Winter Update

There have been some things:

I got more grass and finished off the extension. I really like it, although I think I need to strengthen the extension a little with cross bracing.

It's a bit dark as I haven't put any lights up yet over the extension. I also need to add that sliver of grass on the corner.

I had big plans to buy straights and some more large radius curve pieces so I could get a good track going, but those plans fell through when our money ran out. So I'll have to wait. Meanwhile, I took out a bunch of unused 1/60 tracks and reintroduced them into the layout. It turned out making a good technical section out of the extension. I also added some lighting.

i ended up using all but three track pieces, with 26 curve pieces used in this layout. I tried mixing things up so there was variety through the 1/60 curves. I think I got there.

I still want to do the other extension, but it would be pointless right now as I have no more track. I have the wood and grass, cut and ready to go. I'm turning laps in the high 7's right now, which is a pretty good lap time.

By this time next year I will have everything I need to get this done. I know this. I guarantee it. I'll also have some new cars. I know this. I guarantee it.

The other half of the track. It's mostly for speed, with some 2/30 and 3/30's adding some twisty bits at the beginning of the backstretch.

Meanwhile this track has turned out to be pretty impressive. There are some things I'd change: a larger right side to break up the 180° turn, build a faster technical section using less 1/60's and more large radius curves. I just love them. So much more variety can be had with the addition of a handful of 2/30 and 3/30 curves.

I still like the grass. I had a friend over the other day and we had a pretty good time with it in its current state. The grass helped make for clean racing and was a nice landing area for offs.

I figure I'm a long ways away from deciding on a permanent layout. Since changing out my last long--term layout, I've changed now dozens of times. I'm still going for fast sections, technical sections, big sweepers, that sort of thing. Just having a 20'x10' space to fill is a little daunting. Never thought I'd have to say I had too much space.

Be that as it may, i probably won't be satisfied until I've done the other extension and have made a complete circuit with the track pieces of my choice.

Rebuilding this section into a more technical one was surprisingly easy and fits great as an alternative to another two straightaways. 

I think it's pretty easy to make a track that's all straightaways, with turns that are more for utility's sake than for any kind of racing challenge. If I made a giant L-shaped track with two 180°s and two 90°s, that would get boring pretty fast. I like speed as much as the next racer, but there's gotta be a challenge to stay on the track in there as well.

My nephew was over for the holidays, and when he was asking me how he should approach going through this section, I told him to find a comfortable speed without sliding, and then try to hit that speed through the whole section as a start. Once he gets comfortable with that, start with little punches in the small straights, setting up a rhythm. He figured it out and improved his lap time.

Current Layout

Sadly, like every year, it's too cold to spend any length of time in the attic racing, so I have to wait until it warms up a bit. We're at freezing temps now, so I would rather not stand in a refrigerator. But this track is up and ready to race. I might make a tweak or two to it, but I plan on it being the next race in my season.

The cars are lubed, tuned and ready to go. I'm going to throw in a curve to make the next race interesting. Not going to say what that is yet.