Home Track Plans
By Ye Olde Editor

There appears to be a growing interest in having a 1/32 or 1/24 slot track at home.
This is probably due to the explosion of the great looking cars that are being produced
overseas by MRRC, Fly, Scalextric, and others. This is great news for the Vintage slot
enthusiast, not only because some of the releases are vintage machines, but also because
it is going to increase the supply of parts available which can be used to keep the old stuff
running. Not to mention the fact that it will greatly increase the chances of finding someone
to race with!!!!!

What type of home track is best, is an age-old and endless argument. Plastic vs routed,
braid vs tape, or even what brand of plastic - you name it and you'll find someone arguing
vigorously for and against it. While it is a very emotional issue for many people -
the truth is that it depends on what is right for each individual!

One of the advantages of plastic track is the ability to change the layout easily.
But laying out a track takes a lot of trial and error to make everything line up.
On the other hand, a routed track required to to make a final decision up front,
and then live with what you choose (Yes, I'm aware of the "switch" concept as
used by MESAC and others, but that had it's own set of problems).

Which ever way you want to go, you still need to have an idea in mind as to what you want
your layout to be. In this respect, "these ARE the good old days" because of track layout
software that you can run at home, that makes trying different layouts a breeze!

When I asked the 1/32 Slots e-mail community for recommendations, most said "TRACKER 2000",
which has been around the longest. I tried the limited demo of this program - it lets you create
or view layouts with no more than 15 pieces of track, which means that you can't really do anything
except get a bit of an idea of how the layout tools work.

I got another recommendation for "S-PLAN", written by A.J. Sykes, out of the UK.,
which has a free demo which allows you to view complete layouts. I downloaded this,
and liked the viewing capabilities. I contacted AJ, and to make a long story short,
I've since acquired a full version of the program. It is GREAT!

If you've ever put together a fair sized layout with plastic track, you know that to make
the final connection, you have to move both ends to get them to line up, and that if you
move them too far, you either pop things apart elsewhere, or twist the track so it isn't flat
anymore. A really nice feature of S-PLAN is the "auto-complete" feature, which puts the
ends together IF and only if you are "close enough" !!! In addition, these track layout
programs calculate the lap length for each lane, so you can place crossovers to minimize
the difference. Also they give you a list of sections required.

What started my interest in track layout software was that I've recently been able to start
reclaiming the basement after a 5 or 6 year "interruption", and that I wanted something
different than the routed oval track that I previously used.

So I went back through old magazines and literature to find some tracks that you might not
have thought about or run on in a long time, and tried to recreate them for a home layout.

The layouts shown here are jpg format, but do yourself a favor, and download the free demo
from www.s-plan.co.uk , so that you can get the extra information, and manipulate them more easily.
The plans shown here are based on Carrera 1/24 track - which is similar to Strombecker / Revell / Monogram.
I will be helping AJ add these track systems to the program in the near future.
You will note that in the background of each layout you can see a faint grid. These represent 4 ft x 4 ft
squares, but S-Plan allows you to draw these at any size. For the most part, I've chosen to adjust the
layouts to fit an 8ft x 16 ft area, which just happens to be the largest "convenient" area at our house.
Adjust things as you see fit. Some layouts are different sizes, almost out of necessity,
based on the original design.

If you are an Old Fast Auto Racing Technician like me, and ever raced at a commercial track in the 60's,
then chances are 50-50 that you raced on one of the American Raceways tracks. I dug out some of the
early dealer literature, which showed the first 6 or 8 track designs, and recreated them in S-Plan.
Now, my memory isn't what it never used to be anymore, so I may have screwed up the color designations,
but I'm SURE that I'll get some corrections if I'm wrong!

The most popular of all was the Imperial 150, better known as the "Red" track, from the red formica
that covered the sides of the track sections. 150ft lap length, 40 or so ft main straightaway, with a
whopping 60 degree bank at the end of it.

This "Red" design was fun to drive, but not without its problems. The main straight was perhaps
intended to be flat, but it was not, with undulations that could bounce your car out of one lane
and into the next. More often than not, this would result in your car launching over the bank at full speed -
and if you were REALLY lucky, there would be a cinder block wall 3 feet away that would stop your car for you!!!!!!!!

Lane lengths were theoretically equal, but the inner & outer of the 10 lanes were probably at a disadvantage.

This design has evolved into the famous "Blue King" that is everywhere today.
The bank is flattened out, and the straightaway doesn't have any dips. Smooth as glass, but no character at all!
Just one of my pet peeves, but I won't pursue that at the moment….

The largest track made by American Raceways was the Soverign 220, aka "Purple".
Most of us probably have never seen one - I was told at one time that there were only 4 made!
It's claim to fame was that at 220 feet, it was a 1/24 scale mile.
Here's the Purple layout:

Sort of a shorter version of the Red was the Orange, which found a home in shops with less room:

I ran on these in a few places, and felt they were decent, although I don't think the ones
I ran on had the "wiggles" coming out of the donut.

Another track that was frequently found was the "Black":

On the original, it was all flat, and there were some nasty "esses" leading to the donut,
which were quite difficult to negotiate. As a consequence, much time was wasted walking
around to get your car, which detracted from my enjoyment of this layout.

Another common layout was the "Yellow":

Again, there were some of those came nasty esses along one straight, which I wasn't real fond of!

There was one more of the original layouts - a simple figure-8, called the Queen 66. I've never
seen one, or heard anyone talk about it, and have no idea what "color" it was.
I figure you won't need a diagram to show you how to make it….

The American Raceways tracks were made in sections that could be arranged in many different ways.
Here's a layout, which was shown in one of their ads in MC&T, but I have no idea if it was a later
standard arrangement or not:

If anyone knows anything about this setup, please let me know….

But even more interesting to me are the classic 1:1 scale US race tracks.
Over the years, some have disappeared, or changed, but the nice thing about
a home track is that you can make any design you want!

Closest to home for us is Watkins Glen - we first went there in 1969 for the Can-Am.
The track has changed several times since then, but I actually like this current "long"
configuration course (not the shortened NASCAR layout) the best.

Watkins Glen, NY
USRRC 1963-68
Can-Am 1969-74, Trans-Am 1968-1975

One of the things that you don't see in any of these plans, is the elevation change.
At the Glen, there is a 110 foot rise from the bottom of the esses to the backstretch,
which is flat. This is about 3.5 feet in 1/32 scale. Obviously, making this kind of elevation
change is much easier with a scratch built track. To a limited extent, it could be done with
plastic track sections, although the elevation change would have to be done gradually to
avoid joint problems between sections.

A simple approach to approximate this would be to tilt the table(s) that the track is on.
I'll probably try this approach once I get a track running again.

Historically, my favorite track is probably Riverside. It was the first road course that I ever saw,
courtesy of Hot Rod Magazine's coverage of the NASCAR season opener, in January of each year.
Again, there were many changes from it's opening in 1958 (?) to it's demise in 1988, but I kind of
like this arrangement the best:

Riverside, California
USRRC 1964-1968
Can-Am 1966-73, Trans-Am 1966-71
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Another full scale course that was significant in the Slot scene, was Paramount Ranch.
While not a major full scale track, it was one of the earliest West Coast road courses,
and was used for several "B" movie settings. However, Robert Schleichler immortalized it
by recreating it in a 12 part "how-to-build" article in Car Model Magazine.
In the 80's, Rich Kaczynski built a stunning copy of it, which as far as I know, is still in existence.

Paramount Ranch
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The site of the annual Can-Am Reunion these days is Road America.

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (now Road America)
USRRC 1964-1968
Can-Am 1967-68,70-74
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Another of the eastern tracks: Lime Rock

Lime Rock, Connecticut
Trans-Am 1967-74
**************
Not a US track, but not too far from here is Mosport. My buddy, Corvette Phil,
just returned from the American LeMans Series race there, and was raving about the facility.
You may have seen the race on NBC…

Mosport, Ontario, Canada
Can-Am 1966-74

A Western Track:

Laguna Seca
USRRC 1963-1968
Can-Am 1966-1973
********************

Can-Am 1969-71, Trans-Am 1968-1971
St Jovite, Quebec Canada (Mont Tremblant)
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USRRC 1965-68
Can-Am 1966-69, Trans-Am 1968-70
Bridgehampton, Long Island, NY
******************************

Can-Am 1970-72, Trans-Am 1969-1975
Donnybrooke, Minnesota (Now Brainard)
***********************************

Trans-Am 1969
Sears Point, California
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USRRC 1963-1968
Can-Am 1969-74, Trans-Am 1967-72
Mid-Ohio
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Can-Am 1970-74, Trans-Am 1973
Road Atlanta, Georgia
******************************************
There are a number of other tracks that figured into the History
of North American Auto Racing.
If anyone has the layout of Edmonton, Stardust (Las Vegas), Kent,
Continental Divide, Pensacola, Greenwood(US), and Meadowdale,
we could complete the list of tracks that made up the USRRC and Can-Am.

Get yourself S-Plan, and have fun with all of these tracks.
Modify them to fit your available space.
If you’ve built any of these up, send us a picture of your layout!

Download these tracks in a ZIP file as JPG files (373K)

Download these tracks in a ZIP file as S-Plan TRK files (14K)

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