47 replies to this topic

[Antiochdave]

Hi There,

 

I am starting to build my new home track. I thought someone would like to see how I'm building my raceway. [for better or worse - LOL]

The track layout will be 20'x8'. The track will be 32" off the floor and the table will have wheels.

I am using Policar track system, the layout will have four lanes and a driver stand with three wire terminal for each driver.

The track will have a aftermarket power supply, lap counter/timer with a electrical stop rely. I will have a monitor on the wall for the drivers and a couple of power taps.

I will continue to follow up with progress pictures until I have completed the build.

 

Please feel free to ask any question,

Cheers,

Antiochdave - 

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[dc-65x]

Hi Dave 

 

It's great you are building your own home track.      When I saw it was flush up against the wall I was worried but then I read you had it on wheels....great move.

 

Looks nice and I'm sure it will be FUN!

[Alchemist]

How exciting and it is looking good Dave!

 

My home track is built similar to yours with 2x4's and wheels, but I built a storage rack under the table to store my tools and for my power supply.

 

My footprint is smaller at 15' x 5'. 

 

Hope you won't mind if I share a photo for comparison.

 

 

 

If I may inquire please, how did you decide to employ the Policar Track System?

 

Thank you for sharing Dave - looking forward to more progress photos.

 

Ernie

[MrFlippant]

Great looking table! I look forward to the progress.

Policar is great track and the texture makes most tires work well enough for non-mag racing. I don't see borders in the drawing, though. I don't see a request for feedback, so I'll stop there.

[Antiochdave]

How exciting and it is looking good Dave!

 

My home track is built similar to yours with 2x4's and wheels, but I built a storage rack under the table to store my tools and for my power supply.

 

My footprint is smaller at 15' x 5'. 

 

Hope you won't mind if I share a photo for comparison.

 

Table Construction_Top Installed.JPG

 

 

If I may inquire please, how did you decide to employ the Policar Track System?

 

Thank you for sharing Dave - looking forward to more progress photos.

 

Ernie

 

Hi Ernie,

 

Please feel free to respond with any suggestions or questions you may have, I don't mind.

For the most part, I went with the Policar track just because they offer a four-lane set which was a great starting point/savings. I will be adding the inner, outer straight and turn aprons, this is another reason I went with the Policar set because it included aprons.  [Set #PT004Z-US].

I like how you added the lower shelve, I want to add shelve for my build as well. 

 

Thanks,

Dave - 

[Antiochdave]

Great looking table! I look forward to the progress.

Policar is great track and the texture makes most tires work well enough for non-mag racing. I don't see borders in the drawing, though. I don't see a request for feedback, so I'll stop there.

 

Hi Greg,

 

Please feel free to make any suggestions or ask any questions.

I did read a lot of good articles on the Policar track which is also why I decided to use it.

 

Thanks,

Dave - 

[MrFlippant]

Well, the aforementioned borders for one. Even if you run magnet traction cars, they can still step out without crashing sometimes, and it sucks to deslot just because the outside (or inside on the tight turns) dropped off the edge. If you put a fence up against the track, that just becomes a crutch that only benefits the outside lane. Remember that NASCAR finish?

 

The other thing is more about taste. While I maintain that any track can be raced with any car if you know how to drive, and you never really KNOW how a track will drive until you actually run a car around it... it doesn't look like there's much flow. Simple things like changing the radius of a turn from start to finish, like entering the turn at the end of the straight into an R3/R4 (or even R4/R5) and then tightening up to the R2/R3 you've got there. Opening back up at the end of the turn, too. 

 

It can take a bit of fiddling with a planner to make things line up, but it's worth it in the end. You can use more of the table area and smooth things out without losing technical challenges that keep it interesting. 

[Alchemist]

Hi Dave,

 

The bottom shelf is a great storage area for me, since I do not have the garage floor space available in our 2 car garage.

 

My wife said I could have "half" the garage for my track and workshop.

 

When I moved a couple years ago from California I had to sell all my tools but had to purchase new tools for my track build.

 

The only task is that I have to pull tools out from underneath the table to use, and then have to put them back.

 

It takes a bit of effort for me to do that since I'm over 70 years "young" LOL

 

I used the Carrera system and built a 4 lane track and wired it to use my commercial controllers.

 

I cut pass through holes for my power supply track wiring:

 

 

 

This is how I set up the power supply wires to the underside of the track:

 

 

Thanks Dave.

 

Ernie

 

[Racer36]

I would suggest you look at a for sale listing in the slot car tracks for sale forum. Marc Piccione has a timing system, power supply and an entire track wiring harness for sale that will provide everything you need to finish your track. 
it came from his home track.

[Antiochdave]

Hi Dave,

 

The bottom shelf is a great storage area for me, since I do not have the garage floor space available in our 2 car garage.

 

My wife said I could have "half" the garage for my track and workshop.

 

When I moved a couple years ago from California I had to sell all my tools but had to purchase new tools for my track build.

 

The only task is that I have to pull tools out from underneath the table to use, and then have to put them back.

 

It takes a bit of effort for me to do that since I'm over 70 years "young" LOL

 

I used the Carrera system and built a 4 lane track and wired it to use my commercial controllers.

 

I cut pass through holes for my power supply track wiring:

 

Table Wire_Finished Holes.JPG

 

 

This is how I set up the power supply wires to the underside of the track:

 

Track Wiring_Underside.jpg

 

Thanks Dave.

 

Ernie

 

 

Hi Ernie,

 

My wife and I just moved to Winchester Tennessee from California. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I had a club track back there which Bob Scott built for me. My club was named Delta Slot Cars.

I had to wheel and deal with my wife as well, I guess we are both lucky to have a wife that's understanding about our hobby. 

I will be powering my track like you did as well. I will also add a couple of power taps as well.

 

Keep me posted on how your build is coming along,

Cheers,

Dave - 

[Antiochdave]

I would suggest you look at a for sale listing in the slot car tracks for sale forum. Marc Piccione has a timing system, power supply and an entire track wiring harness for sale that will provide everything you need to finish your track. 
it came from his home track.

 

Hi Dennis,

 

Thanks for the heads up but I already bought everything I needed.

 

Dave - 

[Antiochdave]

Hi there,

 

 

 

I am now building my driver stand and installing the driver speed control hook ups. The driver stand is 8' long, their is 19 3/8" between each driver post.

 

I bought my driver control kit from Slot Car Corner. The kit is complete except for the wires.

 

 

 

I used a 3/4 thick board for the driver stand, I had to drill 1" holes through the 3/4" board so the brass studs would stick up enough so the speed control alligator clips would have enough stud to clip onto. This was not a big deal.

 

After I laid everything out on the driver stand and made sure everything fitted, I then installed the indoor/outdoor carpet.

 

 

 

The next step is for me to now set up the track and make sure everything works/fit as I planned.

 

After that I will start all my wire work. I will continue to take pictures and show you what I did and any mistakes I may have made.

 

 

 

Have a great weekend everybody,

 

Cheers!!

 

Dave - 

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[Bill from NH]

Looks good Dave!

[Antiochdave]

Well!

 

I already changed the track lay out to the new design below.

I didn't like how the track was setting at the overpass. I felt that there was not enough room between the over pass/bridge and the corners.

I also didn't like the hair pen turn at the start of the long straight away, so I moved the hair pin in the middle of the layout.  

Making the track change also added about  24" of track length.

The track will have aprons throughout the whole layout, I already order additional aprons for the straight and for the outer R2 turn.

 

Now that I have decided on the track layout, I will start the electrical track taps and the rest of the wiring for the driver stand and track timer.

 

Let me know your thoughts of the lay out, do you think the track has good flow?

 

Thanks for your help,

Dave - 

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[dc-65x]

Hi Dave

 

Looking good.     The "flow" of a layout is a personal thing but I know I would like driving on your current design.

[MrFlippant]

I agree that the new one looks to have better flow than the first, though I'd still like to see more variety in the turns. Lots of people would call this a "point and shoot" track. Not that you asked, but I'm gonna mess around with it in my track planner just to see what I can come up with. 

[MrFlippant]

Not perfect, but it's flat, has a variety of turns with varying radii, and still has some short chutes as well as the long straight. Yes, I used track you don't have, but this is just to show what I might do with a similar table with Policar.

 

 

[Antiochdave]

Not perfect, but it's flat, has a variety of turns with varying radii, and still has some short chutes as well as the long straight. Yes, I used track you don't have, but this is just to show what I might do with a similar table with Policar.

 

 

Policar_8x20_antiochdave_01.png

 

Hi Greg,

 

Thats a great looking layout! Can you send me the layout with the track pc you used?

I like the flow of the track.

It looks like you used some 4-3 turns on the layout.

 

Thanks,

Dave - 

[Antiochdave]

Hi Dave

 

Looking good.     The "flow" of a layout is a personal thing but I know I would like driving on your current design.

 

Hi Rick,

I Like your Avatar picture!

Picture below is one of my favorite cars.

 

Dave - 

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[MrFlippant]

 

Hi Greg,

 

Thats a great looking layout! Can you send me the layout with the track pc you used?

I like the flow of the track.

It looks like you used some 4-3 turns on the layout.

 

Thanks,

Dave - 

 

Yes, I used 3/4 and a couple 4/5 turns. I've attached the plan file as a .txt file. Save it to your computer and change the .txt to .scc and it should open in UR3. Just don't mess with any of the text if you end up opening it as a text file.

 

If you just want a simple tweak to your current one, I'd at least do this. It will make people hate the R1 turns a lot less. I love R1s, but lots of people don't know how to slow down properly for them, so they say they're undrivable. ;-).

Attached Files

•  Policar_8x20_antiochdave_01.txt   336KB   2 downloads

[Antiochdave]

 

Yes, I used 3/4 and a couple 4/5 turns. I've attached the plan file as a .txt file. Save it to your computer and change the .txt to .scc and it should open in UR3. Just don't mess with any of the text if you end up opening it as a text file.

 

If you just want a simple tweak to your current one, I'd at least do this. It will make people hate the R1 turns a lot less. I love R1s, but lots of people don't know how to slow down properly for them, so they say they're undrivable. ;-).

Policar_8x20_antiochdave_02.png

 

Thanks Greg!

You are amazing with the track program.

I really like your first design but it would cost me $300 + to make the layout change.

I will try the your last drawing to see how that works.

 

Thanks again for all your help,

Dave -

[MrFlippant]

 

Thanks Greg!

You are amazing with the track program.

I really like your first design but it would cost me $300 + to make the layout change.

I will try the your last drawing to see how that works.

 

Thanks again for all your help,

Dave -

 

Yeah, it was mostly just to show what's possible and what my style is. I'm sure someone else can do as good or better. I'll probably play some more with changes that don't involve massive purchases. Do you have a stock list? Do you have ANY R4 or R5?

[MrFlippant]

Here's one with mostly the same parts as your design. I did use some 22.5 degree (half) R2 turns, hoping you have some. The idea here is to break up the parallel straights. While it might not drive all that differently, it will LOOK better on the table.

 

[Antiochdave]

Here's one with mostly the same parts as your design. I did use some 22.5 degree (half) R2 turns, hoping you have some. The idea here is to break up the parallel straights. While it might not drive all that differently, it will LOOK better on the table.

 

Policar_8x20_antiochdave_03.png

 

Greg,

 

The picture below shows the track sections that I have, hope this helps.

The last layout looks great, I'm debating to try it.

 

Thank you!

Dave -  

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[MrFlippant]

OK. I've been trying to work within that constraint. I don't see any 1/2 R2 turns, so you'll need to get a few of those. Here's another one with more or less the same pieces, but I just blew them up and did something crazy. I did not track the actual number of things, though. 

 

I enjoy doing this stuff sometimes, but right now I'm getting the hang of using UR3, because my usual program can't do Policar.