24 replies to this topic

[Bill Gerhart]

The Mason-Dixon Retro Series has scheduled a GTC and Can Am retro race at Trains & Lanes in Easton Pa. on Saturday December 9th.  We will be running the ALTEC 220.  This track was in Lebanon, Pa in the 1960's.  Talk about a "real" Retro track ! !  The Trains & Lanes team has done a great job getting the track ready for competition.  Dale Granger, Randy Kohr, Matt Bruce and myself tested on the Altec on Sunday Nov. 19th and we all enjoyed the track and feel it will be a great retro event. We all ran gear selections and tires which we run at Speedzone.  Lap times were in the 7.0 second range. This is the largest Retro track I have ever tested on.

 

So come join us on December 9th and support Trains & Lanes for some Retro racing.

 

Schedule of events for Saturday December 9th, 2017:

 

Trains & Lanes Hobbies

3825 Northwood Ave

Easton, Pa.  18045

 

Practice - 8 am to 930 am

GTC Tech - 930 am

GTC Qualifying and Race at 945 am

Can Am Practice - for 30 minutes following GTC event

Can Am Qualifying and Race to follow Can Am Practice

 

$10 pit pass

$10 GTC event entry

$10 Can Am entry

 

Trains & Lanes will also be racing LMP's directly after the Can Am event on the Altec 220 . I will get more details on that event and post it here in a few days.

 

Guys....this track is a blast to race on, come join us for a great day of racing.

 

The track is so big we could not get it all in one photo ! 

 

[Matt Bruce]

This track has been absolutely resurrected by the Trains & Lanes crew. It is very smooth and quite quick. New braid and some surface corrections have made this track unbelievable. While not the same, it does remind me very much like the Nuvulari track from Elmsford. A flat track with a huge bank. Looking forward to racing on this Classic layout once again.

[JerseyJohn]

Im IN What is the guide Depth 

[blue&orange]

We don't have an exact guide depth, John, but it's deep -- probably .035.

 

LMP rules are simple.  Put an LMP body on your Penn Jersey truck w/ 11t pinion.  Open practice at 4:00, race at 4:45 (or so).  $5.00 entry.

 

Thanks Mason-Dixon for bringing Retro to T&L!

[Half Fast]

Some suggestions as to gearing and tire choice would help the racers.

 

Cheers

[Bill Gerhart]

Chris , Thanks for the info on the  LMP cars. I am sure some of us will stick around after the can am race to run the LMP's.  Just for info. I had 3 of my cars on the track for testing all set with guide depth of .020  .  Cars handled well. Mason - Dixon Retro is looking forward to this event on December 9th. 

[Bill Gerhart]

I tested a 9-28 gear on my cars, might try a 9-27 on return with motor with good brakes. I tested Alpha wonders, Kelly Retro, and JK premiums. They all seemed to work well. We also tested all lanes, very little time difference on all the lanes. Going to be fun  .

[John Gorski]

Does the bank launch at all? Looks a little like the old Berwin PA track in the 60's. It was a great track

but we glued the hell out of the flat turns back then with sidewinder chassis..

Attached Images

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[blue&orange]

No launching problems so far, John, but we've been running mostly flexis.  I plan on going down to do some retro testing tomorrow.  Great pic, by the way.

[Bill Gerhart]

We saw no launching issues on any of the lanes when we practiced on Nov. 19th with Can Am cars.

[blue&orange]

So here's some feedback from testing.  Remember I'm a lower tier racer.  Can-Am with  X25 chassis could run consistent 7.10's -.20's, though I did get a lucky 6.99.  Coupe with either Samurai 4 chassis or X25 chassis ran 7.25 - 7.35. 9/28 gears.  I was using Kelly Euros, though at the end I tried Kelly Stickies and the coupe really liked it.  You know, 7 second laps are just nice.

[DGRacer]

John,
This is not the track from Berwin, though very similar.
I was at that big race they had there .

Back in the day there was another Altec like this in Mount Joy , Pa

Anybody else remember racing there ? Red Rose Dairy Bar.

[tonyp]

Positive we ran a car model race there that Jerry Brady won by a big margin. After the race he left his car on the track for people to try and it sure was a hunk. On the 220 Engleman style tracks he was just about unbeatable.


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[Bill Gerhart]

Trains & Lanes has set aside a practice session this Sunday Dec. 3rd from 1 pm to 3 pm on the Altec 220 in preparation for the Mason-Dixon race on Saturday Dec. 9th.  Since there are so many folks renting track time around the holidays, The Altec will be reserved for retro racers only Sunday (1 pm to 3 pm).  A special Thank You to Trains & Lanes for this time slot to practice.   

[Markomatic]

I used to race there in the mid-80's for their weekly Womp and Group 12 races. I also raced there in the 90's in the USRA Regional series. That track is a cool one for sure and I wish I was still back east so I could run on it. I am glad they have kept it alive.

[Bill Gerhart]

Slight adjustment of practice time for tomorrow at Trains & Lanes. New Practice time changed to 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm for Mason Dixon Retro Series on the Altec 220.

[DGRacer]

Some test results from Sunday’s test session.
Set braid depth at 0 to -.010.
Gearing 9-28 works well.
Softer tires seem best. Treated is ok.

Hope to see you there.,

[gc4895]

Beautiful track! I used to run on a very similar track in St Louis back in the 60s. When a car would let go or get nurfed in the big bank it would fly off into the heart of the hobby store landing randomly among the shelves full of hobby stuff. Finding the car could, at times, be a challenge. That is unless it dropped in on a mom buying foam, popsickle sticks or colored pipe cleaners for a school project.

[Bill Gerhart]

Dale Granger's Can Am car was fast on Sunday. He let me drive it, handles well and had good bite off the corners. Trying to figure out how to borrow his car on Saturday, dont think that will happen  .  There are a lot of retro racers who live within 60 miles of Trains and Lanes, This is an established slot car and hobby facility giving retro racing another track to race at. Practice starts at 8 am, looking forward to seeing you there !

[DGRacer]

Good chance to get your Retro Fix in before the holidays!

[DGRacer]

My box is packed with coupes,Can - Am , and LMP. Who is going to challenge the Altec .

[tonyp]

Looks like snow for you guys. Drive safe.

[Bill Gerhart]

Due to winter storm Benji headed for New Jersey, Eastern Pa, and New York and snow expecting to start in the early morning we have decided to postpone tomorrows Mason Dixon Retro event at Trains and Lanes. We will work with the management team at Trains and Lanes in the next few days and select a date for the event in the future.  Thank You.

[DGRacer]

Turned out to be a good call to postpone.
22 closed for a while.
33 had an accident and was closed for a while.
Delays on 78 caused the hockey team from Allentown to be late to Hershey.
Sorry guys but I hope you can make it to rescheduled race.

[Bill Gerhart]

Mason-Dixon retro event now scheduled for Saturday Jan. 27th at Trains & Lanes.