34 replies to this topic

[NHBandit]

Hello all.

Back in the hobby after many years playing with real cars. Started out like a lot of us old timers racing in the 6'0s on the local pay to play type tracks. Had the usual line-up of cars back in the day: Cox Chaparral, Classic soft body cars, etc.

Several years ago I began collecting old Revell track and sets with the intention of building a decent size four-lane setup but never got past the "collecting" stage.

Now that I'm retired I'm wanting to set something up. I must admit that the layout planner sites leave me even more confused. Anyone got any good easy to understand plans for the old Revell stuff? I have 30+ outside curve sections (21" radius), 50+ inside curves (14" radius), approximately 40 straight sections and two complete high banked curve sets.  Zero half straight or half curves, as they seem to be near impossible to find.

Also need advice on a power source. I have three-four Revell transformers.

And what controllers to use? I have several original Revell controllers as well as a few Cox 1/24 controllers.

Help please and thank you.

[Lone Wolf]

Mark,

I've used that Revell track recently. I had three Revell power packs that all died after a few hours of use. I think they just go bad internally.

They did make two different power packs, one with blue and one with yellow. The yellow type is stronger but I would use a more modern power source.

Same can be said for the controllers. The years are not kind to them. I had some dead ones I cut the plugs off and adapted to modern controllers. Your luck may be better. Use the controller with the correct rating for the cars you are using.

[MattD]

Half track sections. Set up a track that you like, then cut up some of that old track, glue it back together and just make whatever size pieces you need. Really not hard at all to make custom-sized track pieces with plastic track. Experiment.

Power supply I run four lanes and a ham radio power supply from eBay. 9-12 volts, over 30 amps. I think it is under $50, last time I checked.

Controllers... old stuff is easy to find and cheap. Buy a couple Professor Motor new controllers and never look back.

If you have a few dollars just buy some new Carrera 1/24 track and sell the Revell. You'll never be real happy running 1/24 cars on 1/32 track if you are seriously racing.

If can get into building 1/32, the Revell is fine for racing.

[NHBandit]

Thanks for the tips, fellas.

I'm not in a position to dump my 30 year collection of Revell track and replace it with "new and improved" modern stuff nor do I want to. Just looking to use what I have to build something the wife, I, and the grandchildren can mess around with.

Still hoping someone will chime in with some layout suggestions. I will certainly take into consideration the age of the electrical stuff though and look into better alternatives. Pictures are especially helpful... LOL.  

I'm just an old school guy wanting to play with my "toys." Even my garage/workshop has a '60s vibe. 1967 Camaro that I take to car shows, '60s Texaco gas pump, '60s gas and oil signs, '60s round top beer fridge, etc.  

Thanks.

[Courtney S]

Mark,

 

Where in TN? I'm in Chattanooga.

 

You can wire the old track for a power supply/12v battery and it will be fine. Find some Parma controllers... easy. There are wiring diagrams online.

[NHBandit]

Thank you. I had seen other threads about using a car battery and battery charger. Parma controllers are easy to find as well. Just wondered about the Cox controllers we used to use at the rental places back in the day since I already own several of those and like the push button style.

I'm in the North East corner of Tennessee. Half hour South of Bristol and a little over an hour north of Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg.

Nice to meet ya.

[old & gray]

Mark,

When I started racing at the end of 1963 it was on Revell track at the YMCA. As I remember the power supply gave up the ghost early on and was replaced by an auto battery.

From my experiences over the years I would recommend getting a variable DC power supply as Matt suggested. The size, performance, and reliability have improved vastly in the past half century. A battery and charger will be a bit of a mess and a variable supply will make it easier for the grand kids to learn the track (commercial tracks have a reduced voltage for kid’s races and birthday parties).

From various experiences, I would recommend if your track is set up as a permanent layout running jumpers to various points around the track.

[MSwiss]

This seems to be the best buy in power supplies these days, for your type of application.

http://m.ebay.com/it...955?_mwBanner=1

No reason not to try to use the Cox controllers.

If they fail, you can move on to something newer.

[MattD]

That is the supply I've used since I quit using batteries and chargers. Your old Cox controllers will work, any of the old stuff work. Might need cleaning, re-wiring and tuning up. Bottom line is the new stuff can handle a wide range of motors and will give years of life with no repairs. Nothing wrong with Revell track, a good cleaning and some jumpers and it works fine. It is really just too narrow to race 1/24 cars. Since a lot of the old stuff is marginal at best for conductivity, a lot of guys use copper tape over the rails to give good conductivity.

Layout advice.....this is different for everybody, but I always advise anybody new or with kids to do a simple track plan. Continually having to put a car back in the slot is sure way to get kids back into their video games and away from a hands on hobby. A figure 8 with moderate banking, a long straight on the bottom, two shorter straights for the crossover track on top has always seemed to be the most fun to me of all the simple designs there are. Just my opinion.

[Samiam]

And what controllers to use? I have several original Revell controllers as well as a few Cox 1/24 controllers.

 

I have two basic Parma controllers that will work. I think they are 4ohm. Should work well with up to 16Ds. You can have the pair for $10 shipped.

[cdmoore1972]

Hello all.Back in the hobby after many years playing with real cars. Started out like a lot of us old timers racing in the 6'0s on the local pay to play type tracks. Had the usual line-up of cars back in the day: Cox Chaparral, Classic soft body cars, etc.Several years ago I began collecting old Revell track and sets with the intention of building a decent size four-lane setup but never got past the "collecting" stage.Now that I'm retired I'm wanting to set something up. I must admit that the layout planner sites leave me even more confused. Anyone got any good easy to understand plans for the old Revell stuff? I have 30+ outside curve sections (21" radius), 50+ inside curves (14" radius), approximately 40 straight sections and two complete high banked curve sets.  Zero half straight or half curves, as they seem to be near impossible to find.Also need advice on a power source. I have three-four Revell transformers.And what controllers to use? I have several original Revell controllers as well as a few Cox 1/24 controllers.Help please and thank you.

I'm on Carrera now, but the layout I'd most like to build was done with Revell track.

Attached Images

• 
• 

[dc-65x]

Hi Mark,

 

A good friend of mine and vintage slot car collector passed away recently. My friend Rodney and I have been helping liquidate his collection for his family.

 

Rodney emailed me this in regards to your post:

 

"I have Ben's Revell track all sorted.  It needs a home.  I think Ben used one Revell power pack per lane.  He wired Parma economy controllers and Cox controllers to the Revell plugs.  Ben had a large wood table set up in the dining room.  The large table allowed for changing around the track layouts.

 

When power packs "go out" usually the bridge rectifier/diodes go out.  Replacement from Radio Shack is less than $5.00."

 

Ben accumulated TONS of Revell track. If this is of any interest to you please PM me.

 

Thanks,

 

Rick

[NHBandit]

 Christopher, Very cool. I likely have more than enough to duplicate that layout too but have my mind set on doing a 4 lane layout. Working on some ideas at the moment. 

[NHBandit]

Hi Mark,

 

A good friend of mine and vintage slot car collector passed away recently. My friend Rodney and I have been helping liquidate his collection for his family.

 

Rodney emailed me this in regards to your post:

 

"I have Ben's Revell track all sorted.  It needs a home.  I think Ben used one Revell power pack per lane.  He wired Parma economy controllers and Cox controllers to the Revell plugs.  Ben had a large wood table set up in the dining room.  The large table allowed for changing around the track layouts.

 

When power packs "go out" usually the bridge rectifier/diodes go out.  Replacement from Radio Shack is less than $5.00."

 

Ben accumulated TONS of Revell track. If this is of any interest to you please PM me.

 

Thanks,

 

Rick

Thanks Rick. Will keep this in mind. Until I settle on a design I like I either have too much track or not enough. And so it goes...

[SpeedyNH]

I might have a few pieces of Revell track NIB out in my shed that I could contribute. I'm on travel now but will look if u care when I get back.

speedy

[NHBandit]

I might have a few pieces of Revell track NIB out in my shed that I could contribute. I'm on travel now but will look if u care when I get back. That would be awesome. PM me when you have time.

speedy

[NHBandit]

I might have a few pieces of Revell track NIB out in my shed that I could contribute. I'm on travel now but will look if u care when I get back.

speedy

Speedy where in NH ? I was born & raised on the seacoast and spent 32 years living in Contoocook prior to moving to Tennessee 5 years ago.

[Bill from NH]

Speedy lives in Merrimack, I'm in New Boston. One of my classmates in Maine was a Linda Sturtevant. I saw her in August at my 50th class reunion.

[cdmoore1972]

 Christopher, Very cool. I likely have more than enough to duplicate that layout too but have my mind set on doing a 4 lane layout. Working on some ideas at the moment. 

 

I just like how economical it is with the space.  I tried to do something similar on Carrera digital, but couldn't make it work, no matter what pieces I used.  It made me appreciate how well thought out the Revell track is, as far as layout possibilities for it to be able to pull off something like this.  

[SpeedyNH]

Bill is correct.  my folks did live in Contoocook for a while.

(I'm on travel right now so my forum participation is spotty.)

[NHBandit]

Playing with a modified version of this 4 lane layout. My thought is to add more straight sections to the section on the top right and the section on the far left to make it bigger and have longer straights. And also substitute high banked curves on the outer curve of the 2 180 degree sections. The radius is the same as the standard flat 21" outer curves so I see no reason why it won't work. Opinions welcomed. 

Attached Images

• 

[Samiam]

I never liked layouts with short straights in the turns. I would also put the cross overs entering a turn. 

[MattD]

Run on about 3 volts and you can hopefully keep the cars on the track. Cut it down to about 2 volts for kids.

I never understood why trying to get the most track in the least square feet was a goal for a nice smooth running track. Maybe this can be fun, but as fast as cars are today, I don't see how you could ever enjoy a car on this type of set up unless you just want to model town streets and drive cars slowly but not actually race.

I may get some heat for this post, that is OK, I think these spaghetti on the wall designs are not conducive to having fun and racing hard. For the last 35 years I've had lots of different home tracks using plastic and routed. A simpler design has proven the best for us over the years.

[SpeedyNH]

agree that spaghetti tracks can get too complicated and not as much fun to drive. you've just gotta set it up, try it and start simplifying it til it flows but isn't boring. one longest possible straight is where I usually start and I don't see one here.

speed

[NHBandit]

Thanks guy. I appreciate the advice