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Gday fellow slotters.

I must say from the outset that my knowledge of HO scale is limited. I know of them but I come from a 1:32 perspective so please excuse any comments that come across as ignorant.

I have a friend at a school who wants to start a slot racing club for the kids to get involved in. He has seen 8 lane plastic tracks but would prefer something along the lines of 12 lanes to allow his class of 24 kids to not sitout too often.
To keep things from becoming too time consuming I have said I will help him route a track (I have made a few myself).
The questions I have and would really appreciate the knowledge of the kind folks on the forum are:

1. Routing a HO track with the standard rails seems a little tedious. Can I use 3/16 magna braid and get HO cars to go around a braided track? I realise mods might be required but that is ok as long as the time required to upkeep the cars is reduced. Braided tracks thankfully require little maintenance.

2. Are there any types of cars I would be looking at getting? I see some of the insanely fast HO cars and think this would be less than ideal. Something a little more realistic whilst ensuring the kids can stay on as long as possible would definitely be a desirable option.

3. What sort maintenance do HO cars require? The usual oiling and cleaning generally? Do wheels come off in combat as I dont know if aluminium wheels are available for HO.

I will think of other questions as they arise but any help with the first three would be more than appreciated.

Thanks guys!

John

John -
Sounds like a fun project!

In regard to cars, Tyco 440x2 cars are typically very robust, relatively easy to work on, have a wide variety of bodies available and can be picked up for modest cost. They come with splined axles, so loss of wheels is not something you normally need to work about. Silicone slip on tires are readily available and replacement pick-up shoes, brushes, gears, etc are all well supported.

Going to braid should make for a nice rail system (there are articles on using 1/8" braid and setting it at .010" above the surface by Ed Bianchi that you may want to check out) If you go with magnabraid, you will get magnetic down force action similar to what rail provides, but you will have the potential for needing to occasionally repair areas where the glue lets go and the magnets of the car pull the braid up. (Depending on the age of the kids racing, the magnetic down force may be something you want to minimize "offs")
Non-magnetic braid will require more "driving" verses just holding down the throttle effect, but there are no issues with magnets working to pull the braid up and out of the track and if you are using an adjustable power supply, voltage can be dropped back to make the cars easier to control without the magnetic "assist".

Look forward to seeing pictures of the build!
:text-bravo:

This all sounds like a grand idea and all to get the kids involved with . But with the competition of the immediate gratification games that fill every spare minute of the children today. I would start with a simple plastic track 4 lane set, just to see the reaction, and interest level that may or may not be there. Unless you will have a use for the track you will spend hours and $ to assemble should this go south.

If you want to use a computer based system to count laps and manage lane rotations most of those would be limited to a maximum of eight lanes. If you must have twelve lanes you might just build a simple lap counter and use a timer to shut off the track power at the end of each heat. You would also have to tally the results on paper.

I hate to rain all over this idea, but I think Mark is more than right. Start with 4 lane plastic, pretty cheap, and see how it works out. Routing a 12 lane track and buying that much magna braid seems like a lot of work and money for something that may not last out a year. It's hard to put a 12 lane braided track in a box when you are tired of playing with it. Not sure if you would ever find anybody interested in buying it.

That is a lot of braid!! The track surface will be more than half braid, right? Just a little track surface in between the braid. It sounds like a good idea on paper. Why not start with one of those 4 lane International race sets and see what develops?

It is your time and money.