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The Lost Tracks...


axman

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Cool to see the Annerley track , Looks better in the photo than I remember. I remember a mate and myself riding from Inala into Annerley on our push bikes on Saturday mornings to hang out at the hobby shop and run hire cars. We where 12 years old in 1978, our parents had no idea where we were. I shiver at the amount of times we almost got run over riding along ipswich road . Without fail every time we got back home I was asleep by 6:00pm after all day on the bicycle. But sure enough next Saturday off we'd go again.

Edited by paulthetexan
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that newcastle track looks exactly like the track that Plucka had at Ingleburn Model Car Raceway.

 

basically looks like the mirror image of a track that Peter Van Horsen sold to 2 ohm raceway in perth about 11 years ago

i hope all of your racing is enjoyed

slot on!

:)

 

www.slotcaraustralia.com

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Thanks Guys, Yep.. Annerley had a nice "flow" to it. Would probably still been there if the developers had'nt come along and knocked down the building.

I remember giving some guy a lift to Brisbane from Toowoomba and he was a bit vague about where he wanted to be dropped off on Ipswich road. Finally he got me to stop right outside the Annerley track. Oh.. I said, you race slotcars.. Naa.. I'm going to the massage parlour across the road!

Edited by axman
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Here's a track for the Newcastle guys... like a lot of these tracks went into an amusement centre in the 90's.. where is it now?NhYJPwZ.jpg

Hi Kim

This track that was at Newcastle is the Ingleburn track that was run by Gary Calleja for years & sold to Plucka.

The top straight was lengthened by 2.4 mtrs as well as the straight going up the hill.

With that extension in place the left hander coming onto the drivers station was hidden & Gary used to park there & wait for me comeing full bang on the inside,coulden't work out why my car crashed as it was such an easy corner that you could do flat & then it twigged when Gary coulden't contain his laughter & we still get a good laugh about it to this day.

I think Plucka has got the track in storage.

Cheers Jimmy :D

To finsh first,first you gotta finish

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I started racing commercial style slot cars at Annerley in about 1981. I recall the Sunstate Slot Car Club. Was owned then by Karl and Graham I think. Wompys and some wild sedans on old brass chassis (plumbers?). I recall a few cars going off the bank and out the door.

 

Pete

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Richo

Nomad Raceway

 

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QFLyJZQ.jpgZPnvN9c.jpg

Grundy's track - Gold Coast - sister to the Newcastle track.

Jimmy - Wow.. did'nt know the Newcastle track "passed on" to become the Ingleburn track. Glad to see it went to real racers. Newcastle actually had a sister track I installed and ran at Grundy's on the Gold Coast. It was a fun track to drive, was fantastic for track time with the tourists but still good for the locals with club racing. On club nights the atmosphere was great as the track was located next to the LICENSED entertainment area so the girls also came along for a good night out. One thing I found out at Grundy's is I definately drive a slot car faster (but crash a lot harder and more often) with alcohol.

Edited by axman
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Thinking of 'Lost' Tracks,..I remember running in a Flexi-car Enduro with GaryJ Many years ago on one of Your tracks, at a centre near Lurneah Railway station.

 

It was also the Place that the beautiful old Waitara 10 lane flat track went to, although by that stage it had 'Lost' one Section of Straightaway to allow it to 'fit' in the shop along with Your track.

 

Would be so good if that Old Kevin Thurston track still existed in 'good nick' !!,..it was Sooo Smooth and really would have made a Wonderful Scale and/or Retro track !!

 

As mentiomed previously, by yourself, it was actually 'Modular', probably quite extraordinary for it's day, whereas the Banked track at Waitrara, was built Much cheaper and to a far Lower standard and was In No way Moveable and was built, 'in situ'.

 

:)

Edited by stoo23
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Axman,

 

think about this, a lot of us do a job that is one part of a process. a link in a huge chain. important , but maybe not exciting.

 

Over the last 40 years, you have created objects that people have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy for a lifetime. you (and a few others of course ...Gary J!) have enabled us to escape from our day to day responsibilities, and enjoy the excitment of slot cars and racing and friendship. Your tracks, and i have driven on a few, are a tool for a lifetime of happiness. Dont know if you ever think of how much your creations mean to people.

 

Thanks for that.

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Shed People Mutual Admiration Society

2 times Australian National Champion

1991-Flexicar 1999- Group 12 Sedan

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Well said I say, a great, well built piece of craftsmanship should live on and be enjoyed, I bet those tracks went on and ignited a passion in some people, that would still live on today.

 

That being said, my brother and I had that such an occurrence happen one Christmas morning in the early 80's when our father revealed his wonderful 2 lane creation he built in our garage in Tamworth. Fantastic 30m or so of track length that was purple(?) and green in colour that went on and sparked our love of slots.

 

It lived against the garage wall all year until the 6 weeks of summer holidays started, loved those warm nights racing my old scaley porsche against my brother and his TR7. Great memories.

 

So, to the point of the subject matter, and I know this is a long shot but it does seem like the perfect thread to ask, does anyone know of or heard about a track that was found leaning against the wall of a garage of house that someone bought in Hyman St in Tamworth in the 80's? When we moved up north it had to stay as it was far too big for us to move.

 

Its what inspired my brother and I to go on and build our own garage filling tracks, mine living against my garage wall just as the old man's did for what seems to me to be so long ago.

 

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I returned to racing on the Miniature Raceways track here in Hobart,I liked it better after it was lenghened and moved to Glenorchy. My track sat beside this one for several years,both at Glenorchy and when they were moved back into the city.

 

Edited by kalbfellp
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What I get from this thread is Kim needs to design and build his perfect track. I would be honoured to race on it but i hope it has a dog leg. All good tracks have a dog leg. What i notice with the commercial stuff is how much harder it is to make an 8 lane track challenging. They all seem to be "flowing" ( read easy ) Rather a 4 laner or even a 3 laner that makes you work.

4x national champion 6x national runner up. I come second most often but my girlfriends happy.

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What I get from this thread is Kim needs to design and build his perfect track. I would be honoured to race on it but i hope it has a dog leg. All good tracks have a dog leg. What i notice with the commercial stuff is how much harder it is to make an 8 lane track challenging. They all seem to be "flowing" ( read easy ) Rather a 4 laner or even a 3 laner that makes you work.

 

not everyone can caress the controller to produce magic, like you can mate. you should see a video of you working the controller. its no wonder you like some tricky bits in race tracks. its where you leave the rest behind!!

Shed People Mutual Admiration Society

2 times Australian National Champion

1991-Flexicar 1999- Group 12 Sedan

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Thanks guys for the kind words... There is something special about finding a new track and something sad about having to let one go. They all seem to get a personality that is different for each location, the type of cars raced and the people we meet that become life long friends. so yes, I know what you mean about creating something.. but just never really thought of it that way until you put it in print. Thanks!

On that subject I've just come back from the Scaleauto Eduro at Hornsby and it was so great to see friends that I raced with in 70's, 80's and 90's.. have a beer with.. and race with again!

Back to lost tracks.. imagine walking into somewhere and finding a track that someone left behind many years before.. I've been lucky enough to have a couple of these experiances and its a blowout.

I found one by accident upstairs above a coffee import business in a laneway in the Middle of Melbourne CBD. I dont even know how the conversation started but next thing the coffee guy is walking me up 4 flights of stairs in this old narrow brick building. On the top floor he opens this door and there, like a timewarp is a huge 4 lane slotcar track thats just stopped being loved one day, It looked like every thing stopped straight after a club race. There is a big glass trophy cabinet with old trophy's in it, old slotcars scratchbuilt with train motors, boxes of parts with very early motors like GE and Globe. The track was was unique.. They had soldered 3 pieces of 1/16th copper rod (brazing rod?) side by side all around the track either side of the slot to act as braid. For timing a huge "clock" with a 10th of a second sweep activated by a solenoid every 2nd time the car went over a dead strip. and PMG lap counters that were made from an old telephone switchboard. It had 4 cables with a phone jack (each a different lane colour) so you plug into the correct lap counter to follow the same driver for each lane change. I got a few bits from him.. The "clock" a couple of old magazines and a Slotcar motor with a huge shaft (Versitec?) and never saw the track again. I think it was called the Melbourne Slotcar club, but when I went there it must not have been been active from about 1964 based on the stuff I saw and was able to get from him. Might have been his dad's or employer because is was just a quick look kind of thing... Anyone know more about it?

Edited by axman
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Here's one for the horsepower freaks... The Nundah "pinched" Blue King Noel B helped me run around 1992. We had huge club nights.. 3 basic classes - Super 16D powered Flexi's for the AM's. Wasp powered Flexi's for the pro's and Group 12 parma and champion brass with sports sedan bodies. Rent got too expensive and Wing Cars with goo spoiled it for the Flexi's. Sold it to some guys in North Queensland.. wonder where it is now...

 

7sAj3oo.jpgBZh3FYb.jpg

Edited by axman
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7sAj3oo.jpgHere's one for the horsepower freaks.. the Nundah "pinched" Blue King Track I ran with Noel B in around 1992... BZh3FYb.jpg

Wow Kim talk about a blast from the past... Many many great races / enduros on that track..

I remember our club racing starting at 7 pm on a Thursday night and we were lucky if we were up at the fish chip shop by midnight for a cuppa.

 

Noel

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And here is where my commercial raceway odyssey started... Me and a bunch of mates each week used to go and play Squash... One week our normal squash venue was booked out so we rang around and got a court at Oakleigh. All of us raced Slotcars, Brian Ashmore, David Hassell, and Garry Ward - As you can imagine we were gobsmacked to find this when we arrived at the squash courts. It was all dusty and un-used right next to the reception counter. Actually.. it was a bit used.. when all the slotcar centres were about to close down there was a bit of a litmus indicator. As patronage fell away less and less lanes were run on. This track was almost dead.. only about 3 lanes out of 8 were usable. The following week we came back with our cars, cleaned the track and drove a surprisingly nice track. Whoever had built it had a really good eye for what a slot car needs to get thru turns fast. We got talking to manager that week and he told us he had just sold the Squash centre and the new owner did'nt want the track.. Also some guy called Brian (probably the same guy that drove on 3 lanes) was taking the track out and putting in into a building in Huntingdale. That should have been the end of the story but a few weeks later a Tom Thumb racer called "Ace Elliot" called me to say he was helping some guy put a track together in Huntingdale and it probably was'nt going to happen because the guy had lost interest only a few weeks after the move. A matter of days later Me, Brian and Garry were the proud owners of a very incomplete track, a factory lease, and a tutor with a lot of carpentry skills on how to build/ repair a slotcar track. "Ace Elliot" went on to become a great friend and I'm sure a lot of the Victorian slotcar community still fondly remember him for his generosity, technical skills and humour.

The pic below is how the track will be remembered in its last days by a lot of racers all over Australia. A timeline giveaway is the 3 American Raceway swivel chairs... We had just bought the Royal 95 from a bowling centre and were about to start building Australia first Blue King track with some of the skills we had learnt from "Ace Elliot".

vEPrl4X.jpg

Edited by axman
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Interesting to see how tracks have developed over the years . Older tracks were large with few corners, 6-7 banked corners , whereas modern tracks are smaller running many more flat track road corse style corners . Obviously the type of cars being run has a lot to do with track design of any given time. Most of todays racers wouldn't know what a wing car or even a flexi is like to drive on an open track.

Edited by paulthetexan
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Back to Tasmania again.. this track went into Devonport.. not sure where it ended up. Looks a lot like the track Peter had at Mobile Raceways for a lot of years but Peters looked to have longer straights.

There is also a 2nd track in the pic.. sort of a lazy "8" These pics are from when the track opened in 1990. The guys on the track are Nigel, Prickles and Frog. Now there's a team.

 

 

a8TGQgc.jpg

Edited by axman
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