295 replies to this topic

[Rotorranch]

Yeah, Rocky... I have had more than one offer through the years to just "haul that track out of here, and you can have it".

I hated to hear the Georgia Hobby Center Purple mile was probably toast. I keep hoping some day it might resurface.

I remember you coming in to the raceway to to play. I can't remember if Tom Moye showed up that night or not.

And I haven't got a clue where you ate, but I love chicken fried steak!

Rotor

[Rick]

Another sad American track story for you. In the '90s I bought out a track from New York. I got a pretty nice Hillclimb that I was told was in storage for 20 some odd years before the new owner set it up and then sold it to me. It really didn't see much use on its life.

When I moved to under the bridge in Tarentum I did not have room for it, so sold it to a guy that was going to set it up in his own building as a fun track for him and his employees. He has a good plumbing bidness. Well, a while later I heard the track never got set up and was now in the alley behind the building tarped up. I think you can fill the blanks in after that... sad! As it was a real nice track in good condition...

[stevphens]

Yeah, that's a shame, Rick.

The old American tracks are most interesting to me because they were the first commercial tracks I ever saw. And the brand I saw most often back in the day.
I've been looking at old Model Car and Track magazines recently, and was surprised to see how many commercial track builders advertised back in the '60s.

My question is: Have many of the "other" brand commercial tracks survived?

And does anyone have any idea the total number of American Raceway tracks built? Or the total number of all brands of commercial tracks built pre-1970? And about how many pre-1970 commercial tracks are still around, either in use or in storage?

[Vay Jonynas]

Who then were some of the other commercial track builders?

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

Jeff, first the food. Downtown back then was a small triangle island of concrete near the downtown convention area that was described by freeway on an off ramps. This diner was open all night. And I had gotten in LATE and was starving. From the hotel, it was clearly open and full of "people of the night". I was the token white guy!

But the food was stunning. The next morning I took my wife there for lunch after some presentation and she was wowed. But she also bonded with the owner. The owner complained that she worried about ME because I didn't seem to realize the bad nature of the area, AND I didn't eat my okra. My wife agreed that I scared her a lot because I did things like walk through bad neighborhoods smiling AND I never ate my okra.

Tom Moye was supposed to meet me there, but family issues came up. We had been friends for years. Anyway, he did show up the next day and I was happy to spend the time with him before his death.

I think I still have that set of cobalts the track sold me while I was there.

Fate

[stevphens]

Who then were some of the other commercial track builders?

Miniature Grand Prix Racing Centers
International Raceway, Inc. (later acquired by Revell)
Slot Raceways of America
Model Raceways Associated
Trost
Strombecker Commercial Raceways
Custom Raceways Ltd,
Mila Miglia Inc. (fiberglass tracks)
H & H Manufacturing Co.

All the above were pre-1969.

[Rick]

I my box of misc. junk I had a couple of controller hookup plates. I can't remember the name on them but K & ? comes to mind?? That could be totally wrong. They had a polarity switch on the panels. Maybe Kit Henry found these in the stuff?

There was a Mila Miglia in Bulter, PA. in the '60s; Paul Meiers said it was a POS???

[stevphens]

I ran on a fiberglass track in Long Beach, California in late 1971. Probably was a Mila Miglia? Don't remember much about it, but do remember I didn't like it.

My favorite track in that area was Ron Granlee's Blue King...

By the way, does anyone know what became of his flat track replica of Riverside?

[stevphens]

Who then were some of the other commercial track builders?

Also pre-1970: Hi-Speed and All-Tech tracks (Stan Engleman - builder), according to "The History of Slot Racing" by John Ford.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

There was a 275' Mila Miglia track in Ogden. It was done in fibreglass and the track surface was painted in "Sandtex" then often used as a coating for tarpaper roofing. Very abrasive, ate tires. But I don't know that this was standard to the brand or something the owners did.

Fate

[stevphens]

Rocky, you have me wondering if the Long Beach track wasn't a fiberglass Mila Miglia? It had a slick surface. Does anyone know if Formica surface tracks were ever built?

[Rotorranch]

Jeff, first the food. Downtown back then was a small triangle island of concrete near the downtown convention area that was described by freeway on an off ramps. This diner was open all night. And I had gotten in LATE and was starving. From the hotel, it was clearly open and full of "people of the night". I was the token white guy!

But the food was stunning. The next morning I took my wife there for lunch after some presentation and she was wowed. But she also bonded with the owner. The owner complained that she worried about ME because I didn't seem to realize the bad nature of the area, AND I didn't eat my Okra. My wife agreed that I scared her a lot because I did things like walk through bad neighborhoods smiling AND I never ate my okra.

Rocky... I asked my wife, who has lived here all her life, and she didn't know. She asked her older brother, and he said it sounded like The Lucky Street Grille. Does that ring a bell?

All that was probably torn down for renovation before the Olympics in 1996.

Rotor

[Champion 507]

Nashville, TN, had a Mila Miglia (240'?) for many years. Never raced on it as I lived in another town in '68-'69, maybe '70. Played on it many times. I saw where it sold on eBay about seven years ago. Never found out where it went or if it still exists.

[Daytonaman]

The 330' pink Engleman style track I have in storage that originally came from Sacramento, CA, in 1966 has tags on the ends of each section that read "Slot Tracks Designers and Supplies" . The only '60s track manufacturers tracks that are still around today are American, Stan Engleman, All-Tech, and the one that I have. Does anyone know of any others?

John

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

Lucky Street Grill? Could be. If my wife were still alive I could ask her. It was fun place. Lots of dealers and pimps hanging around, there was a bank of pay phones outside. I always knew when a cop car was cruising by as the interesting folks would be suddenly pretending to make a phone cal as opposed to just hanging out.

But the food was terrific. Not usual for an all night choke and puke.

The Mille Miglia in Denver was cast like a modern HO tub track. Or I guess better described as "layed up". It looked like some of the photos I have seen show up of the smaller ones with that sort of "Englman" type layout, but just longer straights. And I am pretty sure that the surface was a "good idea at the time" by the brothers who owned the place. They were not the sharpest tools in the box.

Fate

[stevphens]

Slotblog continues to keep me from my chores. Like Model Car & Track magazine did in my teens. Only Slotblog is worse, since someone is always there to talk with about the good old days...

Just found an ad in the November 1965 issue of Model Car & Track, in which Mila Miglia states (and I quote):
"Only Mila Miglia, with their long experience in miniature car components could provide such plus features as:
...textured roadways for greater tire traction"
etc.

So maybe someone at Mila Miglia wasn't the sharpest ax in the shed?

Reminds me of a raceway owner who used super glue to repair loose braid, and it seeped through the braid. So he decided to remove the excess super glue with some kind of abrasive stick which looked like an odd shaped eraser. After he cleaned the top surface of the braid, left behind was an abrasive dust that naturally became embedded in the track glue and rubber that had been laid down on the track surface. Needless to say, he sold a lot of tires in the following weeks...

[Vay Jonynas]

I guess the raceway owner wasn't so dumb after all!

[stevphens]

Do you suppose it was intentional?

I wonder if Mila Miglia sold tires?

Or maybe those brothers in Denver were sharper than they appeared to be? Probably would work as long as there were no other tracks in town...

[S.O. Watt]

That's great spin doctoring, a euphemism for unsealed cheap arse particle board?

Just found an ad in the November 1965 issue of Model Car & Track, in which Mila Miglia states (and I quote):
"Only Mila Miglia, with their long experience in miniature car components could provide such plus features as:
... textured roadways for greater tire traction"
etc.

[S.O. Watt]

I believe I ran on that track....

The 330' pink Engleman style track I have in storage that originally came from Sacramento, CA, in 1966 has tags on the ends of each section that read "Slot Tracks Designers and Supplies" .

The only '60s track manufacturer's tracks that are still around today are American, Stan Engleman, All-Tech, and the one that I have. Does anyone know of any others?

[Jim Brown]

Thanks for taking time to provide the info, Ron! Always enjoy hearing about the old American tracks. Reminds me of a special place in time...

I guess we've all seen the "Yellow", "Orange", "Black", "Red 150" and "Blue King".
I saw one green figure 8 in 1969. Cannot remember seeing a banked "Black" or " Hillclimb".
Fairly certain I never saw a "Purple Mile" or "Yellow 220", since there were so few. Understand there's a "Purple Mile" in Connecticut.
Seems like I read on Slotblog that at least one "Yellow 220" survived, but I can't remember where. (I'm at that age.)

Was the econo paneling the same color on all the tracks it was used on?

I raced at G&G Raceways in Houston, TX, among other tracks in TX. They had mirror images of the red Imperial, the yellow built exactly like American Tracks plus a green figure eight high banked at both ends. I always figured Gus built the green figure eight just for G&G raceway but I never saw another track like it in the '60s. Did American make a figure eight?

By the way I raced on the purple track at Bellaire also.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

The guys with the 270 REQUIRED a tire tech every two heats. They sold a lot of tires. But I don't think it was the business plan. I so abused the rules of their program that it was clear they just didn't know basic anything.

Everyone in '71 was running 6 oz anglewinders with monster power like the "big boys" in California. And I won a lot of money with super light wire cars and they never believed me when I told them why.

One issue was that cars would commonly start bottoming out during the heat, even with tire changes.

Anyway, back to the track, in '65, we had a lot of HARD tires out there and the sandtex surface wasn't THAT bad an idea. In '64, presumably when they went into business, we commonly ran Veco model airplane "sponge" tires. My local track in Goldsboro, NC, back then, put together a "team" to hit local tracks and races. I remember our going crazy at this American black in Kinston, NC. Nothing was hooking up. Out of frustration, I threw on a set of stock Monogram mechanical rubber on my car, and THAT worked. For everyone else with supposedly better tires just had a skating rink.

Things were not so wonderful then when it came to tires and traction and track power.

Fate

[stevphens]

They had mirror images of the Red Imperial, the Yellow built exactly like American Tracks plus a Green figure eight high banked at both ends. I always figured Gus built the Green figure eight just for G&G raceway but I never saw another track like it in the sixties. Did American make a figure eight?

American Raceways built a figure 8 with green Formica called the Queen. Seems like I read it was 66 feet and did not have high banks.

[stevphens]

Found the following ad in the September 1965 issue of Model Car & Track:

"NEW! From Mila Miglia... Cheater slicks & hubs
Magnesium hubs & German formula sponge rubber tires."

So they did sell tires! "Cheater" tires...

I suppose Mila Miglia considered a track a one-time sale, but tire sales could go on and on... And on and on - especially if the track surface wore out tires in a hurry!

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

There were a couple tracks in North Carolina in '65 that really hooked up with the MM slicks. Threaded axles!

Fate