After an almost 30 year absence from HO slots I decided to jump back in about a year ago. I've been reading this forum and getting some good ideas. I have some pictures of the track I put together a few months back. I'm undecided if I want to fully landscape the layout or leave it as is. Here is some info about the track:

Type - Tyco
Table Size 12' X 4' plus the tail portion of the L which is 36" wide X 32" deep
Track length - about 67'
Power - 1 wall wart per lane (would like to get a variable power supply)
Track borders - cork stapled down, covered with tool box liner (from Sears) - edges painted green to blend into table top
Guard rail - Standard Tyco, bottom trimmed off, painted grey, posts brown, placed outside of borders
Pine Trees - Made from parts of a $6 xmas wreath

AFX Magna-tractions were my favorite cars as a kid. I had about 10 that I restored to working order and bought a few Xtractions that are now available. I can't believe the number of cars that I trashed as a kid...if I only had them now. I also enjoy the Tycos and Tomy AFX cars.

I have a question. Does anybody run their Magna-Tractions or Tjets at 12 to 14 volts? Thats what I remember as the power that came with the sets when I was a kid. At 20 volts they seem a lot faster than I remember them as a kid.

Nice track!

The tyco wall warts I have are 18v and 22v I think...I''d have to check...

I have a couple aroura at 18v and some new ones at 22v..

The grail of a good track set up is an adjustable, regulated power supply....

But for a small two laner...I bet the G-jet power supply would be perfect for Pancake motors....it's 12v ....and only around 25 bucks...

I have also read of a couple guys using train transformers for track power....one for each lane...

Wall warts are just plain hard on the cars....the power isnt clean even if you power each lane on it's own...

My previous layout was a tyco I added power for each lane with a wall wart and a lane change between the terminal tracks and another on the opposite side of the track....

The power is ok for stock AFX and tycos....but the higher end racers get real hot real quick...

Learned my lesson when I fried a storm armature, com, and brushes... :cool:

I think the Older cars handle much better on tyco track....from what I have read the rails are a hair thicker on the tyco/mattel track.....but you trade off to tomy a deeper slot and better electrical connection...

I'm currently collecting Tomy for my next track....Tomy is better for the Superstock classes we race...

Ah...forgot controllers....if your using the stock tyco ones...I bet they almost feel like an on off switch for the AFX cars....hard to run slower...

This is due to the ohm rating of the controllers...

The higher the ohm...the finer the control curve...

I believe the guys racing T-jets and Magna tractions use 90 ohm or higher controllers....and the tyco stock is 75 I think...ack...I need to look it up...

have you seen greg brauns website yet?

http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/

This is the best site with the most info on the most different cars and tracks in my humble opinion... :thumbsup:

Wow, that's a very cheerful looking layout. Something about it seems to make it very bright and airy feeling. The light surroundings sure help. A skirt around the base would finish the look. Sure, you can run any car at 12-14 volts, no problem. Most of my old MM transformers were higher voltage, like 20 volts, so that's the experience I was used to. Finding inexpensive 12 volt power supplies is very easy compared to finding 18V or 20V ones. The ideal solution is to get a variable power supply so you can lower or raise the voltage to suit your preferences. I've seen groups go all the way down to 8V and as high as 24V.

Again, nice looking track!

I run teh T-jets at 18 to 20 volts (20 for the fray t-jets). For the magna-tractions I found that 15-16 volts runs real nice....

I'm using Parama 45 ohm controllers. I do run some newer Tycos, LifeLike and Tomy cars. From what I read the 45 ohm is a good compromise for the variety of cars.

My wife bought me 2 checked table cloths to use for table borders, I just haven't gotten around to mounting then yet.

Greg Braun's site was the first site I found when I got back into the hobby and started surfing for sites. It is an awesome site.

Here are a couple of more pics.

Here are the pics....

Way Cool setup Tasman, I like how you kept it clean without creating the spaghetti effect.

Looks like flat out fun. Good job! :thumbsup: nd

Good job! Looks like you also cut off the tab from the terminal track. This is something I will do as well, and then connect my power wires to the undertrack metal strips.

Doing this allows you to put two or more terminal tracks side by side if you ever decide to go four lanes.

Joe

I used 2 terminal tracks for power. There is one under the Goodyear tire and the other is on the front straight with the yellow graphics on it. I thought it would be easier to solder to these than to just regular straights. I'm not sure it was. Anyway, I used a Dremel to cut the tab from the side. The cork borders hide my cut job.

Clean looking layout, looks good. Can you tell me what you used or how you made the spectators??? Looks cool!!!. I like the fans!!! Thanks, RLM

I really dont have anything to say but awesome job. Its very clean looking and easy to maintain. Nice work bud!

I found the image on a site while surfing a couple of weeks ago. I used photoshop to do a little customization and then printed it out as 5 seperate sections on my inkjet printer.

I'm sorry, I don't remember the site it came from. The image size is too big to attach in this forum. Email me and I will send the image to you via email.

Nice layout, I waited 27 years to get back into HO. Ain't it great?! mj