# Unknown AFX track pieces and buildings



## Thara01 (Nov 18, 2015)

Hi, I am new here I just wanted to know what type of AFX tracks these are on the kastleburg raceway http://www.planetdiecast.com/index....hare&task=viewphoto&photo_id=21696&Itemid=504
It is the track under the bridge which is like a slope track. I would like to know what it is called or if it is custom also what is the kit that Tom used to make the pit building because I love that building aswell
Please reply
Thara01


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

it appears, from the limited amount I can see in the pictures, that t-jet track was used in the two locations that have a "slope".
I don't know AFX track well.
there are adapter tracks to join t-jet type track to AFX.
that is a nice layout


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

The track in the link has two of those sections, they may have been made by cutting an Aurora Model Motoring hump section in half.
http://www.modelmotorist.com/web-content/tj9h2l.jsp


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I think they are these.

http://www.modelmotorist.com/web-content/tj9br2l.jsp

.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I think you are right!


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

The front straight up to the Hump is TJET then he would have had to used two adapters to get to the new AFX. And he would have had to use two adapters on the front straight to get back to TJET track. There is a 9 inch TJET to old AFX track adapter then there is a 3 inch old AFX to new AFX Unless he made his own TJET to new AFX adapter.

Don't know where he got his buildings though. Somewhere there was a write up by the builder but I don't remember where I read it.


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

He tells you about his track here 
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=238347


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Rich, thank you for posting that link.
lot of good info there.
folks like Rich are what make participating in these boadrs so rewarding
Roger, thank you for that link too.


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

"The humps are just the old Aurora country bridge pieces."

The bridge comes in two pieces so you would only need 1/2 the bridge. This has a good picture of it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331444188039


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*But wait a minute ...*

I found it wasn't too hard to create custom adapter pieces from lock-and-joiner Tjet track to Tomy AFX track by cutting a straight section of each in half, joining the halves with epoxy and soldering jumper wires across the electrical gaps. 

But ...

Anyone interested in using Tjet-era lock-and-joiner bridge tracks










and/or bump tracks 










should remember why those pieces didn't stay in the AFX track catalog.



















AFXs (and practically any other car since) don't have the chassis clearance to take them. They high-center on both the one-piece bump and the two-piece bridge. The magnets clamp the chassis to the rails, the pin lifts from the slot and the car grinds to a halt.

Also, the AFX pin/blade is too deep for the Tjet track groove. The car's front wheels are in the air, and it screeches down the track on the end of the pin. But that's easily taken care of with clippers or a file. I don't know any way to get them over the bumps and bridges, except to fit larger wheels. Another reason to stay largely with pre-magnet cars - for me, anyway. YMMV.

I didn't realize Kastleburg was for Tjets and other early style cars only, but because of the bridge tracks to change levels, it certainly looks as if it may be. Now that I think of it, though, it's possible that using the bridge up-track to connect to a level track (instead of the bridge down-track) might limit the time of the scrape and the rise of the pin to the point that an AFX or maybe even AFX-mag could get through without stalling or deslotting. I'd have to run tests to find that out. Or someone else can.

-- D


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Dslot, well explained.
I sorta knew all that, but couldn't easily convey it.
thank you


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

.
I said:


> ... I don't know any way to get them over the bumps and bridges, except to fit larger wheels. ...


Thinking more about this subject -
you _might_ be able to make the hump and bridge tracks more magnet-friendly by removing the power rails from about halfway up the slope, over the crest and halfway down the other side. This will buy you a bit of clearance, though the chassis will still scrape the plastic of the track. But mainly, the magnets will have nothing to clamp the chassis to, so the car may have enough momentum to take it through, in spite of bottoming out for a few inches. It may also reduce front-end rise to keep the pin in the slot.

If it turns out that you need power through the hill, you can replace the removed rails with non-magnetic copper tape or wire.

It's just a thought experiment right now. Only practical testing and tweaking will see if it's any good. But if it lets you have a track with bumps and hills that you can run both T-jets and magnet cars on, it might be worth the try.

Cheers,
-- D


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

Sometimes the rail can just be pushed deeper into the track for an experiment and then brought back up if needed.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Whoops ...*

I notice in a 2009 post, the builder of Kastleburg mentions that he was removing one of the humps - 


> Super G+, Turbos and SRT's got hung up on the hump because you could get enough speed around the 6" radius turn entering the hump. Even knowing the track, I only had about a 75% success rate.


 (I assume he meant "couldn't".)

So it appears some (maybe all) of the newer magnet cars have enough oomph to power past the scraping point without becoming stuck, some of the time. At least when the hump leads to level track instead of a downward hump on the other side of the bridge. And with a running start.

I must admit, I've never put anything more advanced than 1970s car-technology on an Aurora bridge or hump track. I think I stranded a JL Sand Van on a hump in a Tyco off-road "Hoppers" set once. Those humps are, if anything, fiercer than the Aurora ones. But the Tyco Hoppers and Bandit Trucks have big tires and plenty of ground clearance.

- D


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