AFX Speedway.

[downtowndeco]

I've finally got enough of the shop finished so I can get my new HO layout started. This thread will cover the entire layout construction from beginning to end, although it's not going to happen all at once, so you're going to have to be patient at times. : )

When I moved I took my "Little Le Mans" 4 lane layout apart & moved it to my new shop. Well, it sat in a corner of the shop in pieces for a while & when I finally had the new shop ready for a layout I decided that I just didn't want to rehash what I'd already done. Plus there were some things about the old layout that I didn't like & I wanted to change on the new one.

Little Le Mans was a 4 lane layout, and while it seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea at the time, when it came right down to it I found that I rarely had the opportunity to have 4 racers over at once. Most times it was just me & 1 other racer & so while it was nice to be able to switch lanes, the reality is I gave up some things because I had 4 lanes instead of two.

The main thing that bugged me w/the old layout was I had way too many 6" corners on it. While some guys have been able to tinker w/them & the cars to get flawless performance every time for me it just sort of got to be a drag after a while. The problem is, if you want to have a 4 lane layout, you need a lot of real estate if you want to use only 9" corners and up. Also, the smaller radius corners just don't feel right to me w/the fast HO cars.

So I switched to a 2 lane design that had no 6" radius corners. In fact, I used only a couple of 9" radius corners & tried to use as many 12", 15" & 18" corners as possible. I did not use an existing track plan. I messed around w/different track plans on the shop floor & through trial & error I came up w/a design that I liked. In the end I came up w/a free flowing fast track that I think should lead to some good racing.

I started with the benchwork/table for the track. It is comprised of 3 sections that are approximately 6' x 4" that are bolted together. That way if I ever want to move the finished layout it will simple be a matter of unbolting the 3 sections & then reassembling them at the new location. I also added wheels to all of the legs, so I can wheel the layout around in my limited shop space, as I already have a 4" x 16" 1/32 Scale raid layout in it.

At this point the track is only loosely resting on the plywood. In the end it will be fully sceniced, painted etc. I think the layout will end up w/the look of a high tech contemporary F1 street type circuit. I envision many tall buildings w/a lot of mirrored glass. : ) Stay tuned.

Any questions?

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[ourwayband]

Looking good!

Rusty

[BIG E]

I like the track design. With all that space, are you going to go with four lanes, or just stick with the two?
Lookin' good, enjoy it either way... Ernie

[BRP32]

Great looking road course!

I can't wait to see the completion of this track!

Plenty of table top to cover with scenery..... :D

[downtowndeco]

I've started playing w/a little elevation. I don't want to go all hill climb or anything, just a gentle meander up through the infield section. The back and forth 9" curves will both be slightly banked as I will gently twist the 15" straight between them.

Most of the curves will have at least a little banking. For now, I'm just going to play w/the layout for a few more days to make sure I like the elevation, then I'll cut the plywood to make it permanent. Then I will work my way around the track section by section, making sure I have good electrical contact & I'll perfect each joint to smooth things out. I will clip the little connecter nubs off & I plan on using the AFX track clips.

See where the pink controller is lying? I'm thinking about cutting a section of the tabletop to the right of it out there, dropping it down & adding a wharf & some sailboats/yachts.

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[Razoo]

How do you plan on banking the curves? BTW love the layout.

[dreinecke]

No fair! I think this is like the 10th track you've done since I've watched you. Great looking layout and can't wait to see your normal scenic genius come to life on it!

[downtowndeco]

Thanks guys, glad you like what I've got going so far. A couple things;

This was purposly designed as a 2 lane layout for the reasons I described in the first post. Yesterday I had a buddy over & we gave it a test race. It flowed nicely & had lots of great passing. It works exactly the way I had hoped. It has a nice "feel", with no abrupt, sharp corners.

All of the "empty" space will get filled w/scenery. I'm leaning towards a street circuit of some type.

As far as banking my plan is to just use shims & then glue the track in place to hold it's shape. The banking will not be extreme, maybe 5 or 10% or something like that.

Stay tuned!

[vins123]

Hi
nice looking layout, are you familiar with Aurora track? there is S curve track - no 2543- which are really close what you are intend to do... they are molded.
Sylvain

[downtowndeco]

Much of the track that I'm using was recycled from my old Little Le Mans layout. That means it's been painted & much of it has bits of spackle between the joints. Yuck! The first thing I did was to scrape off the spackle so that the pieces would all fit together properly. I also trimmed off the little "nub" that sticks up on the tab using a utility knife so that the joints on this new layout will be smoother.

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Next I buffed the metal connectors clean w/a wire wheel to really get a good connection. Make sure to wear eye protection, as little bits of junk go flying everywhere.

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I then applied a tiny drop of Rail Zip to each metal rail tab to help w/the electrical connectivity.

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I'm using the AFX track clips on the bottom of each section to really make sure the connections are as tight and smooth as possible. These things are worth every penny!

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[Austin]

Man O Man, A lot of work but looking at the end you will have a super layout, One of the best tables I have seen in forever.

[downtowndeco]

Latest progress. First, I drove a car around slowly & listened, joint by joint, for any noticable clicks or ticks where the track joints didn't line up 100% perfectly. Most were pretty good, the place where imperfections would most show up though is on the outside edge of slots on the corners, where the cars would really pick them up because of centrifugal force forcing the cars to the outside edge of the slots. Whenever I found an issue I took the track apart and filed the slot until the two pieces of track lined up perfectly.

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I added 2 track clips to every single joint. Man, do these things grip hard! They hold the track so firmly together that when it was all said & done I had lost any "wiggle room" I had when I first designed the layout. That means when I got to the last joint the last 2 sections didn't match up anymore. : ) I had to play with the track a bit, I adjusted one radius & added a 3" section to make it all work again. You just don't realize how forgiving the track can be when you're designing a layout when able to "fudge" a bunch of the sections of the track by a 1/32nd or so each. The clips eliminated the crutch of being able to tweak it but now that it's all said & done the layout should be bulletproof.

I added some elevation. I made sure to make the grading wide enough to accommodate the future skid border I'll be adding next. It's only 5/8th" of elevation but it does break up the billiard table look a bit.

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Questions?

[downtowndeco]

I unboxed the grandstand, scoring tower complex & ferris wheel & positioned them approximately where I want them to end up. They all need a little clean up & TLC, although all 3 are still in pretty good shape.

The grandstand/scoring tower are going to get a bit of a re-livery to reflect the name of the race track, "AFX Speedway". At a couple times over the years I had offers on the table to buy the grandstand complex, now I'm glad all of the deals fell through, as this was a massive structure to build & I would have hated to have to start from scratch again.

The area where the ferris wheel is standing will be sort of a racetrack "midway", with rides, vendors, sponsors booths etc. I hope to have it, and the rest of the layout lighted to really bring it all to life for night racing.

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[TuscoTodd]

Wow! That is a heck of an update!
All the work put into the joints though will definitely pay dividends in the "smooooooooooth" factor! :D
Looking forward to seeing the next update!

[downtowndeco]

Thanks. While it will never be as smooth as a routed track, what is? Still, I can tell a big difference already & I suspect over the next few weeks a place here or there might get an additional swipe from the file as well. The important thing is the track has a nice "flow" to it, and I tried to break up the usual type of design you might see in a routed track & make it a little more "organic". You know how many of them are, "back forth back forth long straight large radius corner esses short straight back forth back forth etc". For me it was less important to get the maximum amount of track crammed in & more important to get a more realistic looking (and driving) track. JMHO.