93 replies to this topic

[tonyp]

We were talking about old tracks the other day and I seem to remember running at a raceway in Wayne, NJ, which had tracks made with a fiberglass surface. Was there such a thing or did all those '60s drugs cloud my memory?

[Mark Wampler]

Never heard of such fiberglass surfaces, but I'd like something to run my silicone tires on.

[Bill from NH]

I believe there was an company that sold tracks in molded fiberglass sections. I don't recall their name but will check some of my old magazines. Philippe can probably tell you who they were right off the top of his head.

[Noose]

We were talking about old tracks the other day and I seem to remember running at a raceway in Wayne NJ which had tracks made with a fiberglass surface.

Wayne or Pinebrook?

[MG Brown]

I seem to recall that someone made a fibreglass HO scale commercial track that was nicknamed "The Bathtub".

Added: I found a few pics of the Aurora tub tracks. This one seems to be the most interesting.



The "tub" was in two parts - and if you look closely at the above pic you can see the metal clasp on the back wall that joins the sections. I will say that the designer wasn't thinking clearly when they specified the height of the walls...

It also would appear that someone has done a resin re-pop of the tub track based on what I can read out in the wild, wild internet.

[JerseyJohn]

Wayne or Pinebrook?

O'Dowds.

[Noose]

I remember O'Dowds for sure. We raced in the inter-raceway stuff there but I don't remember a fiberlgass track.

[Bill from NH]

The fiberglass tracks I recalled were the Mila Miglia Glas-Traks from Los Angeles. Apparently this is the same outfit that sold RTR cars and accessories. Their stated price in late 1966 was $23 per foot. That included the braid but the sections came unbraided.

[Hworth08]

My local track, Darin Man Raceway, in Inglewood, TN, about 10 miles outside Nashville, was a 240 foot fiberglass Mila Miglia.

The walls were also fiberglass, molded into the track surface. The surface was a sort of krinkle finish, pretty similiar to today's matt surface, not smooth as you would expect fiberglass to be.

This surface was extremely hard to clean of glue! The track owner quickly banned any form of glue and we used only Tiger Milk, the old original U-Go formula, that created pretty fair grip. However, without any glue ridding the tires of dirt and residue, the tires would get slick after about a 100 laps requiring a pit stop to clean the tires.

Not the best of surfaces. A driver generally had to feather a car out of a turn, especially when your tires were dirty. Pretty realistic racing though, something like a 1:1 car at the end of a pit cycle.

The Tub Track was made by Aurora for commercial raceways. The track was regular plastic, same as was used in the sets. The Tub or actually the track table was fiberglass. Very few Tub Tracks remain and are much sought after in the T-jet world! Someone is now making reproductions with continuous rail routed tracks.

[tonyp]

Thats it! Mila Miglia! Bill wins the prize! I guess I have a few brain cells left...

Noose, it was in Wayne I am pretty sure. O'Dowds had a blue King and I think maybe an orange or some other American track.

[tonyp]

Now the question is, were the tracks made by the same company that made the wheels and tires? Only PdL knows for sure, and the owner's name, their gross income in 1965, how many units were sold, and the exact fiberglass mixture of the tracks. And that's off the top of his head. LOL...

[Larry Mattingly]

I remember there was a fiberglass track in Youngstown, OH.

Not good...

LM

[Hworth08]

Tony,

Yea, and if PdL didn't have lunch with the Mila Miglia owner yesterday, he will tomorrow!

[tonyp]

LOL, and I am sure PdL got him to pay...

[tonyp]

It is amazing he knows all this stuff.

[don.siegel]

Mila Miglia
GLAS-TRAK

Mila Miglia Inc.
5171 W. Jefferson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016

Tires & Components
ditto



There was an article in the January '66 issue of Model Car & Track talking about the company. Says their first commercial track was in Las Vegas, and that they offered four models, the Mila Miglia 110 (figure 8), and three road courses, the 125, 180, and 240.

They probably weren't around too long...

Don

[Mark Wampler]

I betcha these fiberglass tracks would be perfect for silcone tires. No need for glue, just keep the dust off and good to go.

I'm sure the Mila Miglia tires worked the best for their tracks Now who has the same exact compound to make some good .820's ?

[Hworth08]

Hey Mark,

I'm guessing 1967 and early '68, before the anglewinders. Our favorite tires were Riggen Lil' Giants, 7/8 by 7/8", in blue. We'd buy pill bottles at the drug store just a bit larger than the tires. Put a new tire in a bottle, fill with Tiger Milk, and let it soak all week to soften.

Our favorite class was 4.5 inch stock cars with the bodies low and pretty cut, stock 26D or 16D ball bearing motors. 200 laps, no lane changes, no heats, just 200 laps. A pit stop between 90 and 125 laps to clean the tires with Tiger Milk.

Made some good times for a 13 to 14 year old little boy! I was cute back them!

[Mark Wampler]

Yeah those were the days. I had my Cox Chaparral in '65, at age 14, but those Cox tires didn't hang all that well.

Whatever happened to enduros? Can't do 'em these days unless you've got an old Mabuchi or Pittman...

[Hworth08]

Mark again,

My first 24th scaler was a Cox GT40. Those rubber tires would have lasted a 100 years! So out-of-round they only touched the track three or four times a lap!!

My first genuine racer was a Dynamic inline frame for the Cox parts with new Cox competition sponge tires and probably a Du-Bro sportsman body. First class equiment!

[Mark Wampler]

I didn't really get "too" serious until around '67 or so. Then I ended up running against the "old guys" in their mid/late 20s.

[Ron Hershman]

Whatever happened to enduros? Can't do 'em these days unless you gotta an old Mabuchi or Pittman.

That leaves out TSR or Falcon motors for enduros.

[slotcarone]

Hey Tony - check out those esses!!! A little bigger then on Elmsford's Nuvolari!!! That track looks insane.

[Mark Wampler]

That leaves out TRF or Falcon motors for enduros.

P-S motors, too...

[Ron Hershman]

Not the P-S with an American arm.