GeoTrax Vehicles w/ People Sets (Stat & Stewart) - New Release

One more new GeoTrax release I found looking around the Mattel customer service website. Looks like Fisher-Price is changing the little vehicles released last year to include people that can actually ride inside the vehicle. Each vehicle appears to come with two figures.

The GeoTrax vehicles being released appear to be...an ambulance, police SUV, recycling truck and construction dump truck.


Image Credit: fisher-price.com.

Check out the GeoTrax Vehicles with People Sets Instruction Sheet.

GeoTrax Grand Central Station - New Release

Grand Central Station is the set I am most excited about with this next set of items to be released and it seems to be attracting the must buzz on the Internet right now. The GeoTrax Grand Central Station set appears to be the successor to the Workin' Town Railway and the Tracktown Railway sets. I bet this will cost around $40 once released.


Image Credit: fisher-price.com.

New stuff being introduced with this set include the new style switch which is more of a parallel switch than the curve switch we are all used to. This set also introduces some new curved elevation track pieces which appear still different from the curved elevation pieces that come with the Mile High Mountain set.


Image Credit: fisher-price.com.

Check out the entire Grand Central Station Instruction Sheet.

GeoTrax Remote Control Train - Bull & Bruno - New Release

The second of two new remote control trains is this one know only at this point as Bruno & Bull.


Image Credit: fisher-price.com

This is a great-looking train--much like the trains you see running freight across our countryside. I am guessing the train is Bull and the man is Bruno but that is complete speculation on my part.

This train also comes with forward and reverse action...should be a great addition to you set. The actual release date is unknown at this point.

For more details check out the GeoTrax Remote Control Set with Bull & Bruno Instruction Sheet.

GeoTrax Remote Control Train - Alpine & Will - New Release

Here they come, we will soon have trains with the same forward and reverse action as the already released bulldozer and dump truck.



It looks like Fisher-Price is playing to one of its strengths and introducing action figures to go with the GeoTrax train sets. As a kid I spent hours playing with my fisher price people...I think the camping/safari set was my favorite.

My son likes to play with his Galactic Heroes (mini Star Wars figures) while playing with his GeoTrax. They ride in the train cars, climb the mountain in the Mt. blast Construction set and use the GeoMotion Water Tower as their Storm Trooper base.

I think my kids will really like the new figures.

For more details check out the GeoTrax Remote Control Train with Alpine & Will Instruction set.

GeoTrax Track Layout Ideas - Quick Tip #2

I finally bought some of the newer T-Track (or double-switch) pieces--I now have two T-track pieces. One I got when I purchased my Lift N' Load Quarry and the other I got from the City Track Pack set. I have been playing around with my T-track pieces and I came up with some interesting ideas building on the concept of a figure-8 layout.

There are a lot of ways you can create a figure-8 track layout with GeoTrax. The basic figure-8 layout is a quick way to get my youngest child up and running with a simple track layout that doesn't take up a lot of space and keeps her entertained while I am trying to build a more complex layout. Here is a quick picture of what a figure-8 layout might look like.




You can modify this same concept by adding the T-track pieces into the mix. Your figure 8 has more of a square look but adds some alternative paths to the layout for your trains. Here is what mine looks like...



Or you can combine these two ideas together into something that looks like interlocking figure 8's (or a 4-leaf clover) which can then be altered in a way to allow for off and on ramps for the clover leaf design. Check this out...

GeoTrax Track Layout Ideas - Quick Tip #1

I am going to start a new feature on this site called the "GeoTrax Track Layout Ideas Quick Tip". A lot of people are posting pictures of their entire track layouts on the web which I think is great and very fun and inspiring for others to look at. However, sometimes an entire layout can mask or hide the one or two 'simple but powerful' ideas that make the layout unique from others.

With the "Track Layout Quick Tip" I will try to feature just one simple principle or idea for a layout. I hope visitors to this site will then take this basic idea and build on it in creating their own unique track layouts.

Track Crossing with Escape Route
I was looking at a train hobby book recently and read a few ideas about creating alternate routes or 'escape routes' for trains prior to reaching a railroad crossing area. The purpose being if two trains are approaching a crossing at the same time, one of the trains could opt for using the escape route as an alternate pathway. This allows the trains to avoid stopping and/or colliding with each other.

Here is what that looks like...


Here is another picture with the track pieces close together but not yet connected so you can make out what pieces I used.


Track required to build this part of track layout at a minimum includes the following:

• 2 Straight Tracks


• 2 Half Straight Tracks


• 1 Crossing Track


• 1 Left Switch Track


• 1 Right Switch Track


• 1 Curved Track.

GeoCAM - Enjoy the Thrills, Chills & Spills

Speaking of Brian and Max...they just posted a GeoTrax video on YouTube that is worth watching. What makes this video unique is that it features a tour of a track layout from the trains perspective. That's right they figured out a way to strap a wireless digital video camera to Geo (Motorized Starter Set).



A few comments from Brian:

This camera is powered by a 9 volt rechargeable battery that is also mounted behind the camera on Geo, the train that ships with the "All About Trains" set. The one exception is the final video segment in which it was attached to the remote controlled older fire truck train (which moves slow enough to not fly off the tracks!)

Included in the video are 3 track layouts, complete with a few spills.... (For example, Max removed a necessary rail in the 2nd layout... but the 2nd run (also shown) was successful... The straightaway lengthy shot was not successful, but the crash was interesting enough :) Finally the last track is run perfectly...

Enjoy the accompanying appropriateish music track.... My video editing skills are NOT so wonderful, though... it was my first video editing attempt in years!

Comments appreciated, as well as ideas of what to do with the modification.... I'll also be happy to give details to anyone who cares to replicate this project....

Watch on YouTube and leave a comment for Brian