Michael Nyberg

Attached are a few pictures of my 6x9 race track. It took months for me to get to this stage with perhaps the new rollup garage door being the primary renovation required to fit the track! Makes the cost of the track and cars pale by comparison! By the way, I have a 1/4 inch clearance between the garage door latch as it goes up and down and the rear of the table - we measured twice and got it right!

This was my first set up as we were anxious to race after all day of building the table to size! The surface is a grey felt from Home Depot. I plan to follow the F1 layout as seen in the R&C Slot Cars book but after looking at all of your current Readers Roads, I am thinking that some elevation along the back wall my make it possible to add much more track length. I will have to use a tight R1 turn to make it work I think. Additional power, different controllers, etc. The list goes on. But for now, I can race! Oh, it sure is nice to have such "worries." :)

Well, thanks to you and your great reviews/website, I now have an excellent place to race with some great cars! Oh, I do plan on changing the posters to more appropriate car movie posters or photos of racers, etc.

Cheers,
Michael Nyberg

Nice, clean looking layout if you ask me. You don't need a large layout to enjoy our great hobby as you can see, and I look forward in seeing your layout progress.

Thanks Mike for sharing! - Harry

UPDATE!

It's midnight and I still have not finished my track. I have squeezed in almost 40 feet of track with some nice curves and speedier areas. The tight hairpin will be replaced with the chicane hairpin once the hobby store gets in their next shipment of track.

Notice the control boxes I am building...features BRAKE ON/OFF; DIRECTION CHANGE; VOLT METER; LANE POWER MASTER SWITCH; P/S FUSE; 1/8th JACK; and COOL GIANT RED LIGHT. Personally, I like the totally old-school look the boxes took on.

As you may notice, the sport power is gone (with white tape still on the track to help remind me how to wire it all).  The new Cobras are safely on display in the far corner with a Porsche and the second speaker for driver sounds/tunes. The laptop is on top of the filing cabinet with the mouse in the middle of the track area. I generally tidied up the area with some leftover wainscot, a mirror, and managed to use the rest of the 100 feet of checkered flags (to hide nasty garage uglies). Found the BECK's beer light in the attic! The rollup door adds a certain pit-area charm if you ask me. The area on the wainscot nearest the door may be a good spot for a small chalk board to keep track of best times...maybe shelving for a few slots... So, I still have to complete the driver's controls, then work on some ambient lighting (maybe some dedicated spots/floods under the shelf on the wall).

Oh, and most importantly, I am also building the Christmas tree and photo-transistors for the new lap counter/freeware software that Gene mentioned on the message board the other day (I forget the name at the moment). It will be relayed to turn off/on the track as required. I may also initiate the other spot/flood lighting with the same relay...sooo many ideas, so little time!
 

Looking Good Michael! Thanks for the Update!

Harry