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Rebirth Of Mt Perrorama


Perro

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It has only taken me 3 years to get myself organised and actually build a new track but things are finally taking shape. When I was in Brisbane the old Mt Perrorama was a 4 lane Ninco sitting on a base table 7.2m x 4.0 m with a running length of 45m. I loved that track I really did. Alas after 7 years of being operational we carried on that great Aussie tradition of moving every 7 years or so and moved up to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. Good news, bad news story. Good news being that Caloundra is a nice family town near the beach. Bad news the new room wasn't big enough to accommodate the track so my enthusiasm waned. In the mean time board track racing and driving had got it's hooks into me so out went the Ninco long track. I have been driving slotties for many years now and I have my own ideas on what is good and what I like about a layout so with the help of a local mate and several beers I drew a track on paper using 4 pencils sticky taped together to represent each lane and away we went. Well call it fate or just tin arse luck what you seen in the pics below is 90% of the original design from the very 1st draft. Praise be to the elixir of inspiration, Carlton Middies.

 

I then asked good friend Paul (paulthetexan) if he could put what I had drawn on paper onto CAD for me with the intention of having the track CNC routed. Well Paul managed to replicate my scratchings onto a disc using the CAD program and I delivered the disc to a local workshop. A few hiccups sprung up. I was told they could route 3.6m sheets of 12mm MDF. Nope. Only 2.4m sheet sizes so I ended up with a lot more joins than I had hoped for. During the transfer onto CAD we discussed elevations and decided that one corner in particular would be better if it was positioned on a flyover or bridge rather than at the entrance to a tunnel. A sound argument and on paper it looked fine. That decision came back to bite me big time but more on that later. After several months of delays with the CNC people the track was completed. One thing they did do was to make a miniature mock up of the track out of paper so they could understand the relationship of each board relative to the ones around it. I must admit I was advised before hand to do that myself by some mates but I was too slack to do anything about it. But thanks to the guys in the workshop it was done anyway for their own use and subsequently passed onto me. It proved to be invaluable during the assembly process. For those contemplating building their own track I will try to keep you up to date on costings, the cost and supply of 12mm MDF and routing it cost me $585.00, a bargain if you ask me. There were 14 sheets all up which included 4 half sheets.

 

I had to trim the original base table down from it's 4.0m width down to 3.6m to allow it to fit more reasonably into the smaller room. I don't really think that 400mm will be really missed but access around the table is now good.

 

So off I set and began to lay sheets of track. I started with the low sheets that were flat on the table and had 9 sheets screwed down when it was time to construct the fly over bridge I mentioned earlier. It was a realisation that my design was flawed. The main feature with the track is it's large radius curved straight. I did not want a traditional straight line straight so I went with what you see in the photos. A bending straight with a radius large enough to allow cars to go flat out (I hope). Trouble was the cross track (flyover bridge) was not perpendicular to the main straight and therefore covered far too much of the track below. Combined with the second flyover, I was only able to see the cars on the lower section for about 2.0m of the 7.2m straight. Decision time. Leave it alone and keep going or change it now. Laziness said leave it. everything else screamed out to rip it all up and change it. I have to live with this for a long time so up it came. With the help of several good friends we cut the track along the fence seams I had routed into the track to allow 3mm MDF fencing to to pushed into the slot negating the need for screws, nails etc. I had to use those seams to allow the track to be split or separated on any given sheet to reconfigure for the new elevation changes. And I am so glad I did. What it gave me was the original track design that I knew was just so right in the first place and to show off that curved straight.

 

The track being less complicated than the original Ninco track is shorter in length but the shorter length then allowed me to fit 5 lanes in rather than the 4. The spacing is 90mm between lanes (Ninco spacing) which allows me to be able to run 1/32, Plafit Mini Z 1/27 scale and Carrera 1/24 cars. All of which ran very well on the old track. I could have gone wider to allow the 1/24 Plafits etc to run but I feel the 1/32 cars look lost on the track with spacing wide enough for the bigger cars to run. Running length is 30.0m.

 

Here are the progress pics so far. The slots have just been primer/sealed.

 

IMG_3573-1.jpg

 

IMG_3600.jpg

 

IMG_3601.jpg

 

IMG_3602.jpg

 

IMG_3605.jpg

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That's huge!

Do you think the sight lines under that long (sort of) straight will be a drama?

 

Keep us updated, a 5 laner... would be great to have the room for one of those!

 

Good job Perro!!

 

Cheers,

Dick

Cheers,

Dick

 

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Obviously you folks never believed the "Size doesn't matter" plaintives.

 

That's gonna be a ripper when finished. Pic2 looks a little like a spaghetti bowl.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Great to see that Mt Perrorama will soon be back in action! :nice:

 

I only had the pleasure of running on the original Mt Perrorama once but it is still the largest and most impressive slot track I have ever seen.

 

That large radius straight looks awesome raised about the track, well worth the extra work I'll wager once the track is finished.

 

Keep the pics coming, another fantastic Queensland track!

 

EDIT: Perro, with the size of this track do you still have room for that 'wall' of Fly slot cars you used to have next to the old track?

Edited by manic35
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That's huge!

Do you think the sight lines under that long (sort of) straight will be a drama?

 

Keep us updated, a 5 laner... would be great to have the room for one of those!

 

Good job Perro!!

 

Cheers,

Dick

Dick the actual track lost under the overpass is quite minimal now from the driver stations. The view from the shots taken is kind of more harsh on what is hidden underneath than what it is from the drivers lines of sight. It was a concern but things turned out ok in the end. Thanks also for the kind words. Encouragement from yourself and others on the forum go a long way. It goes without saying too, once we are up and running, the invitation is open to Auslot members to drop in when holidaying up here on the Sunshine Coast.

 

Perro

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Great to see that Mt Perrorama will soon be back in action! :nice:

 

I only had the pleasure of running on the original Mt Perrorama once but it is still the largest and most impressive slot track I have ever seen.

 

That large radius straight looks awesome raised about the track, well worth the extra work I'll wager once the track is finished.

 

Keep the pics coming, another fantastic Queensland track!

 

EDIT: Perro, with the size of this track do you still have room for that 'wall' of Fly slot cars you used to have next to the old track?

 

Ah Manic thanks for that. If I can get the thing looking half as good as you have made your track I will be most happy. Alas the "wall". Like the Berlin wall, it too had to come down but never fear, a new wall is on the drawing board only bigger to accommodate a few more cars since you saw it last.

 

Thanks to to Embs, Rob, Dave, gzminiz and imugford for the words of encouragement. It's great to receive praise from the established guys on the forum.

 

Perro

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It looks fast as well Perro,

 

Can't wait to run on it.

 

Are we going to have an owners choice of Racer cars to start it off ???

 

Cheers

Kev.

Excellent choice Kev but I think it may be a race of 2 cars only if I chose those. But the Racers will get plenty of track time when I get it finished. I think it will be fast too mate. although it has plenty of bends in it I think they all flow gradually into one and other and without those annoying jinks that upset the cars just as they are getting up a head of steam.

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Great looking track, Perro, lots more ideas for my next track, might have to investigate getting it CNC routed now - looks like the way to go especially if I can find someone around here that will route the track for me for a similar price to what you found. I was thinking the cost would be more like that + the cost of the MDF.

 

Looks like you are going with braid, is that right? What do you plan to paint the track surface with?

 

cheers

DM

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Hello Perro.

 

I have been thinking of you lately and what you were up to with tracks etc.

 

New track is looking excellent and typical Perro scale. Robyn must be pleased. :haha:

 

Martini

 

Lazareth?

 

 

BTW - very interesting and well built track Perro, looking forward to more development pics :)

I can't believe that I wanted to grow up

 

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A quick build rally track

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hello Perro.

 

I have been thinking of you lately and what you were up to with tracks etc.

 

New track is looking excellent and typical Perro scale. Robyn must be pleased. :o

 

Martini

Hey Martin you know Robyn she just loves it when I build a track. Apparently having a slot car track in the house taking up an entire room is all she ever dreamed for and in her opinion the only thing better is when I buy more slot cars. We have got to catch up real soon fella. Maybe a good catalyst to make that happen will be when the track is up and running.

 

Catch ya soon.

 

Perro

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WOW!That is abosolute art,cant wait to see the finished product!Which direction will it run?

Matt as you look along the main straight towards the window the cars will run down to the window but the track has been designed to run in reverse direction as well and switching will be fitted to allow that to happen. All things going well, paint will be applied today!

 

Perro

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  • 2 months later...

Hows things going Perro?? Please excuse my ignorance as I'm new to the slot scene, but did you say you were using braid? If so do you rout a shoulder beside the slot so the braid sits flush with the track surface?

Cheers,

Foggy

SCX Digital.............The way to go!!

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