Shasta Raceways

Hello everyone, wanted to share my diecast modular track that has provided me with hours of fun and satisfying results for a first track that also stores small when not in use.

My entire life i have enjoyed many aspects of gravity and flow and adding diecast cars and a childhood passion hit enough check marks that i found myself called to a track build, probably not unlike many here! Was happy to see a dedicated page on the subject, with so many followers!!, so thank you to the creators!  I also enjoy creating games for adults that are different to play in party group type atmospheres and i saw potential in diecast racing for something fun. I will share more about the game part of the track racing and how that is developing, but for now i wanted to share the build and some details of how i power the track lighting and how the entire track packs down into two bags in the outdoor closet when not in use. :-) 

I like to build things light weight and modular and am in no way a carpenter, dabbled in professional woodturning but mostly just enjoy modifying things i use.... to make them better.... a skier, sailor type of brain, fashion follows function works in my world, so that is how I approached the build design. I realize all corners are the same direction and i next attempt will rotate the middle corner. As of now racing is pretty random between similar speed cars, which is admittedly my main goal! One change i made since the original build is the entrance speed needed to be slowed down a bit for my taste so i shortened the starting post section, the results are just what i wanted...to fast not good, realism and lead changes are quite amusing to witness. I used Slanman 3d products at the start and they are works of art, i hope he is still in business. Track connectors and starting gate.. a must. I call it Shasta Raceway (named after my favorite volcano to ski) each corner has a name correlating with the mountain. The bottom carpet level is Bunny Flat!  Lol. 

Some elements i designed that i though might be worth sharing are simple...Like having the start and finish are in the same spot so it feeds the cars right back to you. another is I made the track as thin as possible to accomodsate small spaces and is a much nicer sell to the wife in our small ish midtown apartment. She loves to play too and has her favorite cars. I designed two classes to keep racing even, and have the cars in unmarked boxes. Under the lid is the description of the car, weight, driver, and make of diecast model. So a hint of my game which involves randomly selecting your cars and being able to race them against others through he night. 

Thanks to everyone here for some communal stoke on this cool hobby that has so much potential. Happy to answer any questions on my track and build and appreciate any comments to help make a better track 2 someday!  Cheers TJ