Auto World Slot Cars

Mod commercially made slot cars and track. Ninco, 1:32 scale.

A slot car or slotcar is a powered miniature auto or other vehicle that is guided by a groove or slot in the rails on which it runs.^{[one] [2]} A pin or bract extends from the bottom of the car into the slot. Though some slot cars are used to model highway traffic on breathtaking layouts,^[three] the peachy majority are used in the competitive hobby of slot car racing or slot racing.

Description [edit]

Slot cars are usually models of bodily automobiles, though some have bodies purpose-designed for miniature racing. Most enthusiasts use commercially available slot cars (often modified for ameliorate performance), others motorize static models, and some "scratch-build", creating their own mechanisms and bodies from basic parts and materials.

Drivers generally utilise a hand-held controller to regulate a low-voltage electrical motor hidden inside the machine. Traditionally, each car runs on a split up lane with its ain guide-slot (though recently developed digital engineering science can allow cars to share and change lanes). The challenge in racing slot cars comes in taking curves and other obstacles as fast every bit possible without causing the automobile to lose its grip and spin sideways, or to 'deslot', leaving the track birthday.

Some enthusiasts, much as in model railroading, build elaborate tracks, sculpted to have the advent of a real-life racecourse, including miniature buildings, trees and people. Hobbyists whose principal goal is competition often adopt a track unobstructed by scenery.

Model motorcycles, trucks and other vehicles that utilize the guide-slot organisation are also generally included under the loose classification of "slot car."

How it works [edit]

Typical electric circuit of a 1:24 or 1:32 slot car rails.

The diagram at right shows the wiring of a typical i:24 or 1:32 slot car setup. Power for the automobile'south motor is carried by metal strips next to the slot, and is picked upwards by contacts aslope the guide flag (a swiveling bract) under the front of the slot car. The voltage is varied by a resistor in the paw controller. This is a basic circuit, and optional features such equally braking elements or electronic control devices are not shown. Likewise, the car's frame or chassis has been omitted for clarity.

HO slot cars work on a similar principle, just the current is carried past thin metallic rails that projection barely above the track surface and are set farther out from the slot. The machine'south electrical contacts, called "pickup shoes", are more often than not fixed direct to the chassis, and a circular guide pin is oftentimes used instead of a swiveling flag.

Today, in all scales, traction magnets are sometimes used to provide downforce to help hold the car to the track at higher speeds, though some enthusiasts believe magnet-free racing provides greater challenge and enjoyment and allows the back of the car to slide or "migrate" outward for visual realism.

Common slot car scales [edit]

Models of the Ford GT, in one:24, 1:32 and nominal HO scales. The 1960s-era HO model has been widened to accept the mechanism.

There are three common slotcar scales (sizes): 1:24 scale, 1:32 calibration, so-called HO size (1:87 to ane:64 calibration). These are also commonly written every bit i/24, ane/32, 1/87 and 1/64. Usual pronunciation is "ane twenty-fourth", "ane thirty-second", and so on, merely sometimes "1 to twenty-iv", "i to thirty-2".

• 1:24 calibration cars are built and then that one unit of length (such as an inch or millimetre) on the model equals 24 units on the bodily machine. Thus, a model of a Jaguar XK-Due east (185 inches or 4.7 yard overall length) would be 7.7 inches (20 cm) long in i:24 scale. 1:24 cars crave a course and then large as to be impractical for many home enthusiasts, then nigh serious 1:24 racing is washed at commercial or gild tracks.
• ane:32 scale cars are smaller and more suited to dwelling-sized race courses, just they are also widely raced on commercial tracks, in hobby shops or in clubs. This scale is the nearly popular in Europe, and is equivalent to the old #ane guess (or "standard size") of toy trains. A Jaguar XK-East would be nigh v.8 inches (15 cm) in one:32 scale.
• HO-sized cars vary in scale. Considering they were marketed every bit model railroad accessories, the original small slot cars of the early on 1960s very roughly approximated either American and European HO calibration (1:87) or British OO scale (1:76). Equally racing in this size evolved, the cars were enlarged to take more powerful motors, and today they are ofttimes 1:64 or larger in scale; but they all the same run on track of approximately the same width, and are generically referred to every bit HO slot cars. They are normally not accurate calibration models, since the proportions of the tiny bodies must oft be stretched to arrange a standard motor and mechanism. The Due east-Jaguar scales out to two.1 inches (5.3 cm) long in 1:87 and 2.9 inches (7.iv cm) in ane:64). Although at that place is HO racing on commercial and shop-tracks, probably about HO racing occurs on home racetracks.

In addition to the major scales, slot cars have been commercially produced in one:48 scale and 1:43 scale, corresponding to O gauge model trains. 1:48 cars were promoted briefly in the 1960s, and 1:43 slot car sets are by and large marketed today (2007) as children'southward toys. So far, there is little organized competition in one:43, merely the scale is gaining some credence among developed hobbyists for its affordability and moderate space requirements. The E-Jaguar would be 4.3 inches (eleven cm) long in 1:43.

History [edit]

The earliest known commercial slotcars (Lionel Corp., 1912). They appeared on the encompass of the 1913 and 1914 Lionel catalogues.^[4]

The kickoff commercial slot cars were fabricated by Lionel (USA) and appeared in their catalogues from 1912,^[5] drawing power from a toy railroad train rail sunk in a trough or wide slot between the track.^[4] They were surprisingly similar to modernistic slot cars, but independent speed command was available but as an optional actress. Production was discontinued subsequently 1915. Sporadically over the next forty years, several other electrically powered commercial products came and went.^[vi] Although a patent was registered equally far back equally March 1936 for a slot car,^[7] until the late 1950s, nearly all powered toy vehicles were guided past raised track, either at the wheels (railroad-style), or at the lane center, or border.

Past the late 1930s, serious craftsmen/hobbyists were racing relatively large (one:16 to 1:18 scale) model cars, powered by small internal combustion engines,^[8] originally with spark-ignition, after with glow plug engines. For guidance, the cars were clamped to a single center rail, or tethered from the center of a round track, then they were started and let get for timed runs. In that location was no commuter control of either the speed or steering, so "gas automobile" racing was largely a mechanic's hobby.^{[one] [nine]} In the 1940s hobbyists in Uk began to experiment with controllable electric cars using handbuilt motors,^[10] and in the 1950s using the small model train motors that had become available.^[11] In 1954, the Southport Model Engineering Society in the U.K. was challenged by a patent-holder for using rail-guided gas-car exhibitions to raise funds,^[12] and then, every bit a replacement, the members constructed an electric racecourse, a groundbreaking vi-lane layout nearly 60 feet long, for 1:32 track-guided cars, which is widely considered to be the progenitor of electric rails- and slot-racing. In 1955–1956, several clubs in the U.G. and U.S., inspired by the Southport layout,^[13] were also racing electric cars guided by center rails, and soon later on, by slots in the track surface.^[fourteen] The term "slot car" was coined to differentiate these from the earlier "rail cars".^[15] As the member-built social club layouts proliferated, the relative advantages of rail and slot were debated for several years, but the obtrusive appearance of the rails and their blocking of the car'south rear wheels when sliding through corners were powerful disadvantages.^[16] New clubs increasingly chose the slot organization. Past 1963, even the pioneer runway-racing clubs had begun to switch to slots.^[17]

Very early Scalextric slot car models in i:30 calibration, circa 1957. These metal-bodied racers were electrified versions of Scalex clockwork cars, and are among the get-go commercially offered slot cars of the modernistic era. They represent the Maserati 250F (left) and the Ferrari 375 Grand Prix cars.

In 1957, Minimodels (Britain) converted its Scalex 1:30 (later, one:32) clockwork racers to electricity, creating the famous Scalextric line of slot-guided models,^[18] and Victory Industries (UK) introduced the VIP line,^{[19] [20]} both companies somewhen using the new plastic-molding technologies to provide controllable slot racers with accurate bodies in 1:32 scale for the mass marketplace. Both lines included versatile sectional track for the home racer - or the dwelling house motorist; VIP produced sports cars and accessories slanted toward a "model roadways" theme,^[21] while Scalextric more successfully focused on Grand Prix racing.^[22]

As Scalextric became an instant hit, American hobbyists and manufacturers were adapting i:24 car models to slots,^[23] and British-American engineer Derek Brand developed a tiny vibrator motor small enough to power model cars roughly in scale with HO and OO electric trains. In 1959, Playcraft division of Mettoy produced these in the Great britain, and a twelvemonth afterward, Aurora Plastics Corp. released HO vibrator sets with huge success in the USA. The tiny cars fascinated the public, and their cost and infinite requirements were meliorate suited to the average consumer than the larger scales. In only a twelvemonth or 2, Scalextric's 1:32 cars and Aurora's "Model Motoring" HO line had set up off the "slot machine craze" of the 1960s.^[24]

An Aurora "Thunderjet-500" HO chassis and motor, 1963-1971.

The slot car craze was largely a Usa phenomenon,^[25] but, commercially, information technology was a huge 1. In 1963, later a million and a half^[24] had been produced, Aurora replaced the problem-decumbent vibrator cars with an innovative apartment-commutator ("pancake") motor,^[26] also created by Brand, and what is probably the best-selling slot car in history, the Aurora Thunderjet-500 was born. Faller (Germany) produced it for sale in Europe, and competing companies tried in vain to friction match the speed and reliability of Make's design. The Thunderjets and their improved versions, the AFX, sold in the tens of millions,^[27] completely dominating the HO market for most a decade, until challenged by the Tyco cars in the early on 1970s.^[24]

Past the late 1970s the slot car smash was well over, the model train tie-ins and miniature motoring concepts largely forgotten, and the market returned to the more than serious racing hobbyist, with local and national racing organizations evolving to set standards and rules for unlike classes of competition. Technological innovation brought much higher speeds in all scales, with faster motors, ameliorate tires, and traction magnets to concur the cars down in curves, though some of the 1960s enthusiasts thought that slot racing had become too specialized for the casual hobbyist, and fondly remembered the more primitive cars of their youth equally non so fast, but more than fun.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the 1990s, computer design and methods of printing on 3-D objects helped create much more than detailed and authentic models than the simple shapes and rudimentary graphics of the slot car boom. In addition, newly manufactured replicas of Aurora'due south HO slot cars of the 1960s and 1970s appeared on the market and consumers gained the choice of racing either the modern high-tech wondercars or the more basic designs of an earlier time. In 2004, the Digital Control Control (DCC) systems, which had revolutionized model railroading in the 1990s, began to announced in 1:32 slot cars, offering the ability to race multiple cars per lane with more realistic passing.

In 2012, Hong Kong Chinese inventor Mak Fly Kwong introduced the "Dynamic Move Express" slot car organisation. The DMX rail has a series of parallel slots, allowing drivers to cull lanes on the inside, middle or outside of the raceway, passing or blocking other racers. DMXslot cars have a rotating mechanism underneath each machine with four pins that retract and protrude as the driver commands the auto to move left or correct. The car disengages its pin with one lane'southward slot, moves to one side or the other, and reinserts a pin in the new lane's slot.^[28]

Related systems and developments [edit]

Digital track (SCX, 1995). Digital applied science allows cars to alter lanes at crossing points and passing-lane sections.

A number of technological developments have been tried over the years to overcome the traditional slot auto's limitations. Nigh lasted only a few years, and are now merely historical curiosities.

Around 1962, AMT's Turnpike system (USA) used multiple electrical pickups within the slot to allow drivers to command, to a limited extent, the steering of special 1:25 cars.

In the belatedly 1960s the Arnold Minimobil organisation (Deutschland), also marketed as the Matchbox Motorway (UK), used a long hidden coil, powered by track-side motors, to motion die-cast or plastic cars downwards the track via a slot and detachable pin. Cars in different lanes could race, but cars in the same lane moved at the same speed, separated by a fixed altitude.

Also in the 1960s Eldon Industries, Inc. produced 1/32 scale slot cars and sets with a very modernistic lane alter system for analogue cars branded Selectronc that used lane change sections with a dedicated lane alter controller. The cars and transformer used diodes to split up the control signals from the manus controllers that allowed for both cars to run independently in the aforementioned lane.

In the mid and late 1970s several manufacturers including Aurora, Lionel and Ideal (United states of america) introduced slotless racing systems that theoretically allowed cars to pass one another from the aforementioned lane. About used a organisation of multiple ability track that allowed one car to speed up momentarily and move to the outside to pass. Though briefly successful as toy products, none of these systems worked well enough to exist taken upwardly by serious hobbyists.^[24]

In 2004, a number of traditional slot car manufacturers introduced digital control systems, which enable multiple cars to run in the same lane and to change lanes at certain points on the course. Digitally coded signals sent along the power strips permit each car to respond merely to its ain controller.^[29]

In improver, imaginative manufacturers accept used the slot track system to allow the racing of a variety of unusual things, including motorcycles,^[ane] boats,^[30] airplanes,^[31] spacecraft,^[31] horses,^[1] fictional and cartoon vehicles,^[24] snowmobiles,^[24] and futuristic railroad trains.^[32]

Slot car tracks [edit]

Plastic track created for clemency issue

The commencement sectional slot tracks from Scalextric and VIP were molded rubber and folded metal, respectively, simply modern slot tracks autumn into two chief categories: plastic tracks and routed tracks.

Plastic tracks are fabricated from the molded plastic commercial rails sections. Exclusive rail is cheap and easy to gather, and the blueprint of the course can exist hands changed. The joints between the sections, however, make a crude running surface, prompting the derisive term "clickety-clack rail". The many electrical connections cause voltage drib and contribute to more frequent electrical problems. For a permanent setup, the joints can be filled and smoothed, and the power runway soldered together or fifty-fifty replaced with continuous strips, simply the surface is seldom as smoothen equally a good routed track.

Routed tracks have the entire racecourse fabricated from one or a few pieces of sheet cloth (traditionally chipboard or MDF, but sometimes polymer materials) with the guide-slots and the grooves for the power strips cut directly into the base material using a router or CNC machining. This provides a smooth and consequent surface, which is by and large preferred for serious competition.

Electrical equipment [edit]

Types of Slot Car Controllers (50 to R, from meridian)

• Telegraph key
• Thumb push button
• Wheel or dial rheostat
• Carbon disc plunger
• Rheostat plunger
• Full grip
• Pistol grip rheostat
• Electronic controller

Ability for almost slot machine tracks comes from a power pack. Ability packs contain a transformer, which reduces high voltage house current to a condom 12 to 20V, depending on car blazon) and usually a rectifier, which changes Air-conditioning to DC, for cooler running and simpler motors. High-capacity lead-acid batteries are sometimes used for hobby slot cars. Toy race sets may utilize dry cell batteries at three to 6 volts.

Controllers ("throttles") vary car speed past modulating the voltage from the power pack. They are usually hand-held and attached by wires to the runway. Besides speed command, mod racing controllers usually feature an adaptable "brake", "coast", and "dial-out". Braking works past temporarily connecting the rails together by a switch (or via a resistor for reduced braking); this converts the car's motor into a generator, and the magnetic forces that turned the motor are at present slowing information technology down. Coast allows a certain amount of power to continue to the track later on the commuter has "let-off" (which would otherwise cut all power to the car). A punch-out allows the driver to limit the maximum ability that can reach the auto.

The early rail-motorcar tracks used telegraph keys, model-train rheostats and other improvised ways to control car speed. The first commercial race sets (1957) used handheld controllers with a thumb-push button; like the telegraph central, these were either on or off, requiring the driver to "blip" the throttle for intermediate speeds. Afterward versions had an intermediate speed, and 1 late version used a buzzer mechanism to provide full-range speed control.

From 1959 to about 1965, near HO slot sets had a table-mounted controller with a miniature steering wheel or simple dial-knob operating a rheostat (variable resistor), which gave precise command throughout the car's speed range. This type could be left on a particular speed setting, making information technology very suitable for model highway layouts, just they were awkward for racing. Around 1960, handheld rheostats began to appear. Almost early examples had vertical, thumb-operated plungers with the rheostat in the grip. Aurora had a plunger blueprint in which a stack of carbon/silicon discs replaced the rheostat. Less common styles included a horizontal thumb-plunger and a total-grip squeeze controller. In 1965, Russkit introduced the trigger-operated pistol grip controller. The pistol grip quickly became the standard rheostat-controller style both for race sets and serious hobbyists, and has remained then to the present mean solar day. Control is by the index finger, and the heat-generating rheostat is above the grip for comfort and effective ventilation.

For adept response, rheostats must be matched to the particular cars involved. To race different classes of cars, several controllers with different resistance ratings are often required. In the 1970s, electronic additions to the rheostat controllers became pop, which allowed them to exist tuned to the particular car being raced. Some modern electronic controllers dispense with the rheostat altogether, and can be used for all classes and types of car. Digital slot cars by and large employ a controller that is trigger operated, though the rheostat housing is replaced by a slim bulge containing the electronics.

On most tracks, a driver will plug or clip his personal controller to his lane's "driver'southward station", which has wired connections to the power source and track rails. Modern controllers usually crave three connections - one to the power concluding of the driver'south station (customarily white), one to the brake terminal (red), and 1 to the rail last (blackness). Conventional slot auto tracks are wired in one of 2 ways: with the ability terminal connected to the power source positive and the restriction concluding negative (chosen "positive gate"), or the other way around ("negative gate"). Resistance type controllers can be used with either positive or negative track wiring, about electronic controllers can only exist used with 1 or the other, although a few electronic controllers feature a switch that adapts them for either gate configuration.

Competition [edit]

Slot motorcar racing ranges from casual get-togethers at dwelling house tracks, using whatever cars the host makes available, to very serious competitions in which contestants painstakingly build or change their own cars for maximum performance and compete in a series of races culminating in national and world championships. For information on types of formal competition, racing organizations, standards, etc., see slot car racing.

Run across besides [edit]

• Armature (electric applied science)
• List of model auto brands
• Tether automobile – Gasoline-powered model cars that also run on guided tracks
• Inline; Pancake; Sidewinder; Anglewinder – types of slot car motors and motor arrangements
• Mini 4WD
• Radio-controlled car
• Rail transport modelling

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Hertz, Louis. H. (1965). The Complete Volume of Model Raceways and Roadways (ane ed.). London: Temple Press Books.
2. ^ Reed, Robert. Know Well-nigh Model Roadracing (Skillfact Library, 629). Editors and Engineers, Ltd.
3. ^ "Minic Layout". Tri-ang.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-20 .
4. ^ ^{a b} Hertz, Louis. H. (1967). The Consummate Book of Model Raceways and Roadways (2 ed.). p. 24.
5. ^ The Lionel Corp. "Lionel History - The 1910s". Retrieved 2008-06-16 .
6. ^ SlotForum -> Kokomo Electricar Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Slot Motorcar Patent Applied for March 27, 1936 Archived December 30, 2006, at the Wayback Motorcar
8. ^ Dempewolff, Richard F (1963). Table-Height Motorcar Racing (1 ed.). New York: Pop Mechanics Company. p. 22.
9. ^ "Slots". Madmalc.screaming.net. Retrieved 2010-03-xx .
10. ^ Slot Racing 1942 Way
11. ^ Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (December 1954). "Tabular array Top Rail Racing Runway & Cars". Model Maker. 4 (49): 694–696.
12. ^ J.R. Davies, quoted at http://www.ddavid.com/slot-auto-gallery/passion.htm
13. ^ Dempewolff, Richard F (1963). Table-Superlative Car Racing (1 ed.). New York: Popular Mechanics Company. pp. 26–31.
14. ^ Sinclair, V.North. (Feb 1957). "A Pioneer Electric Rail Track". Model Maker. 7 (75): 64–66.
15. ^ Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (November 1957). "Slot-Racing De Luxe". Model Maker. vii (84): 538–539.
16. ^ Dempewolff, Richard F (1963). Table-Height Auto Racing (1 ed.). New York: Popular Mechanics Company. pp. 48–50.
17. ^ Dempewolff, Richard F (1963). Table-Tiptop Car Racing (1 ed.). New York: Popular Mechanics Company. pp. 46–47.
18. ^ Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (April 1957). "Scalex Goes Electric". Model Maker. seven (77): 168–169.
19. ^ Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (October 1957). "Introducing VIP". Model Maker. vii (83): 487–489.
20. ^ Parker, Malcolm. "Victory Industries of Guilford". Retrieved 2011-04-12 .
21. ^ Parker, Malcolm. "The Origins of Slot Car Racing". Retrieved 2011-04-12 .
22. ^ "Slot Car Portal - Scalextric 1960 Catalogue (United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland)". Archived from the original on July two, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-16 .
23. ^ Promise, J.F. (May 1958). "Slotracing". Model Maker. 8 (90): 242–244.
24. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Graham, Thomas (1995). Greenberg's Guide to Aurora Slot Cars. Greenberg Books. ISBN0-89778-400-vi.
25. ^ Preston, Geoff (1982). Race Aurora AFX (i ed.). Model & Allied Publications. ISBN0-85242-727-1.
26. ^ "FASCAR 500 - Thunderjet Slotcars". Fauxtoys.com. Retrieved 2010-03-20 .
27. ^ Gregory Braun (2010-01-04). "HO Racing History". HO Slot Car Racing. Retrieved 2010-03-twenty .
28. ^ "News and Event".
29. ^ Scott, Jonathan; et al. (May 2014). "Analysis and comparison of Scalextric, SCX, and Carrera Digital slot car systems: A mechatronic engineering blueprint case study" (PDF). Technical Report, School of Applied science, University of Waikato Inquiry Commons. Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10289/8661. Retrieved 23 May 2014. ^{[ dead link ]}
30. ^ "Model Car Science" magazine, October 1965.
31. ^ ^{a b} Greenslade, Roger. W. (1985). A History of Electric Model Roads and Racetracks. ISBN0-948793-00-7.
32. ^ Cook, Tony. "Tyco Twin Turbo Trains (No.7438)". Tony Cook's HO-Calibration Trains Resource . Retrieved 19 Oct 2010.

Farther reading [edit]

• Chang, Dave (2007). The Slot Automobile Handbook (1 ed.). The Crowood Press. ISBN978-1-86126-916-4.
• Clark, John A. (1995). Aurora Ho Slot Car Identification & Price Guide (1 ed.). L W Publishing & Book Sales. ISBN0-89538-030-7.
• Drackett, Phil (1968). Slot Machine Racing (1 ed.). London: Gift Press.
• Gee, Kenneth (1965). Your Book of Model Car Racing (1 ed.). London: Faber & Faber Ltd.
• Hall, Prentice (1967). The Complete Handbook of Model Motorcar Racing (1 ed.). New Bailiwick of jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.
• Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (1965). Electric Model Car Racing (1 ed.). London: Museum Printing Ltd.
• Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J. (1959). Model Car Rail Racing (i ed.). Watford: Model Aeronautical Printing Ltd.
• Plecan, Paul (1965). Paul Plecan's Model Car Handbook (1 ed.). New York: Fawcett Publications.
• Schleicher, Robert (1967). Model Road Racing Handbook (1 ed.). New Bailiwick of jersey: D. Van Nostrand Visitor, Inc.
• Stambler, Irwin (1967). A Guide to Model Car Racing (i ed.). New York: W.Westward Norton & Co Inc.
• Timothy, John Grand (1994). The Collector's Quick Reference Serial - Volume one Aurora Vib'due south and T-Jets (1 ed.). What It Is Pub. ISBN1-883796-04-0.

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Slot cars.

• [1] The official website of the British Slot Auto Racing Association.
• The History of the Slot Car A well-illustrated history of the slot car hobby by Dennis David.
• A History of Slot Racing John Ford'southward short history of the hobby from the 1940s onward.
• Electric Rail Racing - Thoughts and History A memoir of rails racing and early slot times in Britain.
• Victory in the Spotlight The Roadedge organisation of 1956 that inspired Scalextric and Victory/VIP and started the slot car blast of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
• VIP Electric Model Roadways The main competitor to Scalextric in the early days.
• The Origins of Slot Car Racing
• Slot car at Curlie

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slot_car

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