I would like to submit the following information for my entry into your home slot car track contest.
I have been back into the hobby for about 1 1/2 years after owning my first Aurora Thunderjet sets back in the early 70’s. I have been adding to it and working on it every since it has been set up. Currently the layout is between 69 and 70 feet in length on each of the 4 lanes. It is mounted on an “L” shaped table constructed of 2x4’s and plywood covered with a “grass” carpet. The table is 16’ long and 5’ wide for 12’ and 7’ wide for 4’. The 2’ x 4’ “L” extension on one end of the table gives me plenty of room for my computer and is offset enough so that the monitor is visible from around the road course.
I used Tomy AFX track to build my road course. The lanes are powered individually by standard wall power packs. The rough wiring is done under my table for 5 power taps on each lane and for 3 wire controllers at four permanent driver stations along my long front stretch although I have not purchased the braking controllers yet or an upgraded power supply. (I can’t wait to upgrade my controllers for use with my Tyco 440-X2 cars equipped with heavy cobalt magnets!) Currently I am using standard Tomy controllers with 3 standard terminal tracks per lane. This gives each driver the opportunity to set up at 3 different spots along the layout where he may feel more comfortable or where he may be better able to judge when to “get on or off the gas” while coming into or out of his “trouble spots”. And he can relocate by simply unplugging and replugging the controller at the different terminal tracks. It also accommodates self marshalling as the drivers are spread around the track, especially when they are set up where they have the most trouble or are most likely to crash.
My track sees mostly lifelike fast tracker cars so the Tomy controllers have been adequate. These fast tracker cars are a great match for the fast layout. In stock form the cars have a nice balance of speed and magnetic down force. The only change I have made is using AJ silicone tires. Coming off the fast straights on this course a driver can learn to “drive on the edge”. The magnets are strong enough to make cornering fast but there is still room to make the cars slide if you are good enough.
I am in the process of eliminating all of my guard rail by installing track borders and retaining walls. For the borders I used two layers of 1/4” hardboard. I cut the borders out and also put a layer of hardboard under the entire width of the track and borders to make the whole setup lay even and flat on the carpet. It also gave me a very stable sub layer under the track and borders that worked great in supporting the banked turns that I built. The retaining walls were reclaimed from the vinyl slats from an old set of sliding glass door blinds. These worked great being very flexible, the perfect height, already painted and easily trimmed and tapered with scissors. If you look close you can even see the paint marks from cars banging into them.
The layout consists of 3 very long fast straights and interesting turns. I have tried my best to incorporate corners that are not only challenging but also fair across the inside and outside lanes of the track. I have done this by using wide turns, tight turns, doglegs, and turns that are not symmetrical (or not the same radius going in as coming out). My start/finish line is at the front of my longest straight stretch. I wired up some LED sensors and use the Lap Timer program by Gregory Braun for lap times and lap counting. (Instructions for doing that job are on his web site and if you can solder you can do it!) There are a lot of ways to count your laps but if you don’t know your lap times then you need to try a program like this. It gives an added dimension to the competition and helps you determine if adjustments to your car are helping or not. There are many programs out there and it is worth using one just for the sound effects!
As you can see from the pictures I am not finished yet with my track yet. I have yet to finish the borders on the far end of my track where you see the guard rails and the track needs to be tacked down with nails or screws when I am finished to make the warped sections of track lay flat between the border sections. But I am enjoying the hobby again and wanted to submit my entry to show what I have done so far.
Thanks!
