Tom's Page > Hobbies > HO Slot Cars

A slot car track? Yeah, baby! When Jeff moved out I moved all of the computers from the basement to his old bedroom. This left me a nice big area in the basement allowing me to build a brand-new HO scale track- something I've always wanted to do since I gave up the hobby in the early 1970's.

Before I go any further I have to give credit to Gregory Braun and his web site located at www.gregorybraun.com and www.hoslotcarracing.com. My racing layout comes directly from Mr. Braun's Web Site and I am using his Scenic 55 layout. I am indebted to him for the amount of information about all parts of building an HO slot car track building- starting with the construction of the 5' X 9' table and finishing the entire layout.

This is primarily a long term, cold-weather project for me. I already put one layout together but I didn't like the results. I spent more time trying to fix the various problems than I did racing. In order to not repeat my mistake I am rebuilding the track. This time I am buying high quality parts and pieces (as time and money permits) and am carefully doing the construction and wiring.

The Scenic 55 circuit (Picture 1) provides a  55 foot lap length for each lane. There are six long straight-a-ways, three long sweeping 15" curves and a two very challenging 6" hairpin curves. It also fits very nicely onto a a 5' X 9'  table.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image 1 Click on the thumbnail for a larger image 2 Click on the thumbnail for a larger image 3 Click on the thumbnail for a larger image 4
Here's the track layout and the actual table under construction - click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

I am using Tomy AFX HO scale slot car track, Mura controllers and a 10 amp Galinko power supply. I am building four of my own driver stations based upon AccuTech wiring diagrams. I am wiring them with both brake and direction switches along with fuses and phono plugs. You can also buy AccuTech Racing driver stations already custom pre-wired by going to their web site. The wiring diagram from AccuTech Racing is displayed above (Picture 2)- click on the thumbnail for a larger image. If you would like to download the full-size wiring diagram (186K) file click here.

The table was built on a framework of 1 X 4 lumber (with numerous cross braces) and four 4 X 4' s for legs. The top is a single 5 X 9 piece of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). On top of the MDF board is a 1/2" layer of Homasote soundboard which reduces the 'click and clack' of the plastic track. I also painted the Homasote green to simulate grass. I was not pleased about the look. The track sat 1/4" higher than the surface of the table. In scale that meant that the racing surface would sit about 16" above the ground's surface- not something you see very often. Instead, I traced the track onto several pieces of 1/4" Masonite and cut it out. I removed the pieces that were traced, attached the Masonite to the table's surface and reinstalled the track.This allows the plastic track to sit at the same level as the top of the table. It gives the track a much better look. Pictures 3 and 4 shows the table as I am installing the Masonite and a bit of detail. Once the Masonite is fully installed I will begin the difficult task of landscaping the layout.

This is the list (courtesy of Gregory Braun) of Tomy AFX HO slot car track needed to build the Scenic 55 layout:

44 - 15" Straights 14 - 9" Straights 20 - 6" Straights 2 - 3" Straights
12 - 6" Radius Turns 21 - 9" Radius Turns 16 - 12" Radius Turns 7 - 15" Radius Turns

Content pending...

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image
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