Hi all I am building an HO drag strip and don't know what to use for the power rail. I need something in a continuous roll as I need 90'-95' of the stuff :confused:

Rebar tie wire, you can find it at Home Depot for under $5 for a 100' roll.

I bought a roll when I had thoughts of making some routed long curves but never got around to it, so I'll be ready for my drag strip when I get some of my other things done.

I been thinking about welding wire....not sure of the magnetic properties though...

Hey Tycoarm. How deep and wide should I router the pocket for the rail?

Have not made the attempt yet but the wire is 1/16th as far as how deep I would do a few test cuts first.

I been thinking about welding wire....not sure of the magnetic properties though...

Not sure it would matter since your going for speed and not handling and of course magnetic rail does add drag to a car so non magnetic wire or rail would be a better choice I would think.

If you are going to run fast cars you are probably going to want magnetic rails for traction. Hotter cars will spin the tires a lot without magnets.

You may want to contact Brad Bowman about rail material. He may be able to sell you some (http://www.bradstracks.com/).

The welding wire etc. may have too much downforce for magnet cars.

When we built Tony Vourax' dragstrip out here in Colorado, we used some low magnetic downforce wire for the track rails (the same wire that Brad Bowman uses on his custom routed tracks). However, to overcome the lower magnet downforce problem, we triple railed the first one foot of the drag track, since this is where magnet cars would need the most assistance with traction. Then, the rest of the track is single railed for less magnetic drag on the cars. Finally, the shutdown area (along with no power) is 1/8 inch high iron content, steel rail.

LOL,i like that cement starting pad :thumbsup:
.0625" (1/16) Mig wire seems to have about the same pull as the old Maxtrax rails do.
That's using the old fish scale as a pull test device and a polymer mod (R/O) car,and a piece of early grey Maxtrax for comparision

Too much down force is like too much money, or too much fun...hehehe

I have a roll of 20 gauge steel wire that I have used to repair track sections with...worked ok for small sections...