My First HO Routed Copper Tape Track

[HO RacePro]

Here is what I recommend for repairing copper tape.

Peel back a few inches of tape on either side of the break.

Drill two holes through the track, one at each point where the two ends of the tape are still stuck to the track, and feed the peeled-back tape ends to the underside of the track.

Lay new tape between the two holes, feeding the ends through those two holes.

Connect the tape ends under the track. My preference is to solder them together, but laying one over top of the other and driving staples through them into the underside of the track should work too. Just make sure the bare copper surfaces are in direct contact. The glued surfaces won't make good electrical contact.

For 1/8" wide tape I use a 5/32" drill for the holes. You can easily feed two tapes through one hole.

The cars should go over the joint without issues, but if you want you can fill the holes to make the transition even smoother.

Ed Bianchi

[TXCurbster]

Here is what I recommend for repairing copper tape.

Peel back a few inches of tape on either side of the break.

Drill two holes through the track, one at each point where the two ends of the tape are still stuck to the track, and feed the peeled-back tape ends to the underside of the track.

Lay new tape between the two holes, feeding the ends through those two holes.

Connect the tape ends under the track. My preference is to solder them together, but laying one over top of the other and driving staples through them into the underside of the track should work too. Just make sure the bare copper surfaces are in direct contact. The glued surfaces won't make good electrical contact.

For 1/8" wide tape I use a 5/32" drill for the holes. You can easily feed two tapes through one hole.

The cars should go over the joint without issues, but if you want you can fill the holes to make the transition even smoother.

Ed Bianchi

Thank You Ed.

This is a bit more work but it sounds like the best fix.

I really like the copper tape. Especially with the Slide-Guide. They make the Tyco and Life-Like cars so much fun. The 53 Buick metal body is tip top fun. The extra weight sure makes a huge difference.
The skinny tire T-Jets are still my favorite even though they are more challenging to drive.

[TXCurbster]

Planning my next track. A Martinsville type. Would 30 ft. straightaways be too long?

[RichD]

Do you plan on holding formal races on the track? With copper tape and no magnetic downforce there is a limit to how much power you can put down. With very long straights a car with a lot of power would work better than it would on a shorter track. If a track is very long the cars tend to get separated and the passing situations that make oval track racing a lot of fun happen less frequently. My own experience has been that oval tracks can quickly get to be boring if you run on them by yourself.

[HO RacePro]

I'd caution you about building a huge track.

A few years ago I built a road course for a customer that was 4 x 20 feet. The last time I talked to him he admitted that he probably would have been happier with a smaller track.

Why so? I suspect it is the same reason a visit to a large-scale racing center can be frustrating. It is a LONG walk around to put a car back on the track. After a few offs you can start to wonder if you're having fun.

It gets worse when the platform is too wide to reach to portions of the track.

Worse still if you have an overpass (flyover) that is difficult to reach under.

A 4 x 8 foot track can be just as much fun, and just as challenging as a much larger track. And it can make for much more competitive racing since handling and driving are much bigger factors than top speed. The fastest car won't always be the winner.

The most popular track in our HOCOC racing schedule is a 4 x 10 foot low-banked oval that I built, owned by Gerry Cullan. The racing is intense, and no one complains that the track is too small.

Tom Bowman owns one of my 4 x 8 foot road courses, which has also proved to be popular, despite its modest size...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX1bgIY1DNM

If you have basement space begging to be used, might I suggest that you build two or more tracks? Nothing like variety!

Ed Bianchi

[gmcullan]

Hi Ed, a minor point of correction. My Wife, Diane, owns that track along with the first banked oval that she bought from you. She also owns the 1/32nd scale track on the flip-side of the 4 x 10 foot oval. The only track that I actually own is the Banzai BuckTrax.

She also owns a 4 x 16 foot track that is currently in storage. To the best of our knowledge, that track was the second continuous rail track built in the U.S. We though it was the first one, but a gentleman from down south has documentation proving that his continuous rail track was first.

[RichD]

Here is gmcullan's Bianchi oval, we have had some epic races on that track!



Here is a longer Bianchi track that I raced on years ago, it is about as long as I would recommend.

[TXCurbster]

Do you plan on holding formal races on the track? With copper tape and no magnetic downforce there is a limit to how much power you can put down. With very long straights a car with a lot of power would work better than it would on a shorter track. If a track is very long the cars tend to get separated and the passing situations that make oval track racing a lot of fun happen less frequently. My own experience has been that oval tracks can quickly get to be boring if you run on them by yourself.

No plans for formal racing or magnetic down-force.

Story time:
My wheelchair bound, Australian friend I ran slot cars with in the 70's was a huge influence on me. He never used magnetic down-force cars and when I would run an AFX Magnatraction car he would scold me like the French soldiers in The Holey Grail and call me a sissy pooftah. When the G-Plus came out I brought on over to race and he said it was a ridiculous cartoon car for a no talent mug. I have a lot of respect for Steve so I put away the magnetic down-force cars. I came to find, he was right. To me the T-Jets are more realistic and fun to drive even though they are slower.

Although the G Plus and Magatraction was much faster than our T jets, they was less fun. A term he (Steve) used for the T-Jet was "True to form". That stuck with me and that is why I like gravity racing.

---------------------------

Thanks Rich, I am rethinking the Martinsville oval. I do want one long straight though.
I have a few good job interviews lined up so I hope i can get back to work and start up on my projects again.

Even the road course gets old running solo. I sometimes run one car on a set constant voltage just slow enough not to crash then chase it down. It;'s funny how many times I get beat by that Horse Track Rabbit car.

[HO RacePro]

When your road course gets boring, run it backwards! Whole new track!

Ed Bianchi

[oddrods]

The last race at my place we flipped a coin for the direction before the race! All my lanes have a toggle switch for lane direction. It also has a toggle for brakes that never gets used. People just disconnect when they don't want them and my Medanic controller has a switch for brakes.

[RichD]

Ask gmcullan about lane direction switches!

[TXCurbster]

Piece of cake. I use two HO train transformers. Just turn the knob to the Left from TDC.

[TXCurbster]

Made some changes to the inner track section. (this is the last change).
I used the router & compass and made a larger sweeping corner and straightened out some other sections. This track has never been more fun. The track now has a bigger parking lot too.







The "late corner" section just Left of the horses is awesome. The slight "juke" to the Right has saved me from spinning out many times. It makes this one corner unique and is one experiment I am going to keep.

[MSwaterlogged]

Looks good. Curious - any issues with head on collisions where the two back lanes seem to be real close?

Duh, just realized it is the same lane!

[TXCurbster]

There are some side-by-side squeeze sections though.