# lane spacing



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

one question, and NOT a criticism, but hopefully some other folks will have insight as well.
why is the distance from the edge of the rail to the outside of the track so very much more than the distance from the inside rail to the center (between the two lanes) of the track?
I have bought a couple dragstrips and never gave dimensions ( I will in future) that have the same phenomenon. I notice a lot of custom built tracks, both home built and professional that do the same.
there must be something I am missing that is real obvious to everyone else.
thank you all in advance and sorry for highjacking your thread with the first response.


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## Gear Head (Mar 22, 2005)

Drifting around corners if you're on the outside lane? Sure would be nice if there was the same spacing on the other side of your lane so that your not banging doors with your competitor when drifting around a corner in the other direction. Or was that the intention of the original design? Sure is fun...


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Al, you are referring to AFX/Tomy/AW Track, which has unequal lane spacing. Please note that Tyco. Life-Like and Marchon had EQUAL Lane spacing, which is alot nicer when building 4, 6, and 8 lane tracks.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

PS- Atlas and Lionel Track have equal lane spacing as well, but I'm not sure about Marx, Bachmann, Faller, Eldon, etc.
It's always been a bone to pick, especially when the more modern 1/64 scale cars are used, and seem to be banging Door handles on the AFX/AW Tracks.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

sorry, I removed part of my comment from http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=405331 to create this thread and that is not known or obvious.

I am referring to custom made, whether home made/routed tracks or professional/ordered and paid for tracks.

in, specifically, two lane designs there seems to be a lot of room to one side of the slot and much less room from slot to slot.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Al, oh-ok...gotchya now. Then MY guess would be, they do it for Aesthetics, ie- the effect of a Berm or Shoulder- which we are more accustomed to seeing on Public roads, and is very much ingrained in our psyche


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Al, my Max-Trax section is 13.75" wide for a 6 lane piece. The c to c per
lane is 1.75" and the distance for center slot of the 2 outside lanes to edge
of border apron is 2.5 inches. Hope this helps.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

My guess is as follows. On a hand made track, the distance from each outside slot to the edge of the track must be wide enough to handle any car whose rear slides through a turn. Between lanes there is enough track surface to handle the car sliding, even if that means sliding across the other lane's rail and/or slot.

So now the question becomes - do you want to have cars bang into each other when they slide or do you want the lanes far enough apart so this does not happen?

Within the confines of plastic track's 3" width, the best compromise was the equal lane spacing of Tyco, Lifelike, etc. Aurora, Tomy and AW brought the lanes closer together which gave a little more room to the outside.

So I would imagine a "standard" lane spacing has developed over time and track builders just follow that "standard". Which leaves the requirement that the outside edge be wider. Could each lane be as wide apart as the outside edge? Of course. This would obviously make the track wider and eliminate any rubbin' and bangin' - two conditions which may or may not be wanted by the track owner.

Joe


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

I'll admit, I know very little about the custom tracks made by TKO, MaxTrax and Wizzard. But, I think my next questions are somewhat related to Alpinks ? Ok then, if I remember what I've heard in the past, isn't the lane spacing different for Max, TKO, and Wizzard tracks, and maybe even the total width of the tracks themselves -different, per given number of lanes ? I dunno...

PS- also, can you order Different Lane spacing when you order from those custom Track makers ?


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> I'll admit, I know very little about the custom tracks made by TKO, MaxTrax and Wizzard. But, I think my next questions are somewhat related to Alpinks ? Ok then, if I remember what I've heard in the past, isn't the lane spacing different for Max, TKO, and Wizzard tracks, and maybe even the total width of the tracks themselves -different, per given number of lanes ? I dunno...
> 
> PS- also, can you order Different Lane spacing when you order from those custom Track makers ?


I believe manufactured routed tracks have a slightly wider lane spacing than that found on plastic track, and the track is wider compared to the same number of lanes on plastic track. Part of this is also because borders are already built into a routed track. And I would guess you could request your desired lane spacing.

If you rout your own track, there are no set rules on what you do.

Joe


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> PS- also, can you order Different Lane spacing when you order from those custom Track makers ?


Yes. Doba's Darlington built by TKO is one of the most interesting ideas on lane spacing I have seen.
Built as a small replica of Darlington, including turn radius' and banking degree,
an interesting twist was implemented in one side of turns. The whole track is 
Tyco lane spacing with the one set of turns Tomy lane spacing! Genius!
If you're an old time Nascar fan, this idea is great and makes you wanna race on it.





Oh, here's the thread...


http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=283658&highlight=darlington


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

For a home built track, I could see this occurring if the track surface is cut out first, and a temporary wall is nailed to the edge for a guide for the first route. It's too easy to miscalculate the spacing and remaining inner edge that way.


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## SDMedanic (Apr 21, 2011)

The distance between the outside slots and the walls should be sufficient to allow a car to spin out without collecting the wall. The distance should also be sufficient to allow a car to slide up against the wall without blocking the car in the outside lane. This results in wider spacing between the outside lanes and the track edge. 

Track builders can provide tracks with variable lane spacing. On my track the lane spacing on the main straight is two inches. Spacing everywhere else is 1-3/8 inch. The transition between the two spacings drove TKO crazy. Rick DeRosa's track has wider lane spacing in marshalling areas. Others have shrunk the spacing to create a chicane. The results were worth it.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

OK, having room on the outside lane of a curve to pass a deslot that is snuggly against the barrier makes sense.


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## SDMedanic (Apr 21, 2011)

Personally I never put a barrier at the edge of the track. My philosophy is to give errant cars as much run off room as I can. You can see the Lexan "T" installed to protect each side of the infield from a car on the other side of the infield. There is a barrier on the inside edge of the back and front straights that protects them from cars falling off in the infield. If you look at the start of the esses there is a barrier on an adjacent straight track section to prevent a car falling off in the esses from coming onto that track section. The barriers work fine and cars typically come to rest on the table as opposed to the track.


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## ajd350 (Sep 18, 2005)

I am sooooo ready to run that track, Steve


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