The Construction
TRACK DESIGN
Purchased old track from S.Ryder for inspection and pieces either discarded or cleaned up for use on layout. I then located, bid for and obtained from Ebay a second hand digital Scalextric set with cars, controllers, new track, lane changers etc. Many trial assemblies were done on floor to get an optimum layout using old and new track in space available. Settled on a ‘U’ shape to allow all track to be reached from the central ‘well’
BASE BOARDS
Base boards allow track to be both fixed down and lifted to a convenient height for racing/working on it.
Three boards bolt together with legs on double castors to aid easy movement and eventual transport/sale.
As planning on multiple track levels, used ply strips (8x100mm) in an open frame with 3.5mm ply across top. Track then laid out, track bed jig-sawed and ply lifted/dropped and supported as needed - this gave nice smooth vertical curves and transitions.
Finally, the track was fixed to the ply using pins and nails.
ELECTRICS
Wires were soldered to underside of all 110 track pieces before fixing for reliable track power/continuity. Extra car sensors were bought to detect pit lane entry and exit.
USB connections & jackplugs used at baseboard joints to connect sections together.
An old laptop running 'Vista' was resurrected to run the purpose built 'SSDC' software bought online to manage, record and display races.
Finally an old monitor was bought from a charity shop to display race results from the laptop.
LIGHTING
After the initial construction was complete and sessions held, I decided to add lighting to the layout - this used a separate 12v power supply to street lights and structure lights. Structure lights use LED strips run under bridges, tunnels, inside buildings etc and were wired back to off switches on edge of layout. Similarly street lights use 12v LED number plate LED bulbs, mounted on lamp-posts constructed from old coffee stirrers and paper straws. Lamp-posts are located around the 'circuit' part of the layout, leaving the 'alpine' section dark.
Six of the cars used on the layout now have head and tail lights fitted using super bright LED bulbs - these stay on permanently (and at constant brightness) whilst the car is on the track (unlike the old scalextric car lights where their brightness varied with throttle applied) The car headlights are very powerful and can be seen 'sweeping' around the bends on the layout during the night races that I run as part of the qualifying heats.
