar for reinforcing small epoxy jobs.

[@JANGcity]

FX Bricks brand thermite, perhaps? 😂

[@mastterby]

This was super interesting! I had no idea you could do that, opens up a whole realm of possibilities!

[@jkish_and_friends]

As a person who's partial to LEGO's OEM tracks and track system, I appreciate that you've found a method to to not only modify the OEM track to fit your needs, but for it in a way that doesn't look janky and stand out from the regular OEM tracks

[@Robotfan987]

I think this goes to show why Lego moved in the plastic-only direction. This definitely feels like a very model train solution to a Lego problem but, you have to do what you have to do.

[@JANGcity]

They moved to plastic along with other toy-grade train manufacturers due to progress in safety regulations that discouraged kids working with exposed live electrical wires and tracks. Plastic track alone wouldn't fix my problem, though -- flex track looks pretty terrible. If LEGO had made 4L metal track stubs back in the day, though, that'd have been great!

[@Ebakthecat]

Your ingenuity is very admirable.

[@hoarder66]

I hate modifying Lego as I see the challenge to be making it work with what u have but I'm only 100% about that life when there is a reasonable amount of different pieces to accomplish it with. I think Jang is correct in his thinking when he cut and modified these track pieces cause Lego hasn't made 3-4 different length straight tracks. If they did, I would be against this idea but as it stands, either this strategy or 3D printed is the ways to go. But u could use the plastic bendy track and just attach metal sticky tape to the rails like seen on Bevin's Bricks also. Good luck to all of u that try.

[@JANGcity]

Yeah I just committed to using genuine LEGO 9V track very early on and have tried to stick with it, so now if I use plastic track it looks extremely out of place due to the difference in grays.

[@hoarder66]

@@JANGcity I'm with u. Completely understand. I would love to say "Lego will make it one day" but u and I already know that isn't ever gonna happen. Heck, I'm still waiting on a phase 2 Cody. "Thanks for Aunt Beru, Lego"😂🤣

[@ThePrecipice66]

Nice work Jang. Always enjoy these sorts of instructional vids, even though I'll probably never be brave enough to mod parts myself.

[@KTLaughter]

I like that Jang isn’t a purest. He isn’t a fan that Lego has one option for track lengths, so he modified them.

[@Caddava]

Thanks for the very useful information. I like seeing your city vision come to life.

[@tlac4120]

Satisfaction: clicking the modified train tracks into place. Closing the gaps. Ready to roll. 🤗

[@GIJOEFAN-ys8gp]

LEGO should make varying track lengths for both curved and straight pieces.

[@Polypheides]

lithium ion spot welder and nickel strips on the side of the tracks might be safer for the plastic less heat

[@yellowsdotlxf]

My heart couldn't do this, so I would definitely invest in 3rd party track and some copper tape for supplying current. Though I do see this kind of thing a lot in the lego train community. I'm all for people doing what they want with their lego but whoa... it hurts my heart too much to do it to my own.

[@JANGcity]

The cost of replacing *all* of my track on my entire layout to fix a few small gaps makes absolutely no sense for my situation.

[@yellowsdotlxf]

@@JANGcity Oh sorry, that wasn't what I was meaning. I was just thinking in the odd place where you need say a 13 or 6 long piece of track to go third party. Not really replace everything entirely. My apologies for not conveying that.

[@JANGcity]

@@yellowsdotlxf It's just that customized plastic track or anything 3rd party is going to be a completely different color (modern dark bluish gray) compared to my classic old gray 9V material so it'd be visually very incompatible and not a feasible option. It's either or for all; mixing isn't going to work.

[@yellowsdotlxf]

@@JANGcity thats a completely fair argument. I definitely understand that feeling.

[@brickpharmer]

Great use of Kragle alternatives.

[@NLGeebee]

J-B Weld as in JangBricks Weld? Nice!

[@mkm6073]

If you'd use some kind of train track decorations, like IMO should for a more natural look, it would be no issue at all having different colors in the train tracks...;) Also, makes it a lot easier to also change again, what happens to most of the cities at some point. If you very individually place and weld those self made tracks, its really annoying if you change just the slightest bit of layout.

[@JANGcity]

Thankfully these custom-length tracks don't have any negative effect on future changes, only positive. Each is plugs in like the originals, and just gives me some different lengths to work with -- slightly longer or shorter than factory stock.

[@nobblez]

It's all in the details. Very informative. Thank-you once again.

[@joevictor53]

Anyone know if Jang has ever talked about MILS plates and if he'd switch to them? Just curious

[@1tsDavebr0]

I've mentioned it and I believe he said its just not cost effective to make the switch since his city is pretty well established.

[@s1mp50n4]

Since you've cut the tracks and have leftover waste material, couldn't you take the metal tracks off the leftover and use that to bridge the gaps instead of the wires? Although you'd probably have to hammer it down flatter.

[@dmc1512]

wait so if someone made custom track in the old grey color would you consider it more seriously?

[@devon8419]

That's a solid way to do it. I'd like to switch to 9v tracks sometimes, looks way nicer

[@SK-qd4sr]

Instead of cutting the rare 9V tracks, you could use the modern non-conductive tracks, cut them to length and create the conductive parts with adhesive copper foil.

[@JANGcity]

The problem there is new gray vs. old gray. Very visually incompatible.

[@tylerttinsley]

Cutting lego is advanced lego technique and totally valid.

[@waltherltd]

Great solution and tutorial, thanks for the update!

[@bausteinchen1136]

FX-Bricks is great, but I only have one 9V Motor and my Cables between "Station" and Track are broken, so as long I can't get new motors and cables for a good price its Control + for me - so all I need is a few more Lego Trains ;)

[@witerabid]

Track alignment can be such a pain! It is basically impossible to organically grow your layout without having to cut tracks to custom lengths. I planned my whole city layout around the constraints of the track but I only have one line going through. And for a layout like yours this is certainly the best option. Also, did you look for a compound plastic until you found one that fits your channel so well or was that a happy accident? 😅

[@amseladams]

!thanksJang for showing your method. Why everyone in the comments feels entitled to tell you how to do it "the right way" is a mystery to me. FxTracks are no option for me neither because of the color. I don't get why they went with the new dark bluish gray. You would think their main target market are folks who already own a lot of 9V tracks so anything you want to sell to them has to color-match the old gray.

[@MayoHosko]

Jang should become a spokesperson for JB weld

[@psykomancer4420]

Jang "I cut my own roads" Bricks

[@MaxRawhide]

Nicely done. It would be great if Lego had made it, but since they didn't...nothing like making it yourself. It makes it your own. I fear I will be doing something similar as well, except I'm using the 12v system: love the sound of the 12v engine contacts moving over the middle rail and like the idea of really building the track. Also, I'm using regular 2x8 plates in reddish brown and prefer how that looks with the old grey tracks. (And by building them on top of the RC tracks in a MILS system, they're very sturdy.)

[@oldcitybricks9153]

Great Tip! Thank You!

[@lawrencerobinson6543]

Great technical video thank you.

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

Hmm, thanks for all this information. I shun from this type of modification but that is just me.

[@thetato1273]

Now all you need is custom angles on curves, good luck.

[@Benthetrainkid]

FX bricks can work with existing 9vs (they also made different curve radiuses)

[@JANGcity]

Pls see video title

[@simomarty9060]

Good job

[@countrabricksbuildcraze8916]

yes only if Lego get. shorter track part s that would be cool. I got the smaller track part s. but not the 9 volt track s.

[@FirefighterAfficionado]

Trix bricks might help jang

[@JANGcity]

Ah I wish! No aftermarket company in many years has made any tracks in the old gray color. I think there was just one, almost a decade ago, that did solid all-metal tracks that spanned into old colored sleepers.

[@zombiedad]

Nice

[@TonyMontanaDS]

These are old and have not been made in many many years so I'm just going to cut them and damage them forever.

[@JANGcity]

These were $4 USD each and there are thousands on Bricklink and I own them and can do whatever I like with these little pieces of toys so I'm going to do a little handywork to make them perfectly finish a massive change to an 8+ year passion project to dramatically improve my own satisfaction and share that happiness with thousands of people around the world.

[@stijnd5268]

Have you ever thought about investing in FX tracks? you'd need to buy new tracks for your entire city but they have custom molded 9v tracks with multiple radius's and lengths

[@JANGcity]

It's a different color, visually incompatible, not a feasible option for me at all.

[@polarlicht4758]

@@JANGcity Thats what he meant with complete new tracks for the whole city! I only use plastic tracks and got rid of the 9V stuff. Its cheaper, more common and works way better with RC and stuff.

[@JANGcity]

@@polarlicht4758 I am not going to replace my hundreds of pieces of fantastic track with plastic that needs to be painstakingly modified with dozens of hours of work to add back a conductive layer. I already modified my mere four pieces to solve all of my problems, as shown in the video. I cannot for the life of me figure out why almost every commenter is fighting me on this. It is mind-boggling.

[@DomQuartuccio]

@@JANGcity Because you're being ridiculous and defensive, do whatever is right for you that's OK, but don't disregard someone who's making the effort to provide a much wanted product to the market. I don't model Lego Trains anymore but FX Tracks would've been fantastic back when I was modelling.

[@polarlicht4758]

@@JANGcity I don't think they wanna fight you. I guess they would not have done the grind and gone straight to RC and plastic from the start... Little fun fact: They made 9V track in light bluish grey, but way rarer!

[@lt.danhooper1635]

Just reading through the comments of all the people who keep arguing about FX bricks and switching to plastic tracks, blah blah blah blah. Why are people so stubborn about stuff that doesn't affect them at all?!

[@cludecat7072]

And this is the issue with lego changing Greys. it makes it impossible to update builds without it looking wrong or poor without using extra tools

[@nodakshak]

!thanksjang2

[@Zenlore6499]

HERESY! (Jk, this is really cool!)

[@TheTahuPrime1]

Have you considered using the new 9V FX bricks track?

[@JANGcity]

Their tracks are new dark bluish gray. Visually incompatible with old gray.

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

Jang, I find it interesting that you dislike the visual contrast of having new dark grey color tracks in your city, when this cut-and-paste job with the wire welds looks more jarring in my opinion. (This is just me respectfully disagreeing, not telling you to change anything)

[@jouebien]

The material is "Nickel-plated Copper Beryllium". You really don't want to mess with the surface of the rail as you degrade the ability for the material to prevent oxidisation (Lost a few hundred $ of track finding that out the hard way). I would have just cut up plastic track, reinforced with plastic card and covered the rail with copper tape - no melted plastic involved - much less work involved. But you do you if that makes you sleep at night. After much of my metal track died from abrasive cleaning & Australian sea air I swapped to battery pawed (rechargeable 9V with custom PF receiver cases). The majority of my track now is 3D printed in PETG because no stores in my area are stocking official Lego track and I've moved to 5 wide track. 6 wide has a few third parties producing metal track at various lengths (Bricks track and FX bricks) and hopefully motors soon. My favourite new track size is a 1/6th curve in R40 or R56.

[@JANGcity]

Yeah plastic track is a completely different color (the sleepers) than old 9V track. Visually completely incompatible. I'm very invested in the 9V track, like it very much, and absolutely plan to continue using it consistently.

[@jouebien]

@@JANGcity depends the age of track. System branded track is a different colour but the newer World City branded track is the same colour as the modern stuff unless I missed Lego changing the colour again. 9V is already a mix of the new and old grey.

[@JANGcity]

@@jouebien You can clearly see that all of my track is old gray.

[@jouebien]

@@JANGcity does that really matter though? it a slightly different colour in a make believe world. oh know it's slightly different colour, oh wait it's like that in the real world because of material sources, material types and the age of track and supporting materials. I mean if it's all the same colour and that makes you sleep at night you do you (ah such a silly concept - I have my opinion so nothing else matters lol). But just remember that oxidisation travels through the middle of rails and through track joints and you are likely going to loose points internals and other bits of track to oxidisation eventually (the track goes green). I've been their lost a lot of track.

[@justinmsc5]

He's only filing down where there's a new connection, so the wire should maintain current. It's probably fine. That's good info though, earned through pain and loss. Thanks for sharing.

[@johngarrettlegofireguy6885]

Brick tracks products are spot on with the color match.

[@JANGcity]

Brick Tracks are 1) plastic, non-conductive, and 2) new dark bluish gray. Both of those are nonstarters for me, completely incompatible with my entire layout.

[@MACPCOSX7]

I feel like using/cutting lego defeats the purpose of creating in Lego. Making do with the system is part of the challenge.

[@tommya16]

fx brick is my solution for that 9v track problem.

[@tommya16]

Oh and the plastic bend peices are a option too because 9v motor can drive that single gap easely ( Yes i tested it for my own it can do 2 bendy pieces but i don't recomand that)

[@JANGcity]

Yep not an option for me as it's a different color, visually incompatible.

[@tommya16]

@@JANGcity I can understand that, everyone has his or her preferred building and view likes and dislikes. You have a amazing City keep it up. As long as you have Fun with it .