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[Graham Lane]

My primary passion is slot car racing.  Over the last four years I have built a huge slot car track based on the Italian scenery around the area where I live.  It is 7 metres long and 3.5 metres wide and includes a castle, village, viaduct, working railway line and even a cemetery!  The viaduct alone has nine arches and is covered with 20,000 bricks, each one hand-made, stuck on, grouted, painted and weathered.

The track itself is digital and enables six cars to race on a two-lane circuit at the same time, changing lanes to overtake or block other drivers.  The computer system is quite sophisticated and drivers can choose whether to start a race with a full tank or half a tank of fuel.  Naturally the cars go faster with less fuel but you need to watch the on-screen gauge and come into the pits to refuel before running out.  If that happens the car stutters and stops and can't be restarted.

In addition a group of us have bought a huge analogue circuit for more 'serious' racing.  This type of circuit is used for the Italian national championships.

Both circuits will soon be housed in a purpose built building at our local sports and community centre.

[HS93 (RIP)]

That single lane looks fantastic, when I was about 14 I built a single lane track, it was only about 20 foot in total and made out of 14 ply with copper strip that at the time had to be evo stuck down, I never got the surface correct and at the time there was not clever timing available to me 60s so it was a stop watch I had to stop and start manually, but starting work interests wained, but it was great fun must have used 20 boxes of polyfila on one bend as a snow bank.

Peter

[tony23]

That's very impressive and I would have thought great fun my club also has a slot track at our headquarters http://www.nlsme.co.uk/aboutus.asp#5 I have never thought of slot cars being able to race on the same lanes like OO/HO trains do. 

[Graham Lane]

Oh, yes.  In fact my track is portable and multi-functional.



Six cars can race on the two-lane circuit highlighted in green and a rally can take place on the red bit simultaneously.  A rally stage can take place on the green and blue section while another stage takes place on the red.  Or, the complete track can be used for rallies, and if the competing cars are chipped we can run them one at a time from a starting ramp, like the Monte Carlo Rallye.  Cars may have to wait to cross the viaduct if another car is already there, and may have to wait at the railway crossing if a train is passing.



In addition to all this we have telemetry.  Lap times are announced verbally automatically either through headphones or a loud speaker.  Next stage is wireless controllers.  The signal is sent by R/C and that means....up to 26 cars can race at once!!!!

How times have moved on!

[Graham Lane]

Spamcanman
I raced at North London back in the 60s.  I remember Ian Fisher was racing back then when I was chairman of the Electric Car Racing Association.  Steve Francis and I have been working together on a project recently.  Tony Condon was a stalwart member then until moving to the South West, my old stomping ground.

[tony23]

What a small world my main interests in the Society is running my 5" and Gauge1 live steam loco's but I will pop down one evening when the slot cars are on have have a chat with the lads.

[red181]

great pics! In the seventies I was a member of the Aintree Model car racing club, we had a 4 lane purpose built track, and raced against teams from Southport, Fyle, Blackpool, Bolton etc, it was really good, very fast, cars where brass chassis, and various designs depending on the class.

I recently tried to find out if they where still going, but it seems the ECRA ended, and a more scale like racing took over, with cars similar but far better to scalextric, very detailed and have to be correct in colour schemes etc

[Graham Lane]

The track has been extended now and runs to a mouthwatering 50 metres lap length!  The lap record is 37 secs but here is my son Tom doing a demo lap in 45 secs at this year's Mini Mille Miglia.

http://youtu.be/-BBKYyw-B8g