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Hi Folks,

    Recently I have been working with 1:43/1:48 slot cars for use with trains.  I don't think it is a fair test to run a Carrera GO car for 9 hours straight without frequent breaks and grease on the gears.  Carrera makes an excellent product.  The Carrera car is designed for speed and has the smallest motor (and pinion gear) of all 1:43 slot cars, to my knowledge.  Artin cars have a bigger, snap-in motor.  Gee, I never run anything for more than half an hour without a break.  I wouldn't even think of running my old GE 44 Ton diesel for more than 20 minutes without a break.  I have heard certain firehouses that operate public displays at Christmas run a loco for about 30 minutes then give it a break, and the equipment is frequently lubricated.

Many slot car hobbyists paint their track without the paint wearing off prematurely.  It is really all about surface prep (Kilz).  The track looks especially good when painted a medium gray because there is less contrast between the metal strips and the running surface.  The same road weathering techniques used by model railroaders would look fantastic, making touch-ups for worn paint easy.  But for a realistic-looking moving car/truck, the slot car rear wheels drift toward the inside of the curve like a real vehicle (provided there isn't a rear guide pin), but superstreet vehicles follow the track like a train and don't look realistic on turns, especially tight turns.

Artin cars are actually 1:48 scale and re-motoring them is a piece of cake.  Carrera cars are a little more work to re-motor and require the addition of headlights.  It is a common practice among slot car hobbyists to use a die-cast body over a 1:43/1:48 slot car chassis.  Only more frequent lubrication is needed due to the extra load of the body's weight.   For off-the-shelf cars, PWM (pulse-width modulation) is the key for slower speeds.  And the Artin gears are inexpensive and easy to change.  Really no argument for not using the slot cars.

Here is a short vid of one project that has since been refined to raise the body a fraction of an inch in the car's rear.  These are -not- running on PWM and can go more slowly at a reduced voltage. 

 

Search the Web for slot car projects and you'll find many fine examples of the technique for using a die-cast body over a slot car chassis, far better than my efforts!

Take care, Joe.

Last edited by Joe Rampolla
philo426 posted:

I have 2 Carr era GO! Sets but I always deemed them too fast to use with an O gauge layout. Re motoring  would be the way to go.I did notice that the police and fire chief cars with the operating lights did run at a more realistic speed.I think the flashing lights act as a voltage tap.  https://youtu.be/sbuNkufryhE

Here are a couple photos of the Carrera Ferrari re-motored:

I cut a postage stamp-sized hole in the chassis for the underside of the motor to fit.  That is an Artin 10 toothed pinion on the new motor's 2mm shaft. 

In the video above, I am running on straight low voltage DC with the new motor.

Try this PWM board on 12 VDC:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Low-Vo...7:g:WVoAAOSwDNdVwDWM

before you go to the effort of re-motoring.  I don't know how the flashing lights will react, however.  There is a "sweet spot" on the potentiometer where the car runs slowly without stalling.

Hope this helps!

Take care, Joe

 

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Is there a way to get more air to the motor?  That might cool them down.

I think the Carrera motor isn't rated for continuous duty, but it is a good product.   I can't imagine any situation where a hobbyist would run anything for hours on end without a break.  It's just a bad argument against slot cars. Heck, I wouldn't even drive my car for nine hours without a break.

Take care, Joe.

Last edited by Joe Rampolla

I have been using Carrera sets now for 5 years with the trains. I take the power track and carefully pry the bottom off, then I switch the two wires to ONE slot car lane. I get cars that move in opposite directions like real traffic. I also bought a few years back an old HO Tech 2 2800 at  a tag sale that regulates the speed of the slot cars well

 

Chris N posted:

I have been using Carrera sets now for 5 years with the trains. I take the power track and carefully pry the bottom off, then I switch the two wires to ONE slot car lane. I get cars that move in opposite directions like real traffic. I also bought a few years back an old HO Tech 2 2800 at  a tag sale that regulates the speed of the slot cars well

 

Thanks for the information.  I suspect you get much more than 9 hours of use from any Carrera car!   I am always impressed with Carrera's quality.   I hope more hobbyists add the slots to their layouts!  Perhaps then some manufacturer will see the value in a version of their product for use with 3 rail O!

Take care, Joe.

 

I have been considering adding a Carrera oval to my layout for some high speed car runs to contrast with the slower train action.  My layout area is 22 x 5.  I have a few questions:

-how many feet does it take for a 1/43 analog car (Carrera GO!) to reach full speed?  I have a couple of the cars including the "Rustler" Ford Mustang

-any idea how many ft/sec the car would be moving at top speed?

-any idea how to build in a feature to slow the car so it doesn't fly off the curve?  I was thinking perhaps there's a way to insulate a straight track piece before the curve and remove power for that section so that it would in effect cause a massive slow down.

I want to do full speed runs but figure out how to prevent cars flying off the curve directly into the wall and/or careening off into difficult to reach corners of the layout. 

Thanks for your consideration of my questions

Garrett76 posted:

I have been considering adding a Carrera oval to my layout for some high speed car runs to contrast with the slower train action.  My layout area is 22 x 5.  I have a few questions:

-how many feet does it take for a 1/43 analog car (Carrera GO!) to reach full speed?  I have a couple of the cars including the "Rustler" Ford Mustang

-any idea how many ft/sec the car would be moving at top speed?

-any idea how to build in a feature to slow the car so it doesn't fly off the curve?  I was thinking perhaps there's a way to insulate a straight track piece before the curve and remove power for that section so that it would in effect cause a massive slow down.

I want to do full speed runs but figure out how to prevent cars flying off the curve directly into the wall and/or careening off into difficult to reach corners of the layout. 

Thanks for your consideration of my questions

I can answer the 'insulated section to reduce speed' question since I have done something similar.  If you remove the rail from the section where you want to reduce the speed, cut gaps in that one rail, solder a wire to it from underneath, reinstall the rail after fishing the wire through one of the holes already there, and use a series of diodes to cut voltage by approx. 0.6 - 0.7 for each diode.  Then attach that wire to a section nearby for that same lane.  Like this (I drew it quickly):

I would reduce the voltage, not cut it entirely.  Try it on the curves.

For your other questions, try

http://www.slotcarillustrated....orumdisplay.php?f=14

They are experts! 

Hope this helps!

Take care, Joe.

 

 

Last edited by Joe Rampolla

Back in the 60s one of the slot car tracks I used to go to held a 24 hour race. Moved a track into the parking lot. Teams of two drivers and repairs abounded but you had to use the same car for the whole race just like at Le Mans. Most started with hopped up motors but they were burning out in less than an hour. The shop had a large supply of replacements available. Quite an event and much maintenance was required as the idea was to cover the most laps in the 24 hours.

I built this 2 track railroad crossing in 2012 using Carrera slot cars and track. I used gargraves flex track instead of my Ross track where the Carrera  track butted up to the rails. The Ross track has the little staples that prevent a close fit. The gargraves  track is much easier to cut the 3 notches out for the guides on the slot cars. I made two sections of insulated slot car track, one 13" Carrera on either side of the railroad tracks. When the train hits the insulated section of track, the crossing signals activate and power a 12 v relay that shuts off power to the approach lane on the slot car track. Naturally when the train passes, the crossing signals stop and the relay powers up the slot car track again. I wish I could have put the entire 2 min video on, but it didn't fit.

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trainsbob posted:

"And the Artin gears are inexpensive and easy to change. "

How does one obtain the gears?  I wasn't aware that Artin sold parts separately.

There is an eBay seller "123-caveman" who sells the Artin cars and chassis very inexpensively, so I buy just for parts, about $4 per car.    http://www.132slotcar.us  has pinions that fit the 2mm motor shaft.

Take care, Joe.

Last edited by Joe Rampolla
Chris N posted:

I built this 2 track railroad crossing in 2012 using Carrera slot cars and track. I used gargraves flex track instead of my Ross track where the Carrera  track butted up to the rails. The Ross track has the little staples that prevent a close fit. The gargraves  track is much easier to cut the 3 notches out for the guides on the slot cars. I made two sections of insulated slot car track, one 13" Carrera on either side of the railroad tracks. When the train hits the insulated section of track, the crossing signals activate and power a 12 v relay that shuts off power to the approach lane on the slot car track. Naturally when the train passes, the crossing signals stop and the relay powers up the slot car track again. I wish I could have put the entire 2 min video on, but it didn't fit.

Very nice!   The signals make quite a difference!  Thanks for sharing!

Take care, Joe.

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