HexTracks - Economic rail set compatible with Brio trains

Brio tracks and trains have been sold since 1958. Their great design has contributed to their popularity to this day. Many designers have reverse engineered, upgraded, or created new tracks compatible with the system. However, the design is old and adapted to woodworking and CNC routing. It was time to create a new system compatible with Brio trains that is suited for 3D printing and fixes the flaws of the original design.

Fix #1 - Symmetrical Connection

The original Brio tracks have two sides: male and female, which connect together. This design is easy to manufacture but causes issues when two male or two female ends face each other. HexTracks fixes this problem by using a symmetrical connection on both ends of every track. When two of these connections meet, they attach together and secure the rails.

Fix #2 - Thin Track

Next, the original tracks are double-sided, and thick. For 3D printing, this represents a lot of wasted material. The reason they are double-sided is to allow the male/female connection to be in the right orientation while still turning the desired way. However, as seen above, HexTracks don't have this issue, allowing for single-sided and thinner tracks, reducing filament usage by 31% per track.

Fix #3 - Split track

To split the track, the Brio system merges two tracks together. When running an electric train, this design increases the risk of derailment. To prevent this from happening, HexTracks uses a guiding system (green part in the picture below) to direct the train in the desired direction. It can be adjusted manually or triggered by a train coming from the opposite direction. Everything is printed in place, requiring no assembly or hardware.

Fix #4 - System geometry

Finally, the Brio system uses a lot of different parts. While this may not be a huge problem, I wanted to make it more intuitive. That’s why HexTracks uses only two types of track: straight and curve. To ensure they always align properly, they follow a system based on a 140mm hexagon. There are many combinations of straight and curved tracks within a single hexagon, allowing for unique track designs. For this starter set, I selected the 12 combinations I found to be the most useful.

Compability

Looking for a train that matches the esthetic of Hextracks? Check this link below:

Electric City Train

If you are interested in the HexTracks project but still want to enjoy your Brio tracks, you can print the Brio to Hextracks adapter and enjoy both your rails sets. 

• HexTracks to Brio adapter

HexTracks Lite 

During the development of this project, I created a lighter version of HexTracks with added grip for trains with plastic wheels. I named this variation HexTracks Lite. Unfortunately, this design was problematic when merging tracks together, but I still wanted to share the straight and the curve. If you are interested into printing these, you can click on the link below.

• HexTracks Lite

If you have any questions about HexTracks, please leave them in the comments below, I will answer as soon as I can.

Enjoy!