Neat picture of gas model board racing

[TsgtRet]

Sounds dangerous to me :shock: Heck, I duck when I turn marshall on "Slot It" night :shifty:

Seriously, I remember the COX Prop Rods; someone in our Navy base housing got in trouble for running one in the housing area so his Dad got permission to go out and use part of a closed runway. It seems he and Dad decided "it could go faster" (imagine thinking like that!); don't know what happened but did see the pieces afterward :?

[BIG E]

Awesome photo! That sure trumps Cox's two lane gas powered slot track from the 1960's. Absolutely wild!
About two summers ago, there was a cover story in the 'entertainment' section of the newspaper. It was promoting an event not far from me where the brethren of the cars in the picture, gas powered tether cars, where going to be running on a Sunday. I jumped at the chance to see these guys and their machines in action. Turns out, the track here on Long Island is one of only three specially constructed for these cars left in the country. They are many feet deep into the ground, solid concrete. There are genuine old world craftsman involved with this nearly extinct form of model motorsports, and one of the families had three generations involved in the event. Much of the cars are scratchbuilt, including some of the engines!
After yapping to some of the folks for a few hours about their cars and my decades old slot car passion, a man named John, one of the front runners from New Jersey, got me out on the track to push start one of his cars. Then, you had to be quick in getting behind the fence before these babies started to really run! Some of the more experienced participants had brought genuine world speed record cars, and I was amazed to see them get near 200 actual mph on the digital readout! They got LOUD and BLURRED as they flew around the center pivot of the track. Unbelievable.
Of course, my new 'friend' John was trying to talk me into becoming a member of their fraternity. I assured him that I had more than enough slot car projects to take up my time and financial resources. I thanked him just the same, and stayed until the very end of the event. I haven't heard much about it since, and I hope they're still keeping the hobby alive. Maybe a little research will bear some results.
It was a very cool way to spend the day, I must admit! But in the end, I'm just an old school (non-digital) slot car racer at heart. I know I don't stand alone in that regard!

Thanks again for sharing the photo and history -- Happy Holidays to all! -- Ernie

PS - I just watched the video... WOW!!

[DAVE]

Coincidently, this months issue of the Historic Vehicle Association newsletter has an article on
old toys, including an section on tether cars. Go to www,historic vehicle.org to view it.

[BIG E]

Found it !! THIS is the website you've gotta checkout. I'm going back to it right now !!

http://www.amrca.com -- ( American Miniature Car Racing Association )

-- Ernie