93 replies to this topic

[tonyp]

Mike,

It's a good thing we do not run on a track like that today, I never could get through those type of esses.... I never could figure out the one big ess Berwyn used to have...

[slotcarone]

But the Aero car might drive itself through them!!!

[tonyp]

We can only hope it does that at Lou's on that big kink... That was hard with NASCAR bodies...

When are we going to practice? Maybe next weekend... I want to work on Lou's chassis this week.

[Rob968323]

Fantastic layout... kind of looks like the track at Elmsford.

[Mark Wampler]

Not the P-S with an American arm.

Oh yes, them, too

[Hworth08]

Our old Mila Miglia was like the Nuvolari at Elmsford.

Enduros were popular at our track in Nashville. Any motor, which for us early teens meant whatever we could cobble together from the leftovers of the adults 517s, Mura 1000s, etc. Always with GT bodies.

The enduros were 1,000 laps, or when that big, ole lap counter clicked back to 000. Someone would alert the track owner when the leading car got around 950 laps, at 000 he would shut off the power to see where everyone finished. (Hey, a computer that could do what a 486 and a SRT program can would have cost a million bucks back then! Only NASA had that kind of money! )

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

There was one like that in Ogden, but they had added straight sections. It was 275 feet long! The center part where the deadman approaches the driver panel was a space some 15' wide. Monster.

Anyway, for traction, they had painted it with SandTex and would "allow/insist" you changed the tires every two heats. It was the most abrasive surface I have ever seen.

That is the track where I took them so, that they accused me of being able to "broadcast" power to my cars.

Grin.

Fate

[slotcarone]

We can only hope it does that at Lou's on that big kink... That was hard with NASCAR bodies...

When are we going to practice? Maybe next weekend... I want to work on Lou's chassis this week.

I got the .016" brass and will rework my chassis this weekend - going AERO baby!!!

[tonyp]

It will be interesting as you are doing a direct comparison...

[slotcarone]

The pans on my chassis are shorter than yours in the back so I'm going to make the new ones longer for more rear weight.

[whiskey]

Check out the bottom of this page, Gotham Cruisers.

This shop creates custom fiberglass 1:1 Batmobiles... but they also are reproducing the fiberglass HO Aurora tracks, in both one- and two-piece versions.

[Hworth08]

Hi Dave, and welcome!

The Aurora Tub Track was introduced in 1967 to be used in commercial raceways. It is a six-lane track that used the Aurora lock and joiner track. The two inside lanes were mostly all 9 inch radius except the "infield" turn that was 15 inch and some 15 inch used in the esses. The two middle lanes all 12 inch radius. The outside lanes are all 15 inch except the infield turn that was 9 inch and some 9 inch in the esses.

The table only had a 5.5' by 12.5' footprint. The pictures in the above post are taken from the back straight, the driver's panel is on the other side of the table.

The "tall wall" corner was raised to hold three Aurora electric lap counters. The little oval "island" was to highlight an Aurora decal.

I believe the track length was 45 feet, a fair length track for a small area. However, the Tub Track was released a bit too late, when the commercials were starting to close, and never was successful. They sure are popular today though for club tracks!

[Bob Emott]

Hi P...

O'Dowds had a standard blue King, an orange, and a black track that was covered with purple formica... I think...

[tonyp]

I knew they had three tracks, just not sure what else other than the King.

I remember racing maybe on Saturday nights at O'Dowds and then everyone going to Nutley for a midnight race. Fortunately this only lasted a few weeks...

[Tim Neja]

WOW - that Mila Miglia track looks soo cool!! I'd love to drive on a track like that! High speed with really challenging driving sections! Someone needs to build one!

T

[johnford]

There was a track building company down in Corpus Christi, TX, that made their banks out of fiberglass and the straights out of masonite wood. They were called Mackay Model Raceways and I owned one of their tracks when I was in San Antonio. Fiberglass was smooth but Formica was smoother. I also owned a couple of tracks with formica surfaces.



No, you are not seeing things, this monster was 180 feet with eleven lanes!

Talk about "Back in the Day"...

[Slapshot]

Enjoy:

Sorry, pretty large so you can read without magnifying glass.

[Tim Neja]

WOW - I'd love to re-create the modular style of track for the in-home 1/32-1/24 crowd. Only four lanes to keep the footprint as small as possible. So, Formica worked well as a track surface? That could eliminate the painting step. I'm thinking, Slotfire style of designs with CNC routed surfaces and about 10 or 12 different modules that could be mixed and matched to create your own track.

What do you guys think?

Marketable? Inexpensive enough to compete with plastic tracks?

Food for thought.

Tim

[jimht]

Inexpensive enough to compete with plastic tracks?

To be blunt...don't waste your time or money...
It's been tried by most if not all of the well known builders & the market's not there.
Digital, with plastic track, even with its' "no common standard" problems will gradually grow to dominate the hobbyist home market.
The modular concept you envision is aimed at a group of potential consumers so small as to effectively be non-existent.

[Tim Neja]

I believe that market to be small, but not non-existant. And it's growing. I know of at least a dozen dedicated plastic race tracks in the LA area - check out the OTHG (On The Hill Gangs) website.

There's another five dedicated plastic tracks in SD - more up and down the West Coast. I don't think anyone has come up with a 1/32 targeted in-home style of track in the last decade that would compete with plastic JUNK tracks. That's the only market I was thinking of. And if worse comes to worse, I'll have some cool tracks for the 1/2 dozen friends and racers that have said they will want one!!

Thanks,

Tim

[4Speed]

As a relative newby, I was really surprised to see that "modular tracks" are not available in the USA. Sure seems like the way to go, in my opinion. With a superior racing surface, magnetic braid, and the ability to change the track layout, the best of both worlds could be realized. It may be slow catching on, may be met with some resistance by some hard core old-timers, but I sure want one! My wife travels for business quite a bit, so it would be pretty easy to move the modular track into the house while she's away...

Bill

[jimht]

I don't think anyone has come up with a 1/32 targeted in-home style of track in the last decade that would compete with plastic JUNK tracks.

Wow, you must not get out much...Ask Hasse, ask John, ask Silky, ask those who might know...like me.
Effectively non-existent means just that...on a worldwide basis.
How do I know... ...
Doesn't mean anyone can't just pop up & spend their time & money wherever they want, just means there's no profitable market...even with the strong growth of 1/32 over the past few years.
You like the idea, go for it...your nickel.

[Tim Neja]

Wow, you must not get out much...Ask Hasse, ask John, ask Silky, ask those who might know...like me.

Well, it's typical that someone that has already failed would believe it can't be done. I can tell that your marketing must have been wonderful, because IF I'd EVER seen anything like this - myself and others I know would have bought it!! I'm sure you thought at the time it was marketed to an audience that of course would want it, but If I wanted it, and could never get it - obviously you missed a large target group.

And the SlotFire system in Germany appears to he healthy and growing. I'm not trying to create a booming business from nothing. But there are hundreds of $thousands being spent on plastic junk - so tell me, why is it you feel so strongly that there is no market? How did you try to sell it? In slot car magazines?

Tim

[mrtc4w]

Gotham Cruisers has that mold because of me. I have an original Tub Track and with a friend of mine (who also owns an original Tub Track) we bought a Tub that someone had cut in two so he could get it in his basement. We met with the owner of Gotham Cruisers, Doug. We had a gentlemen's agreement with him to make the Tubs for us in one- and two-piece. We only sold a couple, we were losing money instead of making money, so we raised our price to start breaking even. It would have worked until Doug started selling Tubs for less then he sold them to us!! He has the mold, and is still making money off us. We have the original Tub the mold was made from and hope to someday start production of our own. If you are going to deal with Doug, GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!

I have a Yahoo group just for Tub Tracks.

[mrtc4w]

Car Model Magazine also sold a fiberglass tub for HO racing:



Has anyone ever seen one in person? Does anyone know who made them?