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Hi
Been lurking around a while and I finally decided to jump in... I've re-entered the slot car hobby after a 45 year absence and I kinda went nuts as I have all three scales HO, 1/32nd and 1/25th. I've set up my own set of tracks that my Son and I run our cars on which consist of a vintage AMT turnpike that I've modified to run both the Actual Turnpike cars and the standard 1/25th scale cars on. The remaining tracks are Strombecker 1/32nd and Aurora Thunderjet HO. The present day detail of the cars especially the 1/32nd cars is fantastic and for the most part they go pretty good too. I managed to get my old T-jets up and running again along with some re-releases from Autoworld . The 1/32nd stuff is a mix of
Revell/Monogram , Scalextric ,Carrera and Fly ....I'm a major GT40 fan ... The 1/25th scale cars are AMT slot stars that I've manged to get running rather well and of course the old Turnpikes ....
I've got some learning to do to get up on how things are done now as we do have a Commercial track nearby and I'd like to build something really competitive. My Son and I have joined the racing there a few times and I've noticed a trend ... the majority of us there have grey hair so I guess its true you can grow old on the outside but still stay young on the inside! Thanks!

Welcome to HRW. Sounds like a lot of folks around here who have come back to the hobby. Hope we can help you from time to time.

Turnpike - Welcome! This is really the place to be! Sounds like you have the bug VERY bad with three scales. You'll fit right in here! We'd love to see your setups, so start a new thread and let us see.

Hi
Thanks for the welcome, I'll post some pics as soon as I figure it out... as it appears I require a Flickr or Photo bucket site to link to , which I do not have at present...
We're still working on scenery, buildings etc. to give the tracks some life...

Hi HRWers, :text-thankyouyellow: for a great forum.

I'm into Subie's, V8's and street cars. My temp track is a scally analogue on a 8'x4' ply sheet which i am converting to digital.
With plans of creating 2 12'x6' setups, the 1st a replica of my local track Pukekohe park raceway with an alternate track on the infield, the other a small country town surround by winding country road and a dead end gravel road with a loop at the end, with scenery to match.
The 2nd one is is inspired by what i have seen on HRW like the route 66 Rally road by downtowndeco and embers muscle car barn and all the others i've seen, it's just in my imagination at the moment but the 1st i have most of the corners in my current setup.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and inspiration.

Thank you for accepting me into your community. I live in Portugal. Since our club closed that I pretty much just race at home in a Digital Carrera. Lately I've been dedicating my time to making detailed photographs of slots and building competition chassis for Carrera and SCX. I'm planing to share same of the videos in the forum.

Thanks again, VCR

Thanks :-)

Hello from down under. I live in the mid north of South Australia. I have been slot car collecting and racing for over fifty years, but now do most of my driving alone on a Carrera track. Looking forward to reading your forums, and contributing if I feel I may be useful.

Well I guess I should introduce myself also!
I've been model railroading for about twenty five years as an adult, mostly N scale. I don't currently have a train layout. I had HO slots as a youngster. Never had children of my own to share the hobby with. Now I'm going to be a (step) Grand Dad so I thought building a slot car track would be more fun for when the grandchild is a little older.
One thing led to another, now here I am.
I've got a shop fairly well equipped for model building and have done a little scratch building with brass. Last year I decided to move my shop from one corner of the basement to another to make room for a new train layout that will probably now never be built. Due to a hectic work schedule, I'm still finishing up relocating and organizing the shop but should be done by Christmas.
As a model railroader I always thought the guys that modeled small, model genic, prototype lines were quite fortunate. I was always fascinated with Carl Ardents small layout scrapbook and some of the detail in larger scale models. I've modeled eastern logging railroads, but not much is available in N scale and scratch building the small oddball equipment I like so much is beyond my skills, at least in N scale. Working in 1/32 will be a joy for my 50 plus eyes.
I found the Milford Combe Circuit to be very convincing scenically so I searched the internet for a country set race like this in the US. I didn't find much in the US, but I stumbled onto the motor races at Fairmont Park in Philly. These were run from 1908 to 1911. Although not set in "the country" per say, some of the scenery looks country due to the park setting. I may have to pretend Fairmont ran into the 20's so I can find some cars close enough until I learn to scratch build something older. Now I'm hooked on another hobby and small part of history. I'm close enough to Fairmont Park that I can take day trips to the area.
Since I moved the shop I now have room for a shelf style, L shaped slot car track approximately 14 x 14. I'm going to keep the track plan simple so there will be room for a few structures.
I haven't settled on a plan yet, but will probably go with some type of folded over plan to keep lanes close to equal. I thought a two lane track would look more prototypical, but today I learned that the Fairmont course had wide roads, 60 -100 wide, so I guess a three or four lanner may be in the future if I can make the turn near a doorway tight enough .
The course had some winding down hill turns and ran along the banks of the Schuylkill River and past a small lake in the park. It ran over roads with names like Concourse Street, West River Drive and Sweet Briar Drive. (Now that's a street name perfect for a model road course.)
I want to keep the scenery to track ratio fairly high and track construction simple. I've scratch built some N scale turnouts, so building and wiring routed wood track should not be a problem. I don't know that I will ever race at other tracks, currently I'm thinking more like a model railroader than a slot car racer. Sound in the cars would be interesting. I would like to have a grand stand with a non working period score board on top. The original from Fairmont is in a museum about an hour from home.
The park also had some very unique structures and statues. The Centennial Exposition was held there and some of the buildings still survive. Photo flats of these incorporated into the backdrop would really set the place of the track.
....Well that's about enough of an intro for me.
I can't wait until the job slows down so I can get the shop finished and the layout started.

John

Welcome John;

Your plans sound great for your track. If you have a tight place for the corner there are two possibilities to solve it, squeeze the lanes on that corner so there is not much space between the inside and outside, therefore a smaller diameter needed overall. The other option is to make the outer lane a V shaped hairpin and use exactly the same plan for the next lane inside etc, thereby moving the inside turn closer to the main body of the track. This way you could make all lanes have exactly the same corner, but the straights adjoining would be different. Either way, 8 inches diameter is about as tight as you would want the inside turn, with 10-12 being better.

I just looked up Fairmont Park race track, and either of these two space saving possibilities would work if the complicated little section at the south end by the river was replaced with one tight hairpin turn.

Cheers,

Keith

I've got 40" to play with at this end. I'm not at the track planing stage yet but would like to have a serpentine decent down Sweet Briar Hill, then a hard left at the intersection of West River Drive.
I guess I could have a squeeze at this turn. It looks to be a 90 degree turn.
John

Greetings all! Finally got around to signing up after lurking for a bit. Not new to the hobby, just here. Looking forward to getting to know the folks around the board. Nice place you have, looks fun. :D

Hello Folks............just joined yesterday!. To be honest, up until now, I have not spent a great deal of time on this forum, but, having now seen the interesting and unique proxy series that you folks organise, I could not remain on the sidelines any longer. I look forward to spending more time here, meeting new faces, and learning from you all.

Cheers
Chris Walker

Good to have you here Chris! great bunch of helpful friendly folks on here, they even put up with me sometimes!

Bob