The Sloshed Slotcar Racing Co

The slotcar racing is not too serious here, just a hobby that has got out of hand! We race 4-lane Tomy AFX tracks up to 200 feet running length, either in the local pub hall or at home after the pub closes!

Micro Scalextric, Tomy and Tyco F1 and Group C Le Mans cars are Scalextric Minis......Great fun but Super G+ AC Cobra Daytona’s take some beating! The favourite!

The track above was raced in Nov 2005 great speed with all the banking but the crossovers caused a few problems. The corner crossovers are old Aurora Q lock items with Tomy to Aurora adaptors fitted, these are actually quite tight bends, the main problem though was all the arguments when drivers took each other off, who did get there first?

The bridge is made from corrugated cardboard, yes I ought to get out more! The 4 lane track supports are older Aurora items bought from the USA on eBay.

You may notice that there are power boosters at about mid race length, these are standard Tomy start straights with standard plugs from spare hand controllers and transformers cut and wired together to give the power to the furthest point away from the transformers. This arrangement works well as there is quite a bit of resistance in all the track connectors between each piece of track. This track was 55’6” long (nearly 17m) and the first time the power boosters were used.

The track above was raced in March 2006, 57’4” long (nearly 17.5m) much faster and with no hazards. This is the track that was videoed by Steve (yes he ought to get out more too!) Plenty to think about though with 6” rad bends and the chicane to trip up the unwary. The lap timers are great, not only an improvement in terms of ease of use to the Tomy overhead lap counters that were cut about to use for 4 lanes, but with timing to 1/100th of a second and fastest lap times too, we started adding extra points for the fastest lap to try and stop drivers touring around the track to save from coming off, and nobody likes slow racers! It was the first time out for a Wizzard Storm, amazing car. I now have six of them and will build a six-lane track in June 2006 to see what they can do!

June 2006 six lanes and loads of fun! (Except for the marshals!) 35’11” (nearly 11m) long with equal lanes. Three lap timers and a new six-lane bridge. However no power boosters yet, I need to convert some more start straights to connect the centre two lanes but at only 36 feet the power drop was not too bad. The blue lane ran a bit slow unfortunately I think it was a duff transformer, but was unable to sort it out on the night, at least everyone had to race on blue so it was fair.

Three lap timers linked with mini jack leads from audio equipment. These were expensive in the 80’s when they came out, and sell on eBay for over £60 but are well worth the cash. The six-lane bridge and track supports are made from corrugated cardboard and PVA glue again, this time with advertising (yes I defiantly must get out more or get a job on Blue Peter!) The bridge base has corrugations running at right angles to the track and the sides with the corrugations vertical, making a very strong structure.

Power to each lane from a separate transformer saves the “power surge” when one car comes off and keeps things fair.

Power to the middle two lanes is from two pairs of start straights cut and wired together to allow for standard Tomy plugs on transformers and hand throttles.

The Wizzard Storm cars are amazing, but take a bit of getting used to, not quite flat out all round but almost!

These cars were doing lap time two thirds of the Tomy Super G+

All tracks are designed on AutoCAD I have built up a library of track parts for 2, 4 and 6 lanes and can insert them a blocks into the track plan drawing. Many years ago I uses to draw them all by hand, but it took an age! If anyone remembers the Grand Prix circuits at my old house in King Street 70 feet plus 4 lane tracks, great fun! I don’t have the room now, but have bought a 6x3m marquee for the garden (yes eBay again), so maybe next year we can race on something a bit longer. King Street tracks were all on the floor, which is not as easy as up on tables as it is now. Whilst down memory lane, it was summer 1995 when we had the track in the clubroom at the Queen’s Head, and the year before when we raced the Monaco circuit at the same venue. Now the clubroom is no more maybe another venue can be found? The main problem is that the track has to go up and come down in the same day, whereas at home it can stay up for a few days, making the logistics a bit easier.

Maybe the next thing to do is to link the lap timers to the laptop, it would save on chalk! Those with sharp eyes will notice that I won (well it is my toy after all!)

The track above was raced on Friday 13^th October 2006, loads of banking for flat out speed and some twisties, it was very, very fast! A very good turnout with 22 drivers! A record. Many thanks to Deane from the EAHORC who turned up with a box full of cars. You can see the EAHORC website via this link

http://www.bglawns.com/eahorc.htm

they race in a less disorganised fashion than we do!

Unfortunately the track above was taken down before I could take any photos. The high level section worked very well and did not obscure the track below or behind much.

The next race will be in the New Year 2007. I have been asking around and the idea of a series of races seems to be popular. Points from races carried forward to a championship with a prizes at the end of the season. The next track I am planning will be at home but a little different from the norm. Back to the ultra hazardous twisty circuits of 2004. Multi level with hill climbs and crossroads. I have six off road buggies that could be fun to race. Here is a taster!

Later in the New Year maybe a return to the fast racing circuits, and when the weather improves a much longer track in the marquee in the garden. Lots to look forward to!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Mine’s a Bob and bitter (warm of course!) Best wishes Chris

For more information please contact me on c.cumbers@lineone.net