It has been quite a while since the last installment. Not because I've been ignoring the track. On the contrary, it is getting considerable daily use, something that helps to keep things running smoothly. During this time, however, I have made some changes. One thing about the hobby is that one tends to change things. Either adding new stuff, altering configurations or finding out that what used to work ok now doesn't.
Let me start with the most recent upgrade. Thanks to our government's 'stimulus package', I was able to hold back a few dollars not put into paying bills to add another section to the track. Basically, it is a 4x8 foot sheet of 1/2 inch particle board with a 2x2 framework held off the floor by 2x4 legs. I had the lumber yard cut my board to 7.5 feet of length and had them take out a 12 x 42 inch section. This was to make the part up against the wall more accessible. This left me with a couple of sections of particle board and combined with a piece from an earlier addition, I added an 'L' shaped bit. In case you are wondering why the 7.5 feet deal, it was to leave me room to get to the track so I wouldn't be squeezed against the wall in the process. Even at retail prices, the total cost of the board and wood (four 8 foot 2x2s, four 8 foot 2x4s, 16 3.5 inch bolts, nuts and washers [for the legs and to attach to the previous section] and a pound of drywall screws) was around $40. It took roughly two hours to cut the wood, drill holes (for the legs and to attach to the other section) and assemble the pieces.
I'd
been buying bits and pieces of track since I finished the last addition back in
December. I also used many of the pieces of track from the older arrangement and
what I had in the 'track stash'. One of the key items to the track is that now
there is a good 16 feet of straightaway down the back wall. You can see this new
addition, which starts at the join about 2/3rds of the way to the top of this
first image. You can also see the cutaway I had made. I also had a simple
hairpin put in place of a more complex shape I had there earlier. I did this as
I wanted to straighten out the section next to it on the right. This will allow
me to trim back the board on the right side. 4 feet is just too much space to
have to stretch to reach things up against the wall and I have plans to add some
elevation changes later on.
One
of the features of the new section is that it is basically pretty fast. This
image to the right shows what is near the end of the long straight. You can see
the 'wiggly' return section, but you might also notice that none of the curves
is very sharp once one gets past the small section of Radius 1 track at the
bottom left of the image. This allows some cars to go nearly full throttle out
of this sharp curve. A lower elevation image on the left shows this to better
effect. These curves are all Radius 4 (the broadest that Scalextric makes). I
could
have
just put in a straight section with a kink in it, but thought this would be a
bit more interesting. It is nice to go fast, but not always the most fun.
This last track photo shows the section that makes up the 'L'
at the end of the long straight. The curve at the end of the straight is also
Radius 4 which makes things pretty fast and allows the car to slow down before
it reaches the other Radius
1 curve and then a series of Radius 2 and Radius 3 curves before reaching the
return esses. You'll notice that I have installed Ninco walls with fences at the
end of the long straight and at the outside of the curve at the bottom of
the image. These are a great investment and have kept many a car from crashing
to the concrete floor below.
I should mention that I've not used any sort of track planning software to figure this out. I just took the track I had and started fitting things together. What you see is about the fifth configuration of this section as I tried a few things and decided I didn't like them and tried some others. One previous incarnation was a lot faster than what I have now and another had more tight, twisty bits. One thing I have learned is when using tight turn sections, it is best to place them at a location where the cars would naturally be going slow anyway. It is one reason that I'm always adjusting things. I'm sure that what you see now will not be exactly the same a month from now as one of the fun things about sectional track is that one can change things around. However, once you start to add scenery, you are less inclined to change things, one reason why I've not added any scenery in the last half year or so. I'm still figuring out what will work where.
Though I've not measured it, I think the track is now up to 160-165 feet with lap times in the 16-17 second bracket for the fast cars.
There have been a few other changes in equipment and operation, but I'll leave those for another time.
Well, that is about it for this session. I hope you learned a bit and if you have any questions or wish to share your experiences or images of your track, I'd like to hear from you on the subject so please e-mail me at mmreaders@aol.com.
Scott