Back to Analog
Single
Lane Racing
I'm going back to analog. My sons
that used to race Digital with me all the time don't have the time anymore. One
had a baby and the other got married. I figure now if they come by we can race
against the clock. I bought a Ninco Lap Counter / Timer and it works great!
I
just did a cash/cars deal for all my N-digital stuff. I'll make a page with all
the cars I got Here when they arrive.
By going
to single lane I double the length to around 230 feet. I've added the single lane
loop sections on the far end of the layout and a snow curve in the middle.
The Snow Curve and Lap Counter came in today. The single lane kit didn't. I don't know if my guy forgot to order it or if it'll be coming in a different box Monday or Tuesday. I bought 8 more (4 packs) 40 cm straight to replace the LC sections too. The Snow curve is the same radius as the R2 s so it had to go where the only R2s were on my layout. It's pretty cool sliding uphill....
The lap counter won't be going there. I think that wherever I put it I'm going to get a couple model Rail Road spotlights and shine them across the front of it. Too bad it isn't backlit. It works nice though.
I
think the nicest thing about this whole thing today was, even after at least 2
weeks without running anything on my track and taking it all apart and putting
it back together.....I didn't wipe off a single piece of track. I hooked up my
2 old terminals(one for each lane), 2 stock controllers and 2 power packs. I put
my Ninco M3 tuning on the track. I'd never run it before. I got it in a trade
for one of my 1/18th RC trucks. I pulled on the throttle and never looked back!!
It didn't studder at all. Just ran like the track had been scrubbed for hours!!!
A digital car wouldn't have gone 10 feet as dirty as my track was!!
With
the Pit Lane on the main straight gone I was able to remove the "jog"
on the main inside straight, allowing for another stretch to run wide open for
2 seconds! The single lane loops will be going where that far hairpin is.
It
was Friday, the last day of my vacation, when the single lane set came in(of course).
I've added another 4' light down at the far end and
moved one of my single lane terminal Tracks into the center of the track so the
driver has excellent visibility of the whole track. Being used to going uphill
after a short straight into the Snow Curve became a problem when the cars turned
around and came back. The experience changed to Long straight, downhill, tighter
turn....Guard rail turned into Safety Wall!!!
Here
are a few more pictures of the layout as it sits now.. Be ready SlotsNZ The scenery
is coming for sure now. I just sprayed a bunch of figures a with a base coat of
Flesh, I've got a 2 story Pit Building coming that I bought online and I'll be
getting at least 1 more Grandstand. There will be trees running down between the
tracks too.
You can see the Terminal track in the middle of the layout in the picture
below.
I'm
putting signs on the Safety Walls again. They come off after a while from "rubbing"
but I'll just replace. I need to go to Staples and get mor lable papre so I can
print some of those new signs I stole from SCI's forum. Thanks Geezer!!!!!
Looks
like I also need to paint over the heads of those screws I used to hold the Snow
Curves down. The track had a hell of a crown in it. It wanted to keep shooting
the cars right out of the slot. All better now!!!
All
I need to do to go back to 2 lanes is remove the 2 loop sections with the "s"
attached to one and curve attached to the other and reattach my inner curve hairpin
with the 10cm in the middle of it and the 20 cm on the end and I'm good to go.
The 2 single lane terminals that I made are in the layout already. 5 minutes max
to go from single lane to 2 lane racing!
I've found that I'm going to be able
to add 2 more 40cm straights to each side too.
The one that I'm using there
is a brand new terminal that I got for 99 cents on EBAY! I just unsoldered the
Power Base and put it in a box in case I should ever need it.
