104 replies to this topic

[Wirra]

I recently opened the trunk containing the Scalextric set I built up in the 1960s. I put every penny I earned as a paperboy into building the Warwick Farm set-up. Does this bring back memories for anyone? I still have the Cooper and Lotus cars which came in the original basic set.

[BRG]

You'd need a big bedroom to attempt Le Mans. I note even Scalextric didn't suggest trying the Nordschliefe!

[Rob]

You'd need a big bedroom to attempt Le Mans. I note even Scalextric didn't suggest trying the Nordschliefe!

Has anyone ever done the Snaefell Mountain Course?

[petestenning]

I used to make a passable Snetterton. My brother and i used to do time trails using a Sinclair ZX whatever it was as, programmed to do the results .


Sad isn't it .lol.

Pete

[Barry Boor]

It was those dreadful representations from that leaflet that prompted me to try to build my circuits as close as possible to the correct shape and hence, to start to cut curved pieces of track in half and even in quarters to give me that much more accuracy.

I offer as an example:



and

[David Lawson]

About 20 years ago a friend and I went through a phase of building circuits in my garden, we tried to make them as accurate as possible and this version of Brands Hatch was pretty close. We also did a very good Silverstone but the photo hasn't survived. Our Le Mans circuit wasn't scale but it had a 70 feet long Mulsanne straight.



My neighbour was always fascinated watching us playing with toy cars.

David

[raceannouncer2003]

About 20 years ago a friend and I went through a phase of building circuits in my garden, we tried to make them as accurate as possible and this version of Brands Hatch was pretty close. We also did a very good Silverstone but the photo hasn't survived. Our Le Mans circuit wasn't scale but it had a 70 feet long Mulsanne straight.



My neighbour was always fascinated watching us playing with toy cars.

David

The dog looks interested too.

Vince H.

[Barry Boor]

Waiting for his turn to drive!

[Barry Boor]

I cannot get far enough away to get a photo of my current circuit so the track plan will have to suffice:



Lovely to drive on and with a lap time, for my slow old nails, of around 8.5 to 9.0 seconds.

[Tony Lethbridge]

Barry, Has this one got all the elevations you usually put in? I bet your 250Fs like it.

I once build a rather convincing Monaco complete with all the ups and downs using piles of books and cardboard boxes. Alas the cars frequently flew off into outer space. I would love to have built a permanent version with scenery but just didn't have the room. That was back in the sixties so I would probably still be working on it!

[Barry Boor]

I have to be honest and admit that I haven't put any hills onto Rouen this time. It's so big that I'd be struggling to find enough stuff to put underneath it. It's actually 54 feet long.

Also, as I'm now running series from 1950-51 and 1959 there are only a few out of date 250.Fs around and anyway, no F.1 at Rouen in 1959. This is for an F.2 race.

[paulhooft]

Back in the sixties when I was becoming a teenager.,
I did not have the money to buy something like Scalextrix,.
But I had a lot of HO Faller AMS track to race our AMS and Aurora cars on.
The Faller AMS model where slow, but Aurora where fast, great fun to drive.
I was the trackbuilder and build many of the 60's tracks, Le Mans, Reims, Rouen, Spa Francorchamps, Silverstone, Brand's Hatch, Aintree, Watkins Glen, Sebring, Indianapolis (that was not very hard to build...), Monza and Zandvoort.
I even had an alternative Nurburgring that used all the parts..
we had a lot of fun on sundays then..
That was before I discovered some other way to spend the weekends..
Paul

Edited by paulhooft, 04 March 2012 - 10:37.

[Barry Boor]

One day I might discover that other way......

[Barry Boor]

But until then... Aintree is ready for the 1959 British Grand Prix.

[biercemountain]

Growing up in the States during the 70's AFX was the main slot car brand. We never built actual circuits as we had a rule that our tracks had to contain an equal number of left and right hand turns to make them "fair". We once combined multiple sets together to the point that the track was so long that the juice didn't make it around the circuit and the car would "die" at the far end.

[Barry Boor]

Note the 'booster' lead from near to the power input across to a far point in the circuit.

[paulhooft]

One day I might discover that other way......

offspring of that hobby:
2 daughters....
Paul

[Barry Boor]

Sorry, it's been an awfully long time... can you remind me how ceasing slot car racing caused you to suddenly find yourself with two daughters?

[Barry Boor]

O.K, anoraks, name this one:

[paulhooft]

Hi,
I like it but can not name this one!
However You must be the pioneer of all the now very modern:
Non overtaking Tracks!!
(just a little joke,
As I known you are not!!!)
Kindest regards
Paul

O.K, anoraks, name this one:

[Tim Murray]

It's Angoulême - does this mean you're running a 1959 Circuit des Remparts, Barry?

[Barry Boor]

I might have known there would be at least one know-all.

No, Tim, this is a 1950-ish race with mostly French cars plus a couple of Maserati 4.CLTs.

[Alan Cox]

It's Angoulême - does this mean you're running a 1959 Circuit des Remparts, Barry?

There wasn't a 1959 Circuit des Remparts, Tim (as I'm sure you knew!)

[Tim Murray]

Absolutely, Alan - the last was in 1951, was it not? I know that Barry is part-way through his 1959 series, and occasionally includes races which didn't actually take place in the year in qusetion, so I put two and two together and made - er - 42.

[Alan Cox]

The last Circuit des Remparts was actually in 1955, although it had not been held between '51 and '55. The final iteration was for monomills before it was revived in 1978 as a historic jamboree.

[Tim Murray]

Ah - OK. Thanks, Alan.

[Barry Boor]

I'm hoping my short Brands Hatch is a tad better than the one at the top of this thread:



This is based on the circuit before the realignment of Bottom Straight.

[werks prototype]

That would convert rather easily into a Bridgehampton, too!

Edit: Would be almost smack on, for the bit between Echo valley and The hairpin.

Edited by werks prototype, 22 June 2012 - 23:20.

[Barry Boor]

Well, if I ever run Can-Am cars, I'll be building Bridgehampton but I'm afraid that possibility is remote in the extreme.

[Welby]

There was a Bathurst version for the Aussie market.

[David Lawson]

The dog looks interested too.

Vince H.

Waiting for his turn to drive!

I missed these replies at the time. Pippa the dog watched the cars closely but never chased them, she did go to dog obedience classes for a couple of years.

David

[Barry Boor]

Here's an easy one....

[paulhooft]

Mont J....., Barcel...

Here's an easy one....

[Barry Boor]

Indeed!

Edited by Barry Boor, 21 July 2012 - 10:00.

[Barry Boor]

Too big to photograph, but here's one to identify. It's a pretty good replica of what it's supposed to be:



And a poke in the eye with a sharp stick for anyone who dares to say Spa!

Edited by Barry Boor, 30 July 2012 - 12:22.

[Macca]

Place where 2-wheel loonies still do their stuff?

Paul M

[Barry Boor]

Be more specific, young man.

[Macca]

Certainly, sir - the 1947 version of Douglas, IoM.

Paul M

[Barry Boor]

Well done, Paul.

Now, how did you know?

[Barry Boor]

Here is this week's challenge:

[bigears]

Here's an easy one....

Does the cars jump after the start/finish line?

[Barry Boor]

Couldn't risk it - the corner is too close.

Here's another easy one to recognise:

Edited by Barry Boor, 20 August 2012 - 06:24.

[Simon Arron]

That would be a tad more accurate if you moved the magazines from the outside of Lodge Corner and erected a woodworm-ridden grandstand instead...

[Barry Boor]

Magazines? That's part of my motor sport book collection!

Actually, I need to modify it a bit, the two long legs are too far apart.

Edited by Barry Boor, 19 August 2012 - 10:26.

[Barry Boor]

That's better!

Edited by Barry Boor, 20 August 2012 - 08:29.

[Macca]

All it lacks is the lakes.....

I applied the little grey cells to identifying last week's but failed - are you going to give us the answer? The bridge over the short start/finish straight should have given me a clue but didn't......


Paul M

[Barry Boor]

The bridge is my timing gantry, Paul. No clue to the location there. No surprise that this one defeated you. It's the Gransden Lodge circuit where, allegedly, the first post WW2 races were held.

[D-Type]

While we're thinking Scalextric (or Scalectrix as I still think of it subconsciously! I know they included the Goodwood chicane in the range, but they also had another chicane at one time - a straight section where the two tracks came close to each other. Was there a real life precedent for this one?

[Barry Boor]

Well, Duncan, there is/was a narrow bridge on the Cascais circuit in Portugal where only one car at a time could go through. Single file only.

[Hamish Robson]

This is the piece of track you're thinking of Duncan (random ebay listing to illustrate):

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item25743396a5

The "Skid Chicane" came with a number of different styles of track decoration, illustrated is the late 70s version. A "must-have" in the 70s for maximum fun...

There was also a "Long Chicane" version made up of two pieces of track with a more gentle taper and non-shiny surface, into which sections of chicane track could be inserted to extend it.

Edited by Hamish Robson, 20 August 2012 - 15:21.