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Dragtracks - Smittsburg International Dragway

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Milton-Fox 4/11/14

Smittys transition piece has arrived. One end also now has the new double ended HW orange "button" type connectors test fitted. And duct tape on the bottom and edges to protect the wood floor platform.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

The button depresses along with the interlocking nib/post. (Hoping it doesnt cause to much of a bump or drop off.)

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox


Here are some test bends.

The approximate low and slow set up bend.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Here the left side is on the studio floor and about 3/4's of it is in the air. (Should have included a ruler (that is about 10 inches) Pretty close to the two leg height set up.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Remembering the proposed "off road series". Here is another track application that can be formed. Made a nice hill to climb!

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Going to be a pretty versatile piece of track!

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Milton-Fox 4/11/14

Transfer steel strips - here is Smittys original design thread

http://www.redlinederby.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1738

And the back of design II

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

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Milton-Fox 4/16/14

A 1 - 2 player mode switch added...

Installed another ST/ST toggle switch on the other side of the grandstands, but cant find my # labels!

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Also fixed an intermittent problem with the 1-2 player mode. The wires leading to the circuit board were only being held by a single strand on one connection. And the other loose wires had spread out - so they were closing the circuit. Allowing only the 2 player mode to work. In the photo below, you can see the single strand in the solder point (inside the box beside the J4 connection point) and the loose wires sticking out around the smaller black wire!

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

I gathered all the loose strands and soldered a bead on to them using my smallest tip. I broke away the last wire strand on my first attempt to hold the bead in position, but managed to get it done on the 2nd - without damaging the circuit board!

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Milton-Fox 4/17/14

Lane differences

After two weeks of track testing, balancing lanes and alignment I noticed that one lane was consistently faster than the other. Having balanced everything related to the track, I decided to address the starting gate - as best as I could. Having already adjusted for lean and alignment - I started next on the starting gate posts. I used identical cars and as you can see - one post was definitely higher than the other.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Having been inside the starting box - a few times already - I had noted that the Dragtrack set posts are held up by flat springs. In the picture below they are upside down. One end is attached by a screw to a post and the other end pushes against the starting gate post - holding them up. I tried to manually adjust them, but wasnt able to attain a significant improvement.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

I decided to remove the springs and adjusted them to match and when re-installed to hold the posts as high as they would go.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

This removed .04 hundredths of a second in lane time difference! Right now I am at .01 to .02 consistent time differences between 4 different identical paired cars in both lanes. I dont think I can get any better, but am open to suggestions or recommendations.

Nice work, I also needed to adjust my starting pins

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model40fan 4/18/14

don't remember who suggested a level... but i tossed one in the racebox... after leveling the starter top and upper edge of the transfer the difference seemed to disappear... .001 to .003 seconds, close enough...

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Milton-Fox 4/20/14

Added speed timers this weekend.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

As you can see the design elements of the two pieces create a bow in the track. Even though the lanes are no longer straight - they can be evened up in length and radius. I also wasn't able to get the speedos as close to the end as I would have liked to, but they will work for now.

Diecast Cars, Hot Wheels, Matchbox

Does the higher top speed equal a winner on your track? Or can the slower mph still win?


  • it's the low ET that you want. In the real world I ran some times that were quicker with lower MPH. — Nightstalker
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Milton-Fox 4/20/14

Several times now a slower speed has won in both lanes.

I am running identical cars to eliminate the shorter car - faster posted speed effect during testing.

There is a disclaimer on the box that says the speed is approximate, but they seem to be consistent!

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Milton-Fox 4/22/14

Did some more tests today and ended up switching the speedos between lanes. Decided not to use them to determine race outcomes, but the speeds are consistent and match now to the lane wins and posted times better.

Cant bring myself to "Smitty" the brand new Speedos, but someday may narrow them to avoid the track bows and turn the digital display 90 degrees to display back to the starting line.


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