Pine Ridge 3 lane

[Brad_T]

After a few years away from the hobby, pulled the tarp off my 3 lane routed track and ran a few laps last weekend. Still lots of interest from the "old" racers and now some of their kids are interested as well so maybe will have it up for a while. I was surprised and found it was only about 50 laps to get the track cleaned up and running better. Have about 500 on each lane now and getting the numbers back to where they were. Running Paul Gage tires on all of my cars and have for years and the tires that I had on the cars still have lots of grip.
My track folds and is on wheel to move it out of the way when not in use. Some squeeze sections over the bridge and through the S's but can run the two outside lanes without contact. The pit start was removed due to some issues running the course in reverse so was filled in and painted.
I have lots of pictures of the build if anyone is interested or would like some tips on this type of table
I was pretty active on one of the other slot car forums a few years back but happy that Paul suggested HRW.
Cheers, Brad
Ontario, Canada

[SpeedyNH]

great track. i for one would be interested in the build.

[chappyman66]

Great looking track, I am sure it's fun to race! Build details are always helpful to folks doing their own builds.

[4424ever]

Nice track I wouldn’t have been able to put it away glad you got it back out where are you I’m in central Ontario about an hour north of big smoke

[Brad_T]

I built this track in 2009 and wish I had taken more pictures at the time. My track is in my detached garage / shop and had to be movable so wanted something on wheels. Because I wanted as large a layout as possible I thought that a folding track would be the best for me.
Not wanting the track too high off the floor determined the maximum length of the folding sections.
The main table is 12' X 5'6" with folding front and both ends. I built the main structure with 2 X 4 and the perimeter of the main table and folding sections with kiln dried pine so with plywood strip crossers so there wouldnt' be any warping from the wood drying out. The track is 1/2" MDF.

The folding sections were attached to the main table using standard door hinges before the track was fastened to the main table. No need to go crazy lining the folding section or worry about the alignment of the hinge, the track fastened afterwards. All of the track sections were cut with a key to hold the slots in alignment, you can see it on the ends.
I wanted some elevation changes but limited with the size of the table. A rise near the center of the back straight was later lowered due to having too many airborne cars. The dip under the bridge was also reduced for the same reason. Looked cool but not functional.

Some low cost folding table supplied the legs for the folding sections. You can see the risers fastened to the crossers in the first picture to set the elevation. A piece of pine was screwed to the bottom of the MDF track to fasten to.

[Brad_T]

Nice track I wouldn’t have been able to put it away glad you got it back out where are you I’m in central Ontario about an hour north of big smoke

I have a few hobbies and sadly this was put on the backburner for a while, never out of mind though. I'm an hour north of NW of Orangeville.

[Brad_T]

After lots of body filler and sanding the track was primed with high solid automotive primer (something I had on hand) then painted with flat latex. A little easier to see the key sections with the paint on the track surface. Each lane was routed independently with a 12 foot lexan strip so lots of filling involved. Two sections of the track were filled and rerouted after the intial build to get the lines better. Everything looks good on paper but you find out different later.

Cooper tape applied. and some posts for the guardrail posts already in place across the bridge. The bridge is removed completely when the front of the table is folded down .
Some fasteners along the side of the track were in place or added to fasten the wire mesh to fill in the gaps and add the plaster for paint and scenery (some day).

The bridge is removed in this first picture. Guardrail posts were cut pine and the guardrail material is wood trim molding. Some of the trim had to soaked in water to get it make some of the tight radius bends. White posts and silver paint for the guardrail.

[Brad_T]

After a couple of repairs and some rerouting the track times are pretty good. The pit start was removed when we starting running the track in reverse. Coming off the bridge around the curve would most likely but you in the pits.
Usually running the power between 10 and 11 volts, the timing is Track Mate dead strip. Some day I may finish the scenery but the paint is easy to clean and give me more time to race.
Happy Racing!

[2cool]

beautiful, thanks for sharing pics and info on the build.
-Ed

[mattb]

Nice job.

[dreinecke]

Good to see you again. I'd followed your build back then and always loved the track!

[Fast Co.]

Very cool track Brad. I like the different paths each lane takes through the corners. Makes for a more interesting drive, imo. I don't recall having seen this track before, but welcome back!
Steve

[Brad_T]

Thank you for the kind words. It is nice to finally get the track back out and blow the dust off some cars. The familiarity of the track came back pretty quickly, the reflexes may not be the same as they were though, lol.