Random part of the day: Ramp 6X8
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random part is 3292, 'Ramp 6X8', which is a System part, category Bricks, With Slope.
Our members collectively own a total of 8,620 of them. If you'd like to buy some you should find them for sale at BrickLink.
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17 comments on this article
I've a few of the old design, though not of this 2022 rework. Probably 8632 has the most interesting of those.
Ramping up the anticipa
tion.
Don’t have this version yet
Most recent set I got the older version: 10497: galaxy explorer
Personally, I'm surprised they're going back to fill in the four digit part numbers.
@Murdoch17 said:
"Personally, I'm surprised they're going back to fill in the four digit part numbers."
Why? Unlike set numbers, they aren't generally grouped together in series, unless they were developed in conjunction (2pc hinges, wheel/tire combos, L/R doors, etc.) Not every new part is assigned a 4-digit mold number. Most are probably just assigned the next number in the main sequence, and it's probably the work of one person digging through the archives to figure out which 4-digit numbers were never assigned.
why do they always change the number of the part when they're exactly the same as each other.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"why do they always change the number of the part when they're exactly the same as each other."
They apparently aren't the same - the molds have slightly differing undersides. And any mold changes probably warrants a new part number assigned. Bricklink has an image comparing the two - https://www.bricklink.com/TL/59379.jpg
@Maxbricks14:
Because they're not exactly the same as each other. And changing the number ensures that the new will be used instead of the old. As 1x1 plates with vertical clips were transitioning from the third (thick U) to the fourth (C-shaped), I got a set that had the decades-retired second (thin U). The first three versions of that part all shared the same mold number, so when someone ran across an old Type 2 mold that hadn't been disposed of, it was assumed to be the soon-to-retire Type 3 mold, and they ran parts in dark-bley off a mold that hadn't been used since the 80's.
This ramp was originally intended for level crossings of train track with the old 16-wide road baseplates. I really wishes they would have released a wider version of this element 6x10 to accommodate the 20-wide road baseplates. I adapted my level crossing with a 2-wide median and widened the sidewalk by one stud on each side so my crossing actually looks pretty decent, but a 6x10 would have been cool. Of course, now that road baseplates are retired there’s no need for wider ramps.
I've always seen these kinds of pieces as the Paradisa Stables roof (though that was textured). It's hard to think of it as a road piece after that.
I got my first ones in 7866 so for me this will always be associated with level train crossings.
@paulvdb said:
"I got my first ones in 7866 so for me this will always be associated with level train crossings."
Me too. In fact, as part 4515 that was its only use for 8 years until it turned up in black as a roof in 6542. Used in all sorts of things since then.
Recognise your age, it's a teenage rampage...
I can certainly appreciate the train-crossing use of this piece (well, it's original form, anyway...), but that's secondary to its use as a roof: 6552 and 6350 in my brother's collection and 6494 and 8632 in mine.
Better known - to me, at least - as the Time Cruisers' lab roof piece. It wasn't the only set to use it as a roof, nor the first by a long way, but it was the first time I encountered the piece and the association stuck.
Later got more of them as part of the river in 6766, too.
@Librarian1976:
In my LUG, we mostly use the dark-bley 20-stud roads that were the last roadplates in production. However, we have 7-stud sidewalks, so they hang over the road surface one stud, nearly covering up the outside lines (which look silly when you have a curb). That cuts the roads down to 18 studs, so the ramps at 16 studs aren’t quite so awkward.