Train Simulator Controller: July 2026 Progress Roundup

August 5, 2026 by Maya Posch 4 Comments

For the past three years [Christopher Mitchell] has been working on his replica of a British Rail Class 800 control cab for a physical train simulator, with the July blog update providing many details on the progress.

The Class 800 series of trains is relatively new, having first entered service in the UK in 2017 on the Great Western Railway (GWR). Designed and built by Hitachi as part of their modular AT300 product series, they come in both purely electrical and diesel-electric hybrid configurations to deal with non-electrified rail sections.

British Rail Class 800 in service with LNER in 2023. (Credit: Foulger Rail Photos, Wikimedia)

Replicating the experience of driving a train is always a trade-off between what one would like and what is practical or affordable. With only a corner of his apartment to work with, [Christopher] has opted to focus on the instruments and controls in the cab, using real components where possible or building replicas for the remainder.

This entire control panel is to be used with simulators like Train Simulator and Train Sim World, using their controller APIs to both control the in-game train as well as to get feedback to be displayed on the real instruments and the various LEDs, such as those that indicate the state of the external lights. These are all controlled internally via a CAN bus, as is typical.

These instruments include genuine AWS sunflowers, part of the safety system that ensures that a driver has acknowledged a non-clear signal along the track. It’s another nice touch to a control cab simulation that’s shaping up to be rather close to the real deal.

Even if for the average person something like a Densha de Go! copy and associated controllers will likely suffice, there’s a lot to be said for having something closely resembling the real deal for a realistic game, whether it’s a train, car or airplane controller and associated instrumentation.

The Trains With Rubber Tires

June 24, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 37 Comments

The train was one of the game-changing inventions that defined the Industrial Age. No more would humanity rely on tempestuous animals to haul goods and passengers great distances across the land. Fire and steam came along to rapidly increase the speed of travel and transformed the very fabric of society itself.

To this day, the vast majority of train networks rely on the same basic principle—heavy locomotives and carriages running steel wheels on steel tracks. Yet, there is a curious alternative twist on this concept that sees trains of carriages riding on tires instead. But what would possess anyone to build a rubber tired train?

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How I 3D Printed My Own Lego-Compatible Train Bridges

March 16, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 38 Comments

Lego train sets have been available for decades, now. The Danish manufacturer long ago realized the magic of combining its building block sets with motors and plastic rails to create real working railways for children and adults to enjoy. Over the years, Lego has innovated through several generations of trains, from classic metal-rail systems to the more modern IR and later Bluetooth-controlled versions. The only thing largely missing over all that time, though…? A bridge!

Yes, Lego has largely neglected to build any bridges for its mainstream train lineup. There are aftermarket solutions, and innovative hacks invented by the community, all with their own limitations and drawbacks. This glaring oversight, though, seemed like a perfect opportunity to me. It was time to fire up the 3D printer and churn out a fully-realized Lego rail bridge of my very own.

Bridges Are Hard

I’ve experimented with building Lego rail bridges before, using standard track and household objects like cardboard, books, and beer. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to support the track evenly at the joints which occur every 150mm, and derailments are common. Credit: author

There’s actually a good reason Lego bridges aren’t a big thing in the company’s own product lineup, beyond a few obscure historical parts. This is probably because they aren’t very practical. Lego locomotives are not particularly strong haulers, nor do they have excellent grip on the rails, and this makes them very poor at climbing even mild grades. Any official Lego bridge would have to be very long with a shallow slope just to allow a train to climb high enough to clear a locomotive on a track below. This would end up being an expensive set that would probably prove unpopular with the casual Lego train builder, even if the diehard enthusiasts loved it.

There are third-party options available out there. However, most rely on standard Lego track pieces and merely combine them with supports that hold them up at height. This can work in some cases, but it can be very difficult to do cool things like passing a Lego train under a bridge, for example. It can be hard to gain enough height, and the short length of Lego track pieces makes it hard to squeeze a locomotive between supports. Continue reading “How I 3D Printed My Own Lego-Compatible Train Bridges” →

Toy Train Joins The Internet Of Things

September 30, 2025 by Zoe Skyforest 1 Comment

[Zoltan] was developing a workshop on Matter for DEF CON, and wanted to whip up a fun IoT project to go with it. His idea was simple—take a simple toy train, and put it on the Internet of Things.

Speed and low cost were the goals here, with a budget of around $40 and a timeline of one week. The train set sourced for the build was a 43 piece set with a locomotive, one carriage, and a simple oval track, retailing for $25. The toy train got a new brain in the form of an ESP32-C3 DevKitM-1, with the goal of commanding the device over Wi-Fi for ease of use. The microcontroller was set up to control the train’s brushed DC motor with an IRL540 MOSFET. A USB battery bank was initially employed to power the rig, which sat neatly on the train’s solitary carriage. This was later swapped out for a CR123A battery, which did the job for the train’s short duration in service.

Code for the project was simple enough. The ESP32 simply listens for commands via Matter protocol, and turns the train on and off as instructed. [Zoltan] demos the simple interoperability of the Matter protocol by switching the train on and off with Google Home voice commands, and it works perfectly well.

Toy trains aren’t something we typically see included in smart homes, but maybe they should be. If you’re cooking up your own oddball IoT hacks, be sure to let us know on the tipsline!

A Second Chance For The Single Wheel Monorail?

August 16, 2025 by Heidi Ulrich 28 Comments

Lately, this peculiar little single wheel monorail came to our attention. Built by [extraglide1976], all from Meccano. His build started with modest tests: one gyro obviously flopped. Two gyros geared together ran slightly better. But when he adds active gimbal control, things suddenly come to life – the model shudders, catches itself, and carries on. The final green-roofed locomotive, with LEDs signalling ‘system go’, trundles smoothly along a single rail on [extraglide1976]’s deck.

To be fair, it houses a lot of mechanics and engineering which we don’t find in the monorails of today. We do have quite a few monorails in our world, but none of them balance on a single wheel like this one. So, where did this invention derail?

Outside of theme parks, Japan is one of the few countries where monorails are still used as serious urban transport: though Germany’s century-old Wuppertal Schwebebahn, the lesser-known C-Bahn, China’s sprawling Chongqing and Shanghai systems, Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur line, Brazil’s São Paulo network, the US links in Seattle and Las Vegas, and India’s Mumbai Monorail prove the idea has quietly taken root elsewhere.

The thing you’ll see in nearly all these monorails is how the carriages are designed to clamp onto the tracks. This is of course the most safe option, but it loses out on speed to the ones that sit on top of the tracks, balancing on one wheel. Such a train was actually invented, in 1910, by Louis Brennan. His original monorail promised faster, cheaper transport, even using existing rails. The carriages leaned into turns like a motorbike, without any intervention from the driver. Two counter-rotating gyroscopes kept the carriage upright, cancelling precession forces like a mechanical Jedi trick.

Back then, it failed commercially, but today? With cheap sensors, brushless motors, and microcontrollers, and intelligent software, why not let it make a comeback? It could carry freight through narrow urban tunnels. With high-speed single-rail pods?

Investors killed Brennan’s idea, but we live in a different time now. You could start out with a gimmicky ‘snacks and beer’ highline from your fridge to your garage. Share your take on it in the comments!

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Track Your Circuits: A Locomotive PCB Badge

April 18, 2025 by Matt Varian 7 Comments

This fun PCB from [Nick Brown] features a miniature railroad implemented with 0805-sized LEDs. With an eye towards designing his own fun interactive PCB badge, the Light-Rail began its journey. He thoroughly documented his process, from shunting various late-night ideas together to tracking down discrepancies between the documentation of a part and the received part.

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Push Your Toy Train No More, With This Locomotive!

February 11, 2025 by Jenny List 8 Comments

One of the most popular evergreen toys is also one of the simplest, wooden track with push-along trains. We all know the brand name, and savvy parents know to pick up the much cheaper knock-off because the kid won’t know the difference. But a really cool kid shouldn’t have to push their train around by hand, and thus [Lauri] has given the wooden track a real, powered, locomotive.

In the 3D printed chassis goes a small geared motor driving one axle, with an ESP32 and a motor driver taking care of the smarts. Power comes from an 18650 cell, which almost looks like the right scale for a fake steam boiler. The surprise with this train comes in the front axle, this machine has steering. We’re curious, because isn’t the whole point of a train that the track directs it where it needs to go? Or perhaps a little help is required in the absence of a child’s guidance when it comes to points. Either way, with remote control we guess there would be few kids who wouldn’t want one. We certainly do.