I bought myself a deluxe scalectrix set for my 40th birthday, but have yet to set it up since I live in a townhouse and have no basement. I have off and on tried to figure out. Way to set up a track, but haven't yet come up with a space effective way to do so.
Quoted from Clnilsen:I bought myself a deluxe scalectrix set for my 40th birthday, but have yet to set it up since I live in a townhouse and have no basement. I have off and on tried to figure out. Way to set up a track, but haven't yet come up with a space effective way to do so.
make room in the attic !
If I had to do a semi temp layout I would buy one of those white plastic topped folding tables to use as a base. Then just lay a sheet of plywood on top. Bolt the track to the platform and when you need to take everything down, lay the platform with track against the wall, fold up the table and lay it against the wood. Throw the controllers and cars in a basket and set it behind the platform. You can have it down or up and running in 5 mins.
Or skip the table and throw the plywood on top of 2 saw horses... That's what I did for now. I envision a pulley system connected to the platform in the future that I can use to raise the entire track up into the ceiling and out of the way. Heck, I could even finish the platform off on the bottom and trim it out like it's some kind of fancy suspended architectural ceiling enhancement.
This thread brings back some memories. When I was little, I had a slot car track where the cars change direction. It was a Tyco Race and Chase. It had a police car with the flashin lights and a bad guy. It had a jump. Damn that was fun.
I can't believe it...I just found the set all boxed up on the top shelf in a storage cupboard. I think I might dust it off and show my 5 year old. Fantastic.
I still have all my AFX, and Aurora Model Motoring stuff from when I was a kid! Me and my brother would play with them for hours, and when we got birthday money, m
y dad would take us to the hobby shop so we could buy a car. Love the old clam shell packaging! I did buy a Carerra digital set a few years back, and it is neat because you can run a ghost car, so I can race by myself, but like others said, I need more space to set up a permanent track.
Dang you guys and your awesome ideas!!! i got my son a Life-Like set about 18 years ago as a xmas gift. As most of his generation, no interest whatsoever in stuff that wasnt generated on a video screen. We used it a few times, mostly with my daughter who loved to build new tracks, but then it was just packed away.
Maybe time to track it down again.
Over the years, several friends have inquired about my 1963 Southland Engineering Speedway arcade, which features 2 slot cars on a figure 8 track, in a pinball cabinet. It's a game which is scarcely found in working condition and which rarely appears for sale. Here's the flyer for the game:
I note that one is currently listed for sale on eBay, with the auction ending on March 1st. Here's the listing:
ebay.com link: Speedway Southland Slot Car Racing ARCADE 1 32 Jaguar Corvette slotcar RARE
Quoted from ZNET:Over the years, several friends have inquired about my 1963 Southland Engineering Speedway arcade, which features 2 slot cars on a figure 8 track, in a pinball cabinet. It's a game which is scarcely found in working condition and which rarely appears for sale. Here's the flyer for the game:
I note that one is currently listed for sale on eBay, with the auction ending on March 1st. Here's the listing:
ebay.com link » Speedway Southland Slot Car Racing Arcade 1 32 Jaguar Corvette Slotcar Rare
The Southland Speedway on eBay sold on 3/1/17 for $6,723 with 14 bids. According to a Pinsider who communicated with the seller, the game sat dormant for many years, requiring considerable mechanical attention. The condition of the game's series of potentiometers was of concern on this example. Nevertheless, if the game can be repaired, the sale's price certainly leaves room to invest the necessary funds to do so, particularly since the cosmetics were pretty good overall.
I was in to 1:32 scale slot cars from 2003 to 2014. My track was 8'x17' and was hybrid of analog and Carrera Digital which allowed me to run either analog or digital cars at the flip of a switch. Although I enjoyed racing the cars, my greatest enjoyment of the hobby was building the scenery and structures. The scenery on my track was more like what one would see on a model railroad. Here's a link to more info on my track: http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20110&page=1 And for those looking for a good source of information on 1:32 scale slot cars and tracks, www.slotforum.com is a great place to look.
My slot car hobby ended dramatically when my house was struck by lightening and burned. We lost most all of our belongings in the fire, including the slot car track. All is good now though. All of us got out of the house safely and we rebuilt. The house is like new and our once unfinished basement is now finished. My interest has shifted from slot cars to EM pinball and arcade games and I'm having a lot of fun in the new hobby.
Here are some photos of my track.
Quoted from mswhat:znet it looks like Harry Williams was involved with this company.
You see a lot of Williams coils in Southland games.
LTG : )
Quoted from mswhat:znet it looks like Harry Williams was involved with this company.
Yes. Harry Williams owned Southland and later sold the company to Sam Stern, Gary's father.
Quoted from bek1966:I was in to 1:32 scale slot cars from 2003 to 2014. My track was 8'x17' and was hybrid of analog and Carrera Digital which allowed me to run either analog or digital cars at the flip of a switch. Although I enjoyed racing the cars, my greatest enjoyment of the hobby was building the scenery and structures. The scenery on my track was more like what one would see on a model railroad. Here's a link to more info on my track: http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20110&page=1 And for those looking for a good source of information on 1:32 scale slot cars and tracks, http://www.slotforum.com is a great place to look.
My slot car hobby ended dramatically when my house was struck by lightening and burned. We lost most all of our belongings in the fire, including the slot car track. All is good now though. All of us got out of the house safely and we rebuilt. The house is like new and our once unfinished basement is now finished. My interest has shifted from slot cars to EM pinball and arcade games and I'm having a lot of fun in the new hobby.
Here are some photos of my track.
Could swear I have seen your built on this forum as well: http://www.slotcarillustrated.com/portal/forums/index.php
Left the hobby myself about three years back. Just put together a 8' x 6' table one day before the super bowl to have the kids be able to play. Was a quick thing, no scenery or anything, just a plain table on coaster legs to hold a 4-lane SCX compact track. Will post pictures later. It's still up, because I have no idea what to do with the table now. 
Yeah, I frequented the Slot Car Illustrated forum too, just not as much as the Slot Forum site. Slot Forum has a large and diverse membership and there is a sizable group that is into scale scenery and scratch building cars. Those are the areas that interested me the most when I was in the hobby.
I modeled my track after a fictional road racing circuit in Wisconsin sometime in the 1950's to early 1960's. I scratch built all of the buildings, signs, trees etc. The project was a lot of fun and was something that never would have been complete - there was always the next project to research, plan and build. I really enjoyed the process. The track was a total loss from the fire and the thought of replacing 10 years of work just didn't appeal to me! I'm glad to have done it, but am not looking to jump back into it.
Here are more photos of the track.
154-Shack from Northeast (resized).JPG
155-Shack from Northwest (resized).JPG
Quoted from Fresh_Wax:It definitely needs a cleaning. But this thing is fun! All timed with laptimer 2000, plus the back straight is scale quarter mile thats also timed. And we run 4 lane drag races.
Is that a recreation of the Pink Floyd Animals album cover I see on the track?
For the first 12 years of my life, i thought slot cars came in a box with track from Tyco. Then for some insane reason a guy in our small mountain town brought and opened to the public a Blue King pro track. It was restored and filled a small dance hall. It was 1/32 scale and brought people from all over the country. What I remember most was the wicked speed of the custom built cars, with ultra light pinned on lexan bodies over hand soldered and bent frames, and controllers with 2 feet of heat sinks dangling from the bottom. Those monsters cold scream!
I think this is where it ended up after the place closed down here in CO.
this was the fun fast type of car. Man sooooo fast 
Same track layout with super fast cars
I also fondly remember a place in New Mexico that had a serious HO scale set up in a hobby shop, lots of custom wound motors and sticky compound tires.
Here's a similar HO track, its like watching bees.
Quoted from VacFink:For the first 12 years of my life, i thought slot cars came in a box with track from Tyco. Then for some insane reason a guy in our small mountain town brought and opened to the public a Blue King pro track. It was restored and filled a small dance hall. It was 1/32 scale and brought people from all over the country. What I remember most was the wicked speed of the custom built cars, with ultra light pinned on lexan bodies over hand soldered and bent frames, and controllers with 2 feet of heat sinks dangling from the bottom. Those monsters cold scream!
I think this is where it ended up after the place closed down here in CO.
» YouTube video
» YouTube video this was the fun fast type of car. Man sooooo fast
» YouTube video
Same track layout with super fast cars
I also fondly remember a place in New Mexico that had a serious HO scale set up in a hobby shop, lots of custom wound motors and sticky compound tires.
Here's a similar HO track, its like watching bees.
» YouTube video
The Blue King was the king in the seventies. As a 12 year-old, I raced on Blue King tracks in NJ, PA and CT. They were scattered throughout the east coast back in the day. Thanks for posting the videos. . .evokes fond memories for sure.
Quoted from ViolinSteve:This picture is six years old, but the track is still setup in the basement. I still race them from time to time, but the boy is 13 now and more into video games than the slot cars. Both his friends and mine love to play them when they come over, though.
Gotta live the good old SCX compact. Put this 4-lane track together for Super Bowl this year. Had one day to build the table and put up the track, so it is a bit bare. Plan was to get more going, but somehow there is little time and the kids don't care for more or better say ANY scenery.
WP_20170312_15_02_16_Pro (2) (resized).jpg
Quoted from BudManPinFan:Nice, is that Scalextric?
Nope its a FLY, in the"collectors box" with the outer sleeve too. Never been on a track.
I have about 24 version of the Panoz: LMP1 and GTR by FLY and 2 by Carrera. Plus a Saleen S7 and Plymouth Superbird.
Has anyone checked out the "Magracing" system? It looks pretty impressive, allowing lane changes and with steerable cars.
Like a cross between slot cars and R/C cars.
Quoted from ultimategameroom:This is my Carrera 1:24 track I put together a few years ago. It pretty much fills a 14 X16' bedroom.
Sweet Collection of Cars. Love the 24 scale, but it takes up so o much room.
I have expanded on my garage table since last year. Added fences (so cars don't fly off the table anymore), just put some green carpet grass down, added a lapcounter system based on race coordinator with sensors recesses in the track, rewired the cheap original power terminals to have dedicated powers per lane (no voltage drops in between two lanes).
Will post pics when I get back from Europe next week.
This is my set up. It's Carrera Digital 132 with pit lane, driver displays, lane change, position tower, and digital lap counter / timer. The table measures 8'x10'. We have some pretty great racing with our closest margin of victory being .007 seconds. And another one at .011 seconds. These things are awesome
There used to be a big slot car place in NE Philly we went to almost everyday in the summer growing up. Started collecting DTM slot cars recently ( love the car designs) in hopes to route a big track of my own some day. Digital cars are a real game changer. Fun times.
Nice stuff in here - a few days ago I posted this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-were-your-favorite-childhood-toys/page/26#post-4189084
Cars I recently bought...
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Quoted from VacFink:For the first 12 years of my life, i thought slot cars came in a box with track from Tyco. Then for some insane reason a guy in our small mountain town brought and opened to the public a Blue King pro track. It was restored and filled a small dance hall. It was 1/32 scale and brought people from all over the country. What I remember most was the wicked speed of the custom built cars, with ultra light pinned on lexan bodies over hand soldered and bent frames, and controllers with 2 feet of heat sinks dangling from the bottom. Those monsters cold scream!
I think this is where it ended up after the place closed down here in CO.
» YouTube video
» YouTube video this was the fun fast type of car. Man sooooo fast
» YouTube video
Same track layout with super fast cars
I also fondly remember a place in New Mexico that had a serious HO scale set up in a hobby shop, lots of custom wound motors and sticky compound tires.
Here's a similar HO track, its like watching bees.
» YouTube video
Cool video. Check out the “winged racers “video Holy crap they are fast; too fast!
Thanks. It is a 6 x 8 table layout. With the SCX 1/43 scale it does fit a nice 4 lane layout. Since there are only two curve radius available, it is a little bit limited in what you can do.
Grüße in die Heimat.
Is anyone running 1/24th scale still? We are on our second track now and having a blast. No league nights yet but its possible.
The pic of the red track is the old flat track,
Current Yellow track is an 8 lane modified figure 8 its about 30 feet long 16 feet wide approximate lap length 70 feet.
Screenshot_20221117-204335_Voxer (resized).jpgIt looks like it will be great fun. I built and ran 24th scale slot cars many years ago.
There was a local track to rent time on. It was a blast.
So cool I lived at Tiny Tim’s on Woodward ave as a younger person until they closed.I had some fast cars and I would love to setup a big track in my basement but it is full of pins.I do have a 8 foot pool table in my dining room that I could lay a track on,I never shoot pool.any ideas for me?
I could put 3 sheets of 4+8 plywood for 12 foot by 8 foot of surface to lay track!
Quoted from SealClubber:I just bought a Carrera Go set for my kid
Hey just wanted to say I bought this kit thanks to this thread for one of my sons birthday presents. It was a huge hit and he spent all night playing it with a friend that slept over. It really reminded me of my youth and how a simplistic toy can be so much fun. Definitely a game of skill-glad to relive my youth with my son-good times. Now I need to buy some expansion packs
Cars slot (resized).jpgJumping in on this hobby this Christmas with the Carrera 1:24 “born to perform” set plus a ton of extra track, cars, wireless controllers, pit lane set up, banked curve, etc.
My dad bought me a train set up when I was a kid, which I loved. But my neighbor had the slot car track when I was young and I had more fun with it as it was more my speed. Tweaking cars for better performance to beat your friends was always great fun!
This set is gonna fill my basement and will only be temporary, as my pinball hobby eats up all available basement floor space. But being able to pull it out and setup new layouts from time to time will be fun.
Haven’t told my 21+ year old sons about it so it’s gonna be a big unexpected surprise for them. Kinda like a red Ryder BB gun Christmas except they aren’t aware that they want a slot car track yet (unlike Ralphy and his red Ryder).
Can’t wait for Christmas Day. First time time in many years that I feel like a kid at Christmas 
Quoted from pinmister:Hey just wanted to say I bought this kit thanks to this thread for one of my sons birthday presents. It was a huge hit and he spent all night playing it with a friend that slept over. It really reminded me of my youth and how a simplistic toy can be so much fun. Definitely a game of skill-glad to relive my youth with my son-good times. Now I need to buy some expansion packs
[quoted image]
Some of my favorite Christmas memories as a kid involved opening a slot car set or a hot wheels track.
My track has been packed away for several years. 1/32 86 feet 4 lanes. It took over 1/2 the gameroom so the pinball machines kicked it out.
I had Aurora Thunderjets in the 60’s and about 10 years ago I bought some Tomy/AFX sets and track. I had a setup in the garage for the grandkids, but they weren’t that enamored with it. So the stuff has been sitting in boxes since.
Now there’s a 6 year old grandkid that played when he came over a couple weeks ago. He enjoyed it a lot, so I’m planning to put a layout on a ping pong table top in the garage. I’m hoping to set up a lift device so I can park my car under it when it’s not being used. When he comes over I can lower the layout onto saw horses and use it.
Interesting to see that others enjoyed slot cars too.
Robert
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