when building a layout race track should i lay the track down first? or do i do the landscaping first? and any one know what kind of track is good to use?

Hi Toypark
Here is what I did. I layed out the track and elevations first, complete with all wiring, power taps, etc, then started the landscaping. This was easiest for me, then I know exactly how much room for scenery (that I am no where near finished with :freak: ), porta potties, concession stands, grandstands, garages, track hospital, tech shed, press tower, the list just keeps growing and growing........ :freak:
For track I used Tomy, simply for the wide selection of pieces both of straight and curves. If you have room, the 18 inch radius curves are a great addition to a layout, especially if you run T-Jets or A/FX - X-Traction style cars. I have also raced on Tyco layouts and couldnt really say it is any better/worse than Tomy. The Tomy Super International or 4 Way Split sets are a great base to build a layout from. Others will chime in on this and you should get a wide group of selections to choose from. One thing you need before any track get put down is the size of the table its going on. That dictates track size, length, number of lanes, etc. Hope this helps.

And now back to our regular scheduled programming.......... :wave:



Larry

Toypark,

I am selling a whole lot of Old A/FX track and it needs a good home, I have enough track to build a huge oval with bank curves on both ends. Over 50 15" straights, half good both ends and half broken one end but I have the repair clips to connect them. That could mean straights over 15 feet long! E-mail me if you are interested, or see my list of track in swap and sell under a whole lotta track.

Hi Toypark
Here is what I did. I layed out the track and elevations first, complete with all wiring, power taps, etc, then started the landscaping. This was easiest for me, then I know exactly how much room for scenery (that I am no where near finished with :freak: ), porta potties, concession stands, grandstands, garages, track hospital, tech shed, press tower, the list just keeps growing and growing........ :freak:
For track I used Tomy, simply for the wide selection of pieces both of straight and curves. If you have room, the 18 inch radius curves are a great addition to a layout, especially if you run T-Jets or A/FX - X-Traction style cars. I have also raced on Tyco layouts and couldnt really say it is any better/worse than Tomy. The Tomy Super International or 4 Way Split sets are a great base to build a layout from. Others will chime in on this and you should get a wide group of selections to choose from. One thing you need before any track get put down is the size of the table its going on. That dictates track size, length, number of lanes, etc. Hope this helps.

And now back to our regular scheduled programming.......... :wave:



Larry
were do i find any of this kind of stuff? porta potties, concession stands, grandstands, garages, track hospital, tech shed, press tower. and is the track hard to wirer? i never wired any thing? what track would you recamend? i have 2 ping pong tables. so this should be enoungh room for i hope a nice size track. just hope this is not going to be a desaster

were do i find any of this kind of stuff? porta potties, concession stands, grandstands, garages, track hospital, tech shed, press tower. and is the track hard to wirer? i never wired any thing? what track would you recamend? i have 2 ping pong tables. so this should be enoungh room for i hope a nice size track. just hope this is not going to be a desaster. i will let you know about the track. thank you. witch is better to start off 2 lanes or 4 lanes and i dont know how to describe it but is it posible to have 2 tacks in one area. is there setch a thing as a slot car track switcher or thats only in trains? it just model trains isint going so well so i am wondring if i should get in to this. i would like to and then i can all so resin slot cars it just i donno any more. thanks all for your tips.

i have all tomy track 2 international sets and a 4 way split. I have a nice 4 lane layout and enough track for another one.

All the buildings I mentioned wer either scratch built, or older buildings bought off "that auction site" by the bay. Track wiring is very straight forward. There is a good description on hoslotcarracing.com on how to wire a track. I have never seen a "switcher" as you want, only in trains is that possible. Only you know how many lanes you want. Once you decide and do the scenery, and then you want to change the track layout, most if not all of your hard work in your scenery is kaput. Not the buildings, but all the landscaping, trees. etc. There is ALOT of work involved if you want a highly detailed layout. And some of those buildings are very hard to find, thus sometimes pricey. Two ping pong tables placed end to end give you an approx. table size of 5 feet by 18 feet making a very large layout and should give you plenty of room to do scenery and landscaping. One thing to keep in mind, from what you are telling us you would like, this is NOT going to be a "one weekend" project start to finish. I have been workin on my tracks scenery for over 2 years now,, a little her and a little there, and its still not finished. My track was up and running (with soldered power taps and driver control panels) in a couple of weekends and a few evenings after I built my table. We were all beginners once, and you are asking the right questions to get an idea of what you want, but only you can decide on the details (how many lanes, how much landscape, etc) and need to have a plan before building a big, permanant layout. Hope this helps.

Larry

Really, before you do anything, buy yourself a set. Get one of the AFX sets. Most reccommend the International 4 lane set, which you can also use to create a huge 2 lane if you want. Do a Google search or an Eb@y search for the set. (in case you were gonna ask where you can get them)

Then set the track up on those 2 big ping pong tables until you get a layout you like to drive on. You only need 4 lanes if you plan to hold races with more than one other person.

Don't worry about making it permanent yet.

Its a process.

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