As the title says, I'm looking for more info on the Lionel No.85(I think) slotcar set. Some good pictures would be cool, I especially want to see how they are controlled.
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Brian
I have the Lionel Classics set from a few years back. They are run by a transformer. In my case, one MRC Dual. One throttle handle per car is perfect.
Steve
Ah, I was wondering if it was a transformer or something that looked similar to a modern slotcar controller.
Hi Brian. As far as the control goes just think of it like running 2 separate train loops on separate transformers. There is no controller like you would find on a slot car set you hold in your hand. Like Steve I have mine on a ZW with one handle for each car which works perfect. Here is a short video of my layout with the cars on the 3rd. level.
Very cool!
They're a bit bigger than I thought, looks like they fit better with standard gauge than O.
Back in the day Lionel wasn't to worried about scale proportions. If you decide to get a set you might want to use some gloves to put the track together. Child safety was also not at the top of the list in 1917 or so when the set first hit the market.
It will probably be a very long time before I can afford a set, but it looks fun to play with! I'm not too worried about getting cut or pinched, worked with the real thing for a while (er.. trains, I still work on old cars). I thought somewhere I saw a picture with a cross piece to make a figure 8, but I may be delusional, did yours come with a cross piece or is it just a basic oval? (that in mind do they make spare tracks for them?)
They only come as a basic oval no cross pieces. You can buy extra straights to expand the oval. It's a fun set to run and visitors like it.
You can find an article on Lionel slot cars in the April 1991 and July 1992 TCA Quarterly. For those that are TCA members you can find them in the members section of the website
Here's a video of Electricar Racer 1929. Not Lionel but cool.
AZ tin
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Not quite "slotcars" but still pretty nifty! Who makes it?
For smaller scales ................
Gee Steve; You have all the cool toy's! 
That's really neat;Never saw one before.
Originally Posted by boucher:
Here's a video of Electricar Racer 1929. Not Lionel but cool.
AZ tin
That is neat as well. It doesn't look like the car is touching the track.
The Elrctricar was made by Kingston/Kokomo Stampings, 1n 1929 and 1930.
Contacts are on the front of the car, passenger side. These contacts "wipe"
the two fence rails,powering the motor.
