Constructing the NEW Palmer Divide Raceway

A new beginning

If you've spent a few minutes perusing the write up on the "old" PDR, you'll see that I've wanted a wood, routed track for a long time.   When I got into 1:32 slot cars, I was unsure if I'd like a wood track, or if I'd be able to do it.  Silly, silly thoughts.  I've since overcome this fear and after having a wood oval, just had to have a wood road course.  As I recently completed my "Man-Cave", I figured it was now or never.

I've drawn countless designs over the years and finally settled on one.  Then, after laying out the bench work for it, decided that I needed a major revision or I'd be cramped in my small basement.  The funny thing is that I actually like the one I hastily threw together better than the one I thought I'd settled on a long time ago.  Moral of the story:  I tend to obsess and over-think things.  Or, do I...?

Design

I like the flow of this one.  It will have varying radiuses of corners once the lanes are drawn out.  In addition, the kink at the far right is the Corkscrew from Laguna Seca.  With that comment made, there will be quite a few elevation changes.

Updated 06/04/2010!

I'm helping James Harlan, the gent that designed and built his White Lake Forumula 1 Track, proof a new track designing concept. The idea is that a track builder does a rough track design, builds the bench work, and James then using his magical skills in all things computer, finalizes a design to exacting standards.  This includes the layout, lane spacing, and pattern for the parts.  This pattern is then transferred to how they would be arranged on a 4x8' sheet of mdf for minimal waste of material.  The pattern is printed on large-format paper templates that one then glues with a low-tack adhesive to the mdf.  This allows the builder to have an exact pattern to cut the roadbed and route the lanes.  In addition, you get to see exactly how the track is laid out in advance. The builder then simply follows the pattern to route and assemble the track.  

This method is invaluable to giving "visual" people like me a much better sense of how the track will be when completed.  It takes all guess work out of how much wood to purchase, and will help minimize waste.  As I'd already struggled with this portion, I'd used up almost two complete sheets of mdf and have very ROUGH roadbed cut-outs that I'm not happy with.

So, what does this look like?  Here's the initial cut from James - please note that the features are not all there, the pits are not complete, and a few tweaks will be needed, but this is WORLDS above what I'd done manually!

Am I excited?  You better believe it!  So, stay tuned for more updates soon!

Updated 08/11/2010!

Here is the final design: a few changes must be noted however.  Several of the squeeze sections have moved around a bit, a few more passing areas have opened up, the inner and outer lanes now cross over and back, and the pits are completely changed.  After looking at the original design, I realized how tight the pit road entrance was going to be.  In addition, with the pit buildings I want to build, I would have had virtually no paddock area to work with for scenery.  So, it has been changed to a 1950's-1960's LeMans or Spa-style pit right off the straight.  There are three functional pit "boxes" that will allow the driver to come in for repairs or fuel.  The flippers that are shown in the renderings below are CNC'd aluminum from a gent in Michigan named Bryan Thomas and are high-quality parts.  The pits are also bi-directional and have flippers at both the entry and exit if I ever want to run the track the opposite direction.

With the layout finalized, James is finalizing the drawings to have the "parts" that will comprise the roadways put onto 4x8 sheets of paper he can print off that will maximize the use of the MDF and eliminate as much waste as possible.  

So, stay tuned, more to come!

Choices

    Choosing to build a permanent track raises several interesting questions.  What kind of cars do you like to run?  What type of look or era do you like?   What area of the world is this track supposedly in?  Is this a track you can live with for a long time?  

1. What kind of cars do I like to run?   In my case I love vintage Trans Am, LeMans, and Grand Prix.  I do run a few newer LMP and GT cars, but not enough to build around them.
2. What type of look or era do I like?   Having answered the first question, I’d like to model a fictional vintage track that looks like a real T/A race might have taken place at.
3. What area of the world is this track supposedly in?  As the T/A series came through Colorado at the Continental Divide Raceway (CDR), and I live in Colorado,  I wanted to model the scenery after this area.  My Track is actually named the Palmer Divide Raceway as I live within a 1/4 mile of the Palmer Divide, and less than 15 miles from where CDR used to be.
4. Is this a track I can live with for a long time?  I kept the old PDR for 8 years, so I don't think this is an issue.

Bench work Construction

    A major consideration in building a permanent layout is it's size.   I’ve seen many smaller layouts that were very effective and high in driving fun.  In my case, I have a small, basement that I’ve been able to use about half of.  The old PDR was 5 x18', but took up most of the available room.  This time I wanted a painted backdrop for the scenery, so it had to be against the wall.  In order to ensure I could touch every inch of the track, the bench work needed to be a max of 3' wide, except where I can get around it.  I incorporated areas where the track comes out to 7' wide, but again, I can get around that side of the table and am able to reach everywhere.  

Bench work Construction

Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have.  I'm always happy to help others!