Readers Roads & Rides
Steven Causey

Does Size Matter?

 I love looking (and Drooling) over the beautiful slot car tracks that we see every day in HRW and other places on the web. But I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t sigh once in a while and wish I had more room in my tiny apartment for a big layout.

As Jimmy Buffett once said “Want What You Have.”

Harry was kind enough to send me a custom–designed Artin Layout for small areas. My Slot Racing life changed the day it arrived. I had been racing on my dining room table on a tiny oval layout affectionately called The “Skid Pad”. What Harry sent me enabled me to really start to enjoy actually driving my Cars!

I now had a track with aprons on the curves and straights, a lap counter and a setup that allowed me to do more than just run around in circles.

Plus, the way it was designed, it would hang on the wall when not in use, so as to not get me in too much trouble with the rest of the family!

I seem to be veering away from the point of my post, that you don’t need a giant setup, or to spend a bunch on money to have an absolute blast with your cars! I grabbed a sheet of “grass”4’x8’, and some Life-Like lichen at Hobby Lobby. Instant scenery, for about 15 bucks!

I can now slide my cars through the esses, I also now have enough straight to let my cars run a little and really enjoy my slot car racing. Because it really comes down to getting the cars out and racing!

Look around the house, and determine where the track will lay and then figure out where to store it. Mine now hangs proudly in my hallway like a wonderful work of Modern Art. But on the back of a door, or under a bed would work just as well. I’m slowly starting to add scenery and buildings, but all you really need is a place to race, a slot car you love, and a little time to have a ball in this hobby!

- Steve