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Non-magnetic braid
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1/2" MDF Board
- Foot Print 16'-2"x5 feet
4 Tables, 49"x5 feet
(should be easier to take apart and move)
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Build Time about 40 hours
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Lap length about 41 feet
- Longest straight 7 feet
These are pictures that were taken during and after construction. Including comments made during construction.
In the above picture, the cars will be traveling clockwise, but there will be direction switches on the track too. The bottom left corner in the picture is 3.5 inch lane spacing while the curve just before the bridge drops to 3 inch lane spacing.
Once the cars cross the bridge, provided they make it, they will travel counter clockwise. Yes, the lanes narrow crossing the bridge and fan out at the far side of the picture back to 3.5 inch spacing. The curve at the far end of the table is a 15 inch radius. Should make for a very fast corner. I allowed plenty of sliding room on most of the curves and will have railing/mountains as barriers.
The track will be powered by a unit I picked up on ebay. 15 volts/ 25 amps, adjustable. Can cut it back to 5 volts which should be nice for the youngsters.
I decided to go with non-magnetic braid. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and any track I build in the future will be built with braid. It is much more durable and easier to deal with.
Basically completed
We moved to a new home in April of 2004. I built a place specifically for the track, in the basement. Finally got around to putting it back together. Still have some bugs to work out but all in due time I guess. Here are some new pictures of it in it's new home.
The 4 "tables" are built out of 2x4 lumber. They are simply a framework. Then each of the 4 sheets of track are screwed to the framework. So each of the 4 sections of track will stand alone. Then the tables are slid together. Where each lane crosses this seam, excess track braid drops off the edge and then is fastened to the next section of braid under the tables and then the tables are screwed together.
The legs are screwed on so they could be removed for transport or left behind and replaced. The track sheets could even be removed from the framework for transport.