help in planning a wood digital track

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help in planning a wood digital track

Postby tracyridge » Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:37 pm

Hi.
After 15 years of analog wood track racing, I fell in love with digital and quickly tore down my 3 lane road course to make way for a digital/ analog track. dual use....which was my 1st mistake.. :? The small group of guys ( 4 ) I race with all agree , digital is tooo much fun to go back to analog.
2nd mistake, planning..... I have planned and constructed about a dozen analog wood tracks in the past. My first one had many issues... Just like my first digital track has now... So I am planning the second one and I am looking for any help suggestions and tips in trying to avoid the dreaded stupid mistakes :doh:
I have attached a rough drawing of my idea. It incorporates my must haves, a long straight , a wide sweeping turn, and some twisty bits.
I'm not a fan of the spaghetti bowl track plans, for me less is more , plus it leaves lots of room for scenery. And am I wrong in thinking that digital racing allows for simpler track plans? For instances , having to have an over pass in an attempt to equalize lane lengths in an analog track.. that takes a good amount of planning to get it right.
I plan for three lane changers ,not counting the pit road entrance.. # 1 in the straight right after the start finish line , # 2 ( a double lane change ) right before the wide sweeping 180 degree turn and # 3 at the end of the long straight.
Would it be a good idea to put a lane change in the beginning of the long straight and turn into a 3 lane long straight , with that 3rd lane rejoining at the end of the long straight ??
I am using Carrera components. I am trimming down the lane change tracks and embedding them flush into MDF board. So I have lots of leeway for the twisty bits and where pit road re enters the track. Elevations changes will also be worked into the plan...Gotta have a up hill thru the esses part, similar to the Glen!
And what is the rule of thumb for how far from a exit of a turn to a lane changer ? I believe Carrera standard straight is about 13 1/2 inches.. so about 1 foot minimum?
And the bench work is an island so all corners are access able.
So any possible issues any one see with this plan? ideas ? tips? gratefully for any and all help

Thanks guys

John
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby b.yingling » Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:54 pm

Personally, I've become convinced that equal lane lengths are just as necessary for digital racing. Maybe even more so, since there is no way to enforce a lane rotation. If you have a short way round, it becomes nearly impossible to pass a car that is equal (or even a small touch slower) if the quickest route is one lane. And the inside lane will definitely be quicker on your design. With experienced racers, it is difficult enough to pass in digital. No need to make it even tougher. Plus, several consecutive door-to-door laps are just as much fun in digital as they are in analog.

While I understand the 'less is more' approach- to my mind your proposed track is so much less it is...less. Particularly if you intend to run more than two cars on those two lanes. But these are your decisions.

You are about right, I would say, on the lead in for a lane change. On certain spots in my tracks, I've gotten away with less than a full straight leading into an LC- but most of the time it is required for quickest speed lane changing. Since you're going wood, I'd allow at least a foot on every one so as not to have to change it later.

As a general rule for digital tracks (be they plastic, wood, or hybrid), you want the last lane changer before the pit entrance to give you a chance to move into the lane that contains the pit in. In fact, it's best if it is a single lane change (not an XLC) that moves you to the proper lane. Your picture does the reverse, but I don't know if you were really planning on that or not.

In my experience, your proposed third lane would not be worth the trouble. I can pretty much guarantee one of the three would never get used except when someone wanted to say they did. Although I have heard of third lanes being used as a reslotting lane, and those people are glad to have them. Of course to do that successfully, you'd have to build it so there was no way *in* to the third lane, only a feed *out*.
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby tracyridge » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:31 am

Lane lengths equality just as important in digital as analog.... contrary to what I was thinking , but yes I see your point . which then makes a overpass just about a necessity. which isn't a bad thing. Personally I like the visual appeal of them. And if laid out properly you can minimize the line of sight issue.
Third lane useless,, that's what I was suspecting.
And I shall take your advice about pit lane excess.. I hadn't thought about that
Bruce :text-thankyouyellow: :text-thankyouyellow:
Back to the drawing board

John
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby b.yingling » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:35 am

Had another thought about your lane changer right after the start/finish. That's an invitation for trouble. Even if human drivers all swear to never use it on lap one- if you ever run with ghosts, they will have no such compulsion. Of course, you can start the ghost somewhere other than the start/finish, but that's not optimal, either.
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby proxieken » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:56 am

I recently installed the lane gates in my track and for the small cost per lane change it is worth it. It might be something to consider if you are planning a permanent layout.

I had an equal length track, and now one lane is about 2' shorter. I think it is slightly faster so equal lengths are important. I found my previous layout with multiple over passes and equal lanes was a bit better. To get the best lap time you had to switch lanes twice per lap, and if someone got beside you that was impossible. That track had some blind spot issues so I took it down and made the current layout.

The current layout has people getting in the fast lane and staying there, but ghost cars and slower drivers can throw things out of the routine.

One issue I have is having the pit entrance in my main straight. People come in to the pit too fast and the car veers and tips slightly because the pit entrance is so sharp. This causes the lane flapper to not reset. When another car comes down the straight full speed and gets swerved in to the pits it results in massive and catastrophic crashes and cars hurling through the air and flipping multiple times.

In spite of my repeated reminders that pit lane speed is SLOW it always happens every race. People forget to slow down and we have these accidents every time.

I plan to replace the pit entrance with a regular lane change at some point. Then guys can enter pit lane at 180 MPH if desired.
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby dw5555 » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:50 am

John, a thought on the lane changer at the end of the straight. My straight is just a touch longer than yours and I had an l/c at the end. I sometimes had issues with the cars going so fast that the l/c wouldn't open in time and didn't change or it was caught in transition and the car's guide hit the lever causing the car to go flying. Eventually this led to a broken lane changer. I took out the l/c sensor from the changer and moved it to the section before it and that solved the problem. However I just removed it all together because the speeds they were changing at was just too scary. IMO..
Dave
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby b.yingling » Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:26 pm

Yea, I definitely agree with you on that one, too, Dave. Been a long time since I put a lane changer anywhere but as close to the the beginning of a straight as was workable.
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby tracyridge » Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:18 pm

More good points ....thank you gentlemen, looks like a total revamp of my plan is in order .....
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Re: help in planning a wood digital track

Postby buspor63 » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:33 pm

Here's the thread about my track build. viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1549
You may have to download the photobucket embed fix for Chrome to se most of the pictures.

I drew mine out on typing paper, built the table and then started drawing and cutting MDF to the image. Leave your straight edge and level in the corner of the shop. My lane spacing is over 4", maybe 4.125? Carrera 124 cars need some wiggle room. I started with two single LC's and a standard LC for the pit in. Because the wood track doesn't have magnetic downforce to allow fast "program" cars, I didn't plan on ghost or pace cars. Additionally, we usually have 10 or so racers anyway.

I think it's around 55 feet, takes about 6.3 seconds for a fast lap. Recently I added two more single LC's, another curved one after a hairpin and an awkward one at the end of the front straight. That one was kinda just because I needed one more. The fast lane seems to be the one close to the six corded driver stations, it's about .3 of a second faster. I use Bruce Yingling's software, great stuff and I have a monitor that sits on the opposite side of the track. It's also set up to run analog too.

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