7 replies to this topic

[GT40]

So I have this Carrera set, and it needs to go in the garage, and we park our cars in there. Sound familiar? I bought two 8 foot by 30 inch tables with folding legs (a steal at Walmart, $60 each) and together they make a surface about right for a 5 by 8 foot track. To keep the track intact, I want to attach the two tables together, and be able to hoist them up to the ceiling when not in use. I have some ideas, but just wondering if anyone has tips or tricks on this?

 

Also looking for ideas on nice track layouts for 1/24 Carrera track in this very limited space.

 

Thanks!

[A. J. Hoyt]

One could use an electric winch with a switch. The track would have cables at each of the lift points and all would run across their own pulley turning the cable at a right angle towards the winch above the rafters. If there were six cables, there would be six spools that each would wrap up its own cable. This would ensure that each of the cables wound up the same amount of cable per turn of the winch to lift all points evenly.

 

Another cool trick would be to tile the ceiling and put tiles and fluorescent lighting inset under the track so it would simply rise into a recess in the ceiling, blend in and no one would know it was there.

 

Like a Jame Bond villain prop, one switch would cause the track to dramatically drop down from the ceiling, to the awe of everyone witnessing it! (A James Bond villain would probably close the deal by creating self-deploying legs as it came down.) The only down side would be the cables from the track to the ceiling (which could be unhooked, I suppose).

 

Just a thought...

[Pappy]

Could you just hinge it to the wall? It would be a lot easier.

[A. J. Hoyt]

I did that with my HO track in SoCal and indoors after moving to CO. It works great - just a few door hinges on 1x8 boards. I also put hooks so I could lift the track off the wall hinge to transport it. It's a design constraint to make an HO track in a 4 foot wide frame so you can move it in the back of a pick-up or station wagon (all designed to carry a 4x8 sheet of drywall or plywood flat).

[Jeff Buyer]

Hinged to the wall is better. This is what can happen if the hoist fails:

 

 

The cables slipped off the hoist and this track fell. Fortunately nobody was under it at the time.

[Mark Wampler]

Hey Steve, hope that works.  You and Dennis could start a home track circuit thing.

[gascarnut]

Steve,

 

I built a lightweight wood frame, then used laundry line pulleys and nylon rope onto a hand boat winch:

 

 

It worked perfectly, never fell or had any kind of issue.

 

I think you could build a simple set of wooden rails under your two tables and do something similar.

[woodman]

I had a try oval suspended from the ceiling in my shop for a few years...used steel cable , garage door pulleys and an electric winch.....

 

This is the latest hoist I built to hold up 3 kayaks....Nylon rope running through pvc tubing...

http://s147.photobuc...t?sort=3&page=1