Local Slot Car Groups

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Informal groups and local tracks running slot cars on custom routed privately owned circuits within the Greater Toronto Area, including R32, S24 and T32. Visit the R32, S24 and T32 forums for group information, class criterium and results, including photographs of the circuits participating in those series.
  • This forum has 232 topics, 887 replies, and was last updated 2 weeks ago by Avatar photoKen.
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    • T32
      Information for this 1:32 scale racing group based in Toronto, Ontario and moderated by JMSracer.
      • T32 Class Criterium
        T32 Comprehensive Class Criterium (or Rules) are found here within their own sub forum. Scroll down to see which class criterium may apply to your race. Hosts are encouraged to both adopt and modify these criteria for their venue as they wish. Discussion is encouraged.
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    • Vintage Mini’s

      2 months ago

      Arthur

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Viewing 26 topics - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
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    • Forums Gents, Local engagement in the forum spaces is very low. I might try to incorporate some areas into posts or pages as I refocus but if there is anything of particular value to you in a forum please save it for yourself. Cheers!

      Started by: Arthur in: Website Information

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    • 1 week ago

      Arthur

    • Images and Results from The Rock Something stinks at THE ROCK! 9 of the clubs warriors set out to do battle at the Rock for the season opening F1 Weekend. Upon their arrival it was evident that there was a strange odor in the air. Seems that this hosts puppy got into a losing battle with a skunk the night before!   50's GP Some close racing in this one and a great looking field of entries.   3.0L GP This was a super close one with the top two finishing on the same lap.     70's GP Almost everyone's favorite class. Super close racing with a "dead heat tie" in the first round of action between the Ronnie Peterson March and the Lotus 72 - Laps and extension tied! What a great looking field. Many racers took the opportunity of running several cars in this one. Congratulations to Frank who took his first steps up the podium at the Rock. JCB got off to a fast start but the wheels fell off after the opening heat tie.   Modern F1 Another tight one in Modern F1 as, like the Noah's animals, everybody paired up for battle as the top two finished on the same lap, the next two were a lap back, and the next two were also a lap back. Top 6 within 2 laps is a pretty competitive race for this class!   Group 5 And we finished off the day with a Group 5 race where the difference between 1st and 2nd at the end was 0.010! This was possibly the closest finish in club history. On a 94.5' foot track over three heats that amounts to about 3/8 of an inch!   Thanks for another great day Kevin. Always worth the drive to Barrie!

      Started by: Avatar photoJohnnySlots

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    • 1 month ago

      Anonymous

    • Rolexing at The Rock! (As originally written and posted by KK) It’s been a long offseason for the 1:1 racing cars but this weekend things got rolling again as the long anticipated 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship kicked off with the Rolex 24 Hrs at Daytona. This year saw the introduction of the exciting new DPi class in a race hampered by weather. As a tribute to years gone by, we decided to hold a historic Rolex Special race of our own for the 1/32 scale models we race here at The RockenheimRing in Barrie. Our day was also hampered slightly by weather but that didn’t stop ten of the finest and most dedicated racers around from attending todays event by way of snow covered roads. We had a few last minute drop-outs but still a near record crowd was in attendance for an R32 race of late. Barrie Police showed up early on to control the overflow of parking and thankfully that was the last we saw of them today. No doubt they will be back. I think my neighbours may have them on Speed Dial. Could be from the incident involving their house being bombarded with eggs, but that’s another story. The police showed up here saying that all the guest that were leaving my “live band deck party” threw eggs at the house across the street, I excused myself for a moment, checked the fridge and came back to the door to report to the officer, it couldn’t have been my guests, we have No Eggs! Now back to the racing coverage. The biggest stories out of the pit garage were, FORD winning the GTLM class at Daytona today but were given a new acronym up here in Canada. That along with James Dean dieing for a second time were the the two big stories out of the garage along with Switchgate, MV back in action and some new racers climbing the podium at The Rock for the first time. These stories and more later.   50’s 60’s Sportscars ( 3 heats x 180 seconds = 9 minutes) The home team broke away from the pack slightly in this one while the competition got familiar with the track layout. Some very close racing in this one, notably 3rd through 8th place separated by just two laps. JM took the 2nd place spot with a real nice outing for his King Cobra and our good friend Devo took the third step with a big block chevy loaner from the home team with SR, FC, MV, DO and MA hot on his heals. The well rounded field of entries circled the track while the Classic LeMans cars were prepared in the background. JCB-James Dean’s Porsche 550 was seen in the garage for most of the race due to a broken guide flag holder. People around the scene were noted as saying “That’s the second time James Dean died in that car”   Classic LeMans Cars 1965-1970 ( 3 heats x 180 seconds = 9 minutes) This was a close finish with the two top spots separated by under a second. Some of the the top drivers on the circuit were absent due to the weather and this along with the rain kept the crowds from filling the grandstand. Those that showed up were treated to a thrilling race. The Home Team edged out JCB by less than a second and JCB took his first steps up the podium at the Ring. A small detour through the rhubarb thwarted his otherwise relentless pace and the older 250LM squeaked by to take the narrow victory. Whispers of “Switchgate” were heard by other racers in the paddock as JCB was certain that someone threw his lane direction switch in hopes his tires and pace would be cooled. Talk about icing a kicker! All of the banter coming out of the garage about MV’s FORD GT 40 crash and clearing the wall quickly diffused all the talk about Switchgate and got the heat off of yours truly. The roars of laughter could be heard far and wide as the new acronym for FORD was created – FOUND ON RUG DEAD! Ford may have had a great day at Daytona today but they were the butt of the funniest jokes here today. Devo wound up on the third step of the podium again with a loaner Porsche from the home team. SR, FC, MV, DO, MA. JM and TR all had strong outings in this one.     Group C/IMSA ( 3 heats x 180 seconds = 9 minutes) The third race of the day was the mighty Group C cars. These beautiful machines are favorites of many and this race provided the closest finish of the day. JCB took his first victory at The Rock and by the narrowest of margins driving his appropriately named BOSS Porsche to victory. Less than two tenths of a second separated the top two racers and the top 8 places were separated by only two laps. SR had the race in hand until the third heat where a cut tire saw him spin out repeatedly. He managed to limp his car to a third place finish and his first podium finish at the Rock. You could have thrown a blanket over third through seventh with the rest of the pack nipping at their heels. See the photos below, it was that close!   The Rolex Special (Any Commercially available Group C, Daytona Prototype, Lola T600, Porsche Kremer CK5 with 25k S-Can motor) ( 3 heats x 240 seconds = 12 minutes) These beautiful machines filled the pit lane as all participants were allowed to race as many as three cars in this race. The intensity of running these faster cars got to some as these high RpM machines generate incredible speeds on the long straights of The Ring. MA had a short circuiting brand new motor in his primary car and was forced to run his beautiful back-up Crown Royal DP car just minutes before the race. Controllers were hooked up incorrectly and all kinds spinouts made this a race of attrition. In the end it was home track advantage that showed through as the home team cruised to victory. We’re not sure yet if any track lap records were broken but they were certainly approached by the Rothmans Porsche 962 and Lola T600. JM took a familiar second step on the podium and TR after a great run took the third step, his first at The Ring. Second through fifth were separated by only two laps. Thanks to all who attended and participated today. This was truly a wonderful race event and it was good to see some former racers and friends out on a not so wonderful day, weather wise. We had few laughs, a few pops and rubbed a few fenders and I still have plenty of eggs in my fridge. Good times! Hope to see you all again soon. Cheers KK

      Started by: Avatar photoJohnnySlots

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • Bass-Seca Build Bass-Seca After who knows how many years of racing at multiple home and club tracks, my man cave has gotten a new addition built by Art! A small but exciting looking layout of approximately 44 feet for 1:32 racing with plenty of elevation changes themed after Laguna Seca's "Corkscrew". I gave my design to track builder extraordinaire Professor Tschinkel earlier this year and, thanks to Covid restrictions, he built a modular track that could be fairly quickly taken apart and reassembled. Art built the basics at his place and then disassembled it and into a VW Atlas went ALL the pieces and reassembly began at my place. Track reconstruction, lane taping, power and computer, border walls and more now done. Some detail work still to be completed but the track is now operational and the first race done with Joe Guts and I running Group 5 cars. But the track is much more fun with the slower classes! Before racing ever happened though I christened the track with laps done in remembrance, and with cars, from racers who are no longer with us. John F and Paddy you will always be remembered. (The 3rd last picture is John Flinn's MG which set identical times in both lanes) Thanks for all your work Art. It's great!

      Started by: Avatar photoJohnnySlots

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    • 1 month ago

      Arthur

    • A Decade of Spa Lyons! More Than A Decade of Spa Lyons! In the growing metropolis of Milton, ON (just west of Toronto along the 401) you will find Porsche911's circuit Spa Lyons which has given 1:32 racers thrills, chills & spills on one of the largest fully scenerized 3 lane layouts in Southern Ontario. One of the very first DArt layouts this circuit features both 4" and 3" lane spacing, long straights, plenty of fast and medium speed corners plus a hairpin squeeze at the last corner! This gallery of Spa Lyons includes recent pictures from yours truly plus others taken many years ago by Dr. Vanski. Enjoy! [foogallery id="19772"]

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photoPorsche911

    • Introduction to The Ring – A Few Photographs You'll find a few pictures taken over the years from the inception of The Ring up to the present. Those of you familiar enough with this circuit may spot several additions to track that are missing from most of these pictures... enjoy! [foogallery id="20182"] All of the structures and nearly all of the trees (hemlocks, willow, aspen and others) are scratch built or hand made. Originally the Koni triangle tower at the Start/Finish line was lit with a rice bulb but as with most of the lights including those in the pit lane they've burned out and must be replaced. Perhaps a move to LEDs is in order one day. The start line has coloured LED lane markers embedded flush to the track surface which are still as bright as when they were installed - useful back when the Slot.It 2.4h enduros ran both evening and night rotations... originally the inside lane was blue but because I had a bag of green, yellow and red LEDS it was switched to green - not that it matters... I even forgot that. Given the footprint of the room I've packed as much track as I think I could marshal comfortably. Several years back I did contemplate adding an extension to the existing circuit in the form of an upper level suspended immediately above the track but decided against that for multiple reasons - thankfully so. If I were to reroute this circuit again I would do away with the squeeze and migrate to using a dead strip but I don't think I would change anything else... Given that all three lane lengths are within 3/4 of an inch, there are an equal number of left and right corners, 3 1/2" lane spacing throughout which is perfect for 1:32, a 19' long straight with driver stations close together in the same location and every corner can be comfortably marshaled I'm not sure I could improve the current layout. At 72' it is just enough of a challenge to reward both models that are set up properly and a skilled and consistent racing style. Now that I am older the wooden stools at each of the marshaling posts are a luxury I cannot do without. I may still add three stools for the racers one day but it isn't in the budget right now. Time will tell. My two monitor system seems to work well enough without any ghosting and even though my eyes aren't what they once were I still have no problem seeing the small font size while setting up heats. Not seeing what you are doing is just too frustrating. I've always used the SlotTrak software (which is now freeware) since it allows so many choices setting up heats and together with my Trackmate timing hardware and my 20 year old notebook computer SlotTrak has been bullet proof. The only problems on a race night have been user induced... specifically me not correctly formatting the heats or screwing something or other up... I used to enjoy chasing that faster lap, long race heats, hosting all day long enduro style racing events, iron fingers and hosting groups of 10 or 12 racers. Now I'm just fine and quite happy with slow but period correct scratch built models carefully and respectfully circling a clean, smooth and unproblematic track in a comfortable environment with shorter heats along with good company in a much smaller group - so much so that my next routed track (if there is one) will be just two lanes at most. We'll see... The perfect number of participants for racing at The Ring is 7 - 3 racers and 4 marshals. Any more and someone is just watching and not participating. Track calls can still be avoided with 6 participants but with 5 or fewer they become a necessity in certain areas. So for these reasons participation at The Ring will be capped at 7 for the foreseeable future - whether or not a cap is even needed may be moot since it has been quite some time since The Ring has even hosted as many as 7 builders...

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • New track in the east Basic plans have been drawn up by Art to make a 2-lane new track in my basement. Art was kind enough to take on the task of fitting a small track into a tiny basement. I don't have a name for it yet. Maybe the KRZ Twister? Name suggestions are most welcome. The final dimensions will be on a 5' foot by 10' foot base. The closest rooms to the track are the washroom and kitchen. It should work out well to host races for small groups. Everything in life is time sensitive. I should have done this a few years ago. Thank you to Art for accepting the challenge.  

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photoPorsche911

    • Nova Ridge Open House I delivered these four lovely Fly Classics to Nova Ridge yesterday in time for Mike's Open House. Mike's guests had a blast running them at a lower voltage. Some were even half decent racers!!! After some practice we ran an IROC race for several guests who were keen to try. Met many interesting friends of Mike, including one of the four creators of Trivial Persuit and another a prominant Canadian comedian - a local Mississauga boy and muscle car enthusiast too! Sandwiches and wraps provided by Casa Dolce were scrumptious too! Many thanks to Mike for inviting us to play in his man cave! Thanks to Porsche911 and Kensredzed for helping corral the cats too!!!  

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Welcome to The Lane Art thanks for adding this page for me, tonight I tracked down the download from the 2015 blog I ran and it contains pictures of the build process for The Lane and also predecessor tracks.   So that will be my material source to start off. The first question might be how did I come up with the name.  Not too far along the build process Art asked me “so what are you going to name it?”.  I thought about it and the next time we met I said it’s called “The Lane”.  Why?  Well my lifelong English soccer [football for the purists] team is Tottenham Hotspur.  The stadium that they played at was called White Hart Lane which was affectionately referred to by supporters as “The Lane”.  To me it implies racing connotations so it seemed a natural choice to call the track that for a number of reasons. So what does it look like?

      Started by: Avatar photoDB

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • Mini Infinity Routed HO Track Art was kind enough to accept the challenge to create a new HO track on a 3' foot by 7' foot base. It's a very cool layout. It's made of 3/8" inch MDF. The copper tape was custom spaced for HO cars. Variable power supply 0-30 volts - 10 amps. Track-Mate driver stations so Professor Motor 1/32 controllers can be used. Braids need to be installed on every car. The Thunderjet guide pins need to be sleeved to increase the diameter. I have mostly silicone HO tires, so this is a dedicated silicone track.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Introduction to The Ring – The Numbers The Ring Mississauga, Ontario, Canada This version of The Ring is the fifth custom routed three lane wood track that I've built for myself. Briefly, the Ring is a private three lane custom routed scale model slot car race track occupying a footprint of approximately 22' x 7'. The track surface is constructed from 3/8" mdf routed using a 1/8" flat bit sunk 1/4" deep. The track 'floats' on open grid bench work and is fully scenerized using a cloth soaked hydrocal hard shell base over cardboard strips. There are 1/8" borders raised an average of 1 1/4" high above the track surface. The three lanes are spaced 3 1/2" apart but for the single squeeze where spacing drops to just 1". Lane lengths are very close (green=72' 2 3/4", yellow=72' 3", red=72' 2 7/8") and the number of left and right  turns are identical. Outside gutters are at least 6". Three overpasses provide a minimum clearance of 3 3/4", enough for Fly Euro Trucks. Total track surface elevation change is just 7" but appears greater. Average race surface height from the floor is 2' 9". The track was painted using a standard roller and mid range flat latex paint. Dollar store acrylic paints were used to paint the 'patches', skid marks, lines and race driver tributes. Wired positive, this track was 'taped' using Venture Tape Master Foil Plus 7/32" width and .038mm thick (red core) part no. 1750. Four soldered 'power taps' ensure continuous and uninterrupted power throughout from a Pyramid 30A adjustable power supply. Trackmate  hardware and SlotTrak software provide the timing while Trackmate driver stations ensure easy controller hookup via alligator clips or banana plugs. As racing is a priority at this track racer's sight lines and ease of marshaling were kept in mind during the construction of this track. Model railroading inspired the scenic 'dimension'. But for a handful of recognizable items (grid rats and pit accessories, half tires, guardrails, signage posts and 7 'Kleinbahn' HO light posts) everything is scratch built from wood or styrene or cast from either plastic, resin or urethane. All but 5 trees are hand made, including various birches, aspens & hemlocks. Don't overlook what raw scenic materials you can find in your local green belt or at the bottom of a Muskoka lake... Pictures and a blurb on how some of these scenic items were created may make it here. As always, time will tell.

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 2 years ago

      Arthur

    • Rebuilding Goodwood Sadly, after many many years of service in Beaverton, ON, Goodwood was taken apart earlier this past summer after the passing of owner John F. last year. Thankfully Goodwood found a new owner and is now being resurrected in another beautiful Ontario location. I was happy to take up the challenge of helping move this track to its new home. After months in storage on several skids the pieces survived, albeit some badly warped, but all intact. Since the track was cut into 6 sections (using a 1/8" bit in my trusty router) reassembling the track sections would be straightforward just as it had been built - align, glue, clamp and next...The front straight was quite warped but with a little luck and some help from gravity it came about. This was the first time I had ever tried to straighten a piece of mdf... and it proved to be a much bigger challenge than even the corkscrew of Bass-Seca.Since the reattached sections had fairly tight joints filling, sanding, painting and re-taping could be avoided. After adding patches over the copper joints, a little paint touch up to the track surface and the black borders - all of the original wiring and electronics were connected and tested. At first the overhead gantry wasn't getting any power but after cleaning and reconnecting the socket everything worked as before and we were in business to run some test laps!After thorough testing and many several 100's of laps she is ready to go with just scenery to finish (and rollers to be added)... it took a couple of days to get this far, perhaps a few more to get the rest finished - stay tuned...

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 2 years ago

      Arthur

    • John Flinn collection Gentlemen: John Flinn's wife Valerie has asked the Mini Grid store to help liquidate his slot car collection.   If any of you are interested in acquiring his cars, please follow this link: https://minigrid.com/the-john-flinn-slot-car-collection-auction/   Thanks for looking. Gary      

      Started by: Avatar photoGI

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    • 3 years ago

      Arthur

    • NEW Slot Track in GTA opening Some of you will have heard this already.  Chris announced on a Slot Forum that Ernie Mosettis' is opening a new slot club that will be located just north of Racehaven.  There will be two tracks; a routed track and a 135 foot Policar plastic track.  See link below for photos. https://www.hrwforum.com/forum/hrw-scale-forums/slot-car-news/48664-new-toronto-area-commercial-track-shop#post48748

      Started by: Avatar photoJMSracer

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    • 3 years ago

      Avatar photoJMSracer

    • Salivary Exchange at the Track ! That’s a very strange title!  But, a relevant one in our era of viral epidemics. Hello gentlemen racers, and fellow ‘slot addictos’.    (I posted this on the weekend; it was listed for a while then disappeared.) Saliva, secreted by the salivary glands inside the mouth, is primarily water but holds a very large collection of cells, molecules and compounds, including white blood cells, epithelial cells, enzymes such as salivary amylase for the initial breakdown of carbohydrates, and many other components. Apparently, one millilitre of saliva contains up to 8 million human cells and 500 million bacterial cells. So what has this to do with scale racing? Well, a popular method of cleaning tires for the track is to put a layer of saliva on one’s thumb and rub it along, through, and into the tire contact surface. It seems to be effective in gaining traction! Of course, a good proportion of the contents of that first person’s saliva is transferred from his tires into the track. Another person’s car later runs on the same lane and his tires pick up the salivary components left by the first person’s tires. When that second person cleans his tires by the same technique, repeatedly putting thumb to mouth, the second person now has a good number of cells and molecules from the first person’s saliva. I know we are all friends, but I don’t think we all want to be that friendly! (No need to further expand on the health consequences generated by this practice.) Now, coming from sponge tire use, I’ve never had occasion to practice this method of improving traction, nor had I any inclination to apply it previously, when I was using urethane tires. For those, I usually carried a small bottle of water and applied a drop to my tires.   The first track of Arts that I saw was a few years ago, the MVL track. He had invited me to the Friday track cleaning and prep session before the scheduled Saturday race. (I couldn’t attend the race day because I had a 24’th scale one already scheduled for the same day, and I was doing the tech inspection of all the cars.)   To that Friday pre-race session, I brought along a couple of 32’nd scale cars, and my 24’th scale Porsche 962 Lowenbrau, as well as a tire cleaning kit I had constructed. I cleaned each of the rear tires with my kit, before running them on the track. The previous night, I had already removed my sponge-tire rear wheels from the 24’th scale car and replace them with a set of rims with urethane tires, wheels that I had sitting in a pill vile for the previous five years.  (The chassis was brass base-plate and phenolic suspension-plate that I had designed.)  Art let me run the car when no one else was on the track. I could not believe it; I had never seen such good traction on that car, with any tire - sponge or urethane, on any track surface - treated or untreated!  (Those urethane tires had been cleaned only with water.)   Photo of my 24’th scale Porsche 962 on MVL track; (body a bit beat up from years of racing, but I bought a spare when they were still available).   The tire cleaning kit I built is a fairly simple design, not my invention; I just made a few improvements to one I had seen long ago. It’s made from a small plastic food storage bin in which I cut a slot into the lid and attached brass conducting strips to contact the car brushes. The bin itself stores a sponge wetted with water, a transformer-rectifier wall plug, a 9V dry cell, all the wiring and connectors. I set it up so I could use it on the bench with the wall plug, or use it portable at trackside with the optional dry cell. That allows quick cleaning of the rear tires in between heats, if the ruleset permits. It’s very simple and easy, and works better than spit !   Photo of my cleaning kit as would be used;  ( I’ve thrown in a few other cars to compare 32’nd, 24’th and 18’th scales. )   Hope you find this a bit useful. Felix.   I used to be one of the sharpest tools in the shed; now I’m just a slot-head !

      Started by: Avatar photoFelix

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • The Ring (2007) Here are some photographs from the first fully scenerized Ring back from April, 2007 courtesy of RecklessRacer. Enjoy! [foogallery id="20438"]

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 17 years ago

      Arthur

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