One of the most sought-after systems made by LEGO is the Monorail. These futuristic trains were featured in a mere three sets, from 1987 to 1994. Like most LEGO sets from this timeframe, Monorails have skyrocketed in price, with single pieces of track going for over $20 a piece (if you can find them)!

One member of the Brickset community has decided to change that, creating 3D-Printed versions of classic Monorail parts, as well as parts that LEGO planned to make, but never did. How do they stack up to the originals? Read on below to see what I think.

You are probably wondering, like I did, if this is legal. Surely LEGO must have some sort of patent or copyright on these parts? Actually not- given their age and poor performance back in the day, LEGO never renewed their rights to these parts, and they became fair game. These parts are also not just a copy of existing LEGO parts, but a recreation of a system that LEGO let die, with both old parts being remade, and new parts being added.

Quality:

One big question on anything 3D printed is what quality it is, so I'll address that first. The owner of 4DBrix assures me that these parts are made with very high-quality 3D printing processes and ABS plastic- and it shows. Monorail motors run smoothly along these tracks just as they would with LEGO tracks. Connecting these parts with standard LEGO parts is also perfectly fine. When viewed from above, these parts look practically the same as the originals. The only differences must be viewed very closely: 3D printing has given these parts tiny ridges instead of the completely smooth feel of molded ABS. Underneath, one can see that the 4DBrix track is solid (unlike the cross-braced LEGO track), meaning they are a little stronger. A few imperfections can be seen on the underside of the track, but I don’t know why the track would ever be set up upside-down, so they don’t bother me. The undersides of the track also come with the same 2x2 connection points as LEGO track did, so you can mount your monorail track on stanchions, for multiple levels of track.

Coloring:



I am pleasantly surprised that the coloring of this track matches Old Stone Grey perfectly. In addition to old grey, 4DBrix makes monorail track in black and white. The Black monorail track is perfect for a Blacktron monorail MOC, which I see myself doing sometime in the future. Initially, I thought that white monorail was a little silly- white is fairly close to old grey, and that they wouldn’t look very different. Now that I have them side-by-side, I see that I was wrong. White looks very different from old grey, and would blend in very, very nicely in a snowy landscape.

Parts:

Straight track:

Straight track is one of the most expensive parts to get in any LEGO train, and Monorails are no different. 4DBrix currently makes three lengths of straight track, quarter, half, and full lengths. I found these give a great level of flexibility when setting up tracks. Also in the picture are a pair of 3D printed 1x4 tiles, to use to connect the track sections.

Curves:





4DBrix currently produces two short curve sections, left and right. Don’t let their peculiar shape fool you- there is a reason for that shape. When mounting the monorail track off the ground, the joints of the track must have a support underneath them, or the heavy train will cause the tracks to snap apart. The easy solution would then be to place two studs of each track on the support. However, this would lead to the support being at a 45 degree angle with the rest, making it impossible to place the setup on baseplates. The solution is quite clever, it strange-looking, with a zig-zag end and two studs on each side. The good news is, unlike LEGO, 4DBrix produces a curve extension part, that allows you to place a straight section in between two half-curves, for a larger curve.

Unfortunately, 4DBrix does not produce a large curve piece at the moment. While this is unfortunate, large LEGO curves are fairly cheap on Bricklink (about $5 each), so I guess it simply does not make sense to 3D print them at this point.

Train parts:

The extension car is quite a nifty invention- it allows you to add extra cars to the monorail, instead of just having it be two cars and a motor. The motor cover is also quite nice for a city display like 6399, but I don’t feel like it is very necessary for a Space setup- the motor looks quite Space-y by itself. Nonetheless, the motor cover fits quite snugly, and is great for decorating, with studs on five sides.



Original track:

The cream of the crop, for me, is the Cross Switch part. Because the standard cross track style for trains is out of the question for monorail, a different cross piece had to be invented. This simple mechanism has a rotating section of track in the middle, that switches between two incoming tracks. The rotation can either be done manually via a knob, or a motor can be hooked up to the track to automate it. A custom servo motor to power this is also in the works, I hear. But for now, Power Functions will work.

4D Brix also makes ramp track sections. I do not have any on-hand, but given how impressed I was with the other track, I find it hard to believe they would disappoint.

Value:

One of the main selling points of this track is the price. While a long straight track section would cost ~$22 of Bricklink, they cost only $12.45 from 4DBrix. The motor cover would cost you ~$50 on Bricklink, but only $20 in 3D Printed form. Since it is hard to find multiple pieces of track from the same seller on Bricklink, it is even cheaper to buy them from 4DBrix, as you would only have to pay for shipping once.

These are my views on 3D Printed monorails. What are yours? Let us know below, and enjoy these fun facts:

- The LEGO short monorail track has 41 teeth on each side.

- The LEGO monoswitch (half a long monorail) has 82 teeth on each side.

- A long LEGO monorail has 163 teeth on each side. I have no idea why it has one tooth less then what you would expect from the quarter and half.

- a 4DBrix 3D printed track consists of 68 layers of plastic

- it takes almost 6 hours to make one full straight 3D printed monorail track

- 1 full straight monorail track takes 21m / 70 feet of ABS filament

- the print head travels about 400 meter / 0.25 miles for one full straight monorail

Thanks to community member Lowa all his hard work!