# HO Slot Car US Tour progress.......



## mr_aurora

And so it begins, car is packed and ready to go with goodies for the stopping points along the way. First Stop...... SYRACUSE Point of Contact Bob Molta Slot Car Central...........


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## Dyno Dom

Bob, have a good safe trip.


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## fordcowboy

yes have fun my friend.


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## Super Coupe

Keep your car in the slot and have a safe trip.
>Tom<


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## Joe65SkylarkGS

Safe trip Pal. I'm sure it's gonna be a blast!!!


Any chance you can post a picture of your T-Shirt Bob? I'm sure guys would get a real kick out of it. If you can't from the road, email them to me and i'll post em for ya.

Joept1(@)optonline.net or if you can send from your cell, my # is 917 763 796 five :wave:


His shirt is soooooo cool. With his hobby shop and real 1:1's parked in front with pick ups under his ride!!!!! Good stuff Bob :thumbsup:


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## slotcarman12078

Back in my driving days, if I found a bar near the truckstop, I would wear a tee shirt under my dress shirt. IF the bar served Coors Lt in bottles, I would have my waitress sign the shirt with a black sharpie... I called it my Coors light US tour shirt. 

Maybe bring a white Aurora Tee shirt, and have everyone you run into sign it. It would look wicked all signed up in a picture frame when you get home!


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## honda27

*trip*

i didn't see any stops for nw Indiana or any where in Indiana bob are u going threw here on your trip. lets a few of the nw boys know ty.


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## mr_aurora

*Syracuse, NY*

Spent the day in Syracuse at Slot Car Central, Bob Molta's place. Bob has the distinct honor of owning more slot cars than any one else in the world, counting distributors. His place is amazing and open to the public..... We then took a trip down to Paul Kniffen's new business, Maxx Traxx. He bought the company and squared away all back orders and issues and now can provide a quality product in a matter of days. A nice operation and we got a real insight into this manufacturing process. Contact Paul if you need a sectional track with fantastic turnaround. Then back to Bob's shop where we raced stock tjets and had a blast. Jamie McGary, Shannon Rhodes, and George from Rochester were good competition.


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## mr_aurora

For Honda, no stops in Indiana this trip...... sorry.


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## mr_aurora

*Buffalo, NY*

Buffalo, NY found me at Niagara Hobbies where there is an active 1/32 racing program and a lot of slot cars. Met Ray and George from Canada and Joe S. and we toured the store and went to lunch. We BS'd slot cars for hours and headed off To Scott Zulawski's to view his fine AFX collection and a few more guys (Jeff, Paul, Mike) showed up. We headed out to DUFF's for some great wings and then back to Scott's for some trading, selling and good old slot car banter. Best comments were how this common interest has brought us together as friends.


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## joeslotcar

Hey Bob,
It was great to meet up with you in our fair city of Buffalo, NY. I have known you for a long time and it is always fun and interesting to get together and trade stories and slot cars. Everyone had a great time. 
The simple fact the people from all walks of life can come together and enjoy the slot car hobby is a testament to the good things in life. 
Good luck and be safe in your travels and catch you at the next show.


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## slotking

Sorry you missed Rochester and John Peckham's world of wonders.


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## slotcarman12078

Maybe they can catch John's wonderland on the return trip from one of the Richfield slot shows... It's not that far out of route for all he has to see, and it would be worth the extra day of travel to see it.


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## mr_aurora

Good idea, Tom and I will plan that.


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## mr_aurora

*Pittsburgh, PA*

Wednesday found me at John Bamonte's house for some grub and fun racing with 8 members of the WPSCC. Western Pennsylvania Slot Car Club. I got a rare opportunity to race a round robin tjet race with my newly acquired candy Ford GT. The guys had me tell some Ford Aurora stories (my favorite).


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## mr_aurora

*Sheffield Lake Cleveland Ohio*

5/22 found me at John Warren's home in Sheffield Lake, OH. John runs a well oiled racing program where everyone has fun and no one gets hurt.  He has been running this program for over 20 years and we had fun racing house cars O-Goes-HO Merc's on his oval. We wrapped it up with some Monster Truck Racing in the infield of the layout. Lots of HO banter and fun all night. We took a side trip to Lorain, OH where Wayne Pakan has his slot car shop, Futuretronics and had a great supply of HO and 1/32 cars for sale.


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## mr_aurora

*5/23 Cincinnati Ohio*

Started off the Cincinnati leg of my trip with a visit to REH Distributing and was amazed at all the slot car stuff this place still has. I spent a few hours talking slot cars with the owner bob and his daughter Kim. After that I headed to Cindy Dave's house to see his wonderful Afx collection and then off to Jeff's house where the cincy club was out in full force. I had a great night of racing and talking slot cars with the group.


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## mr_aurora

*5/24 AM Columbus Ohio*

I went to Charlie bensons house for early morning racing and talking slots. He had a group of about 10 racers/collectors in attendance. Fun times and myself and Howard reminisced about growing up on Long Island. In the evening I headed west


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## mr_aurora

*5/24 PM. Bristol Ohio*

Met up with friends ken and marylou. I saw kens awesome aurora vibrator collection and his display and presentation are awesome. Steve and Norm came over and we all had dinner and talked slot cars all night.


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## mr_aurora

*laCrosse, WI 5/25*

Saturday afternoon found me in Wisconsin at Rich Hohlfeld's house racing tjets on his lock and pin oval. His group as been racing slots continuously for around 42 years. The longevity is based on loose rules and an emphasis on fun. We did have fun tonite and the brats and sourkraut were good too. Tjet racing was fun.


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## Vince S

I'm new to Hobbytalk, but as a kid I was pretty into slot cars and models starting in the early '70s. I had quite a collection of cars, mostly Vibrators, T-Jets, AFX, and Magnatractions along with Motorifics and Sizzlers. My long suffering parents let me have a good sized track of Aurora lock and joiner track on two L-shaped 4x8 tables.

Alas, once I got further into my teens, a job, real cars and girls got in the way of my beloved hobbies. in 1988 I sold off all of my slot car stuff to a local friend (who, I found out a few years ago, still has most of it). Need to give him a call.... 

And for more than 20 years, I've had fun driving and working on real cars, motorcycles, and old trucks. I have a few older BMWs, cars and motorcycles, a few '70s Honda cycles, and a few old mostly Dodge trucks joined in, too.

I had a brief foray into the modern slot car world a few years ago when I reconnected with old friend Jim Nagy of the late Slot Pro Speedway fame. I visited the Hammond show once, too. I attended the Fling in 2010. 

And since that, I've done nothing but buy a big old house that keeps me busy and broke. I did score a batch of T-Jets and some track at a nearby estate sale last year to go along with my thrift store finds. 

I had the chance to meet Bob shortly after he left Ken's place in Bristol, IL today. Since I live less than half an hour away, I should probably should try to make Ken's acquaintance to keep my mind from drifting from the slot car hobby.

Bob, it was fun talking with you! I wish I'd had a track set up and you more time! I'll try harder to make the Hammond show again.

vince
Big Rock, IL


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## TexMexSu

Vince S said:


> I had the chance to meet Bob shortly after he left Ken's place in Bristol, IL today. Since I live less than half an hour away,.
> 
> vince
> Big Rock, IL


I too have drifted in & out of slots for many years. Probably should have tried to make the 30 minute drive also but yesterday was a busy day for us.
We belong to several troop support groups and Memorial Day is one of the biggies for 'missions'.










Anyway, I would like to have been part of this historic trip but we are in the slot car 'dry' period right now again.
many interests and other hobbies have been keeping us occupied and the bank account drained.

Best of luck on the remaining journey.


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## mr_aurora

*Minneapolis, MN 5/26*

Memorial Day, and as is said, this is a day of remembrance for us all. I met up with Chicago Slot Show friends, Tom, Joe, Warren, Pete, and also Rick and Shane. I had fun BS'ing slot cars. We raced on Joe's White Dog Raceway and I travelled around Brooklyn Park viewing collections. The countryside in MN is beautiful.


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## Grampa Ho

It was good to meet and talk with you Bob.
Thanks for coming thru La Crosse and stopping to see us.
We did pick up facts on the stuff we are racing and got the chance to snag up some of your goodies.
Hope it helps to pay some of the gas bill you are piling up.
Safe journey and keep having fun.

Rich


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## MrGilbwrench

*Bob's US tour*

Thanks Bob for stopping by in La Cross Wisconsin to visit with the boys of RCHORA, River City HO Racing Association. I know your not much of a racer but Thanks for racing with us. Don't forget you somehow won the first heat driving one of Rich's Hobby Stocks! Thanks for the deals on the Dash products we bought from you and hope the $ helps carries you down the slot car road your traveling.

Butch's Resin Bods


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## bobhch

*Looks like around 4 PM on 5/28/2014 here in Nebraska...*

Bob you are on a roll....:roll:

We are all looking forward to being part of your TOUR tomorrow in Gretna
Nebraska.

Anyone from HobbyTalk is welcome to come over to our home for this event .
I will be home all day so, PM me if you want my address.

The cave and the track are all ready to go. 

I heard several people are bringing some SHOW AND TELL items 
with lots of smiles and good times to be had I'm sure!! :hat: 

Bob...BBQ for dinner ( sorry we don't have a Hooters  )...zilla


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## mr_aurora

*Tuesday May 27 Sioux city , Iowa*

Met up with Knud Knudsen in Sioux city and spent the evening talking tjets and reliving our childhood. He lives in the house he grew up In and has the car he drove In high school. He has several cool rides from his teen years. A 55 ford and 56 ford both pickups. A 29 ford coupe and a 31 ford pickup. Oh yeah, he has a nice slot car collection too.


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## mr_aurora

*Wednesday 5/28 Omaha Nebraska.*

Arrived in Omaha Nebraska at bob zilla's house and spent the day racing with rob, Larry and lendell came up from Hannibal MO and spent the day oogling bobs awesome collection. We raced KC style with Larry and enjoyed bobs cool customs.


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## mr_aurora

*Thursday 5/29 Rapid City, SD*

After getting a motorcycle escort for 100 miles I landed in Rapid City. Home of 2 of the Ford/Aurora winners and several runners up. I met up with Ron Colerick, the 1963 winner and we toured the city checking out the hobby shop his dad owned and the Ford dealer the Thunderbird came from. We met up with a great group of enthusiastic racers and Jeff Davis, who came in 3rd when Henry Harnish won in'62, also came. Rapid City has been one of my memorable spots, actually, they all are.


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## oldraceral

Thanks for stopping in Rapid City on your tour, Bob. It was good to meet you. Funny how a common interest makes it seem like you've known someone for a long time. Have a safe journey.


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## AltaVistaRider

*HO Slot Car US Tour*

Bob, It sure was great having you stop in Rapid City. I'm glad Deb and I postponed our trip so we could be here when you came through Rapid City. It was fun showing you around and reminiscing about the slot car racing in the 60's. Have a safe trip and thanks again. Ron


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## swamibob

Hi Bob:

I just got my internet back. Thank you for stopping in town. Everybody here was really pleased to be a part of your finally getting to run a car around your old Tub Track! 

Feel free to stop up anytime, we'll be happy to show you around town when you have some time.

For anyone on Hobby Talk: During the racing season (Fall through Spring) feel free to contact me and I'll let you know when the next race is. Feel free to join us.

Tom


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## mr_aurora

*Denver, CO 5/30*

Over a dozen racers/collectors came out to Walt Pierce's place in beautiful Denver to race and talk slots. We had an IROC race with rare one of a kind tow trucks compliments of my long time friend, Joe Furuli. I came in 10th in the race so either I am getting better (not) or the field is sympathetic. I met a lot of great guys and clearly the Front Range Club is alive and well and keeping the HO hobby fun and competitive. They showed me pictures of the club tracks and they really are awesome. In the photo album were shots of the member tracks they had as kids. A real nice touch......


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## tjetcar

Bob, thank you for coming and spending time with us. enjoyed your company. I want to thank Walt for hosting. This hobby has always brought the kid out in me, and I've meet a lot of fine people . Wish you a safe journey, and a lots of smiles.
Sheldon


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## Ernie F.

*Finally Here @ H/T!*

Hey Bob,

Finally got my membership to the forum squared away, I'll be Ernie F. instead of my usual BIG E, for some reason. This will be my first post.
Glad to hear that the trip is going well, I really wish I could have accepted your invitation for the "co pilot" seat in the KIA.
I wonder if my old school Denver Auto and Diesel College is still in operation? Man, that was a LONG time ago! Careful crossin' those Rockies!

Enjoy your "slot car safari" my friend, wish I was there to keep you company.
I'll call ya... Ernie


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## waltgpierce

*Front Range HO (FRHO) - Thanks!*

The Front Range HO club (FRHO) in Colorado was HONORED with a visit from Bob Beers on May 30th. In addition to be a legend in the slot car world, he is a great person - entertaining and fun to be around. A wonderful night!
I have attached a picture of Bob getting ready to race the IROC tow trucks from the great slot car resin caster, Joe Furuli. A picture of the trucks is also attached. 
Notice Bob's hyper-focus intensity as he prepares to navigate the red tow truck on the 70 foot MaxTrax! 

Safe trip Bob.


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## tjetcar

Ernie F. said:


> Hey Bob,
> 
> Finally got my membership to the forum squared away, I'll be Ernie F. instead of my usual BIG E, for some reason. This will be my first post.
> Glad to hear that the trip is going well, I really wish I could have accepted your invitation for the "co pilot" seat in the KIA.
> I wonder if my old school Denver Auto and Diesel College is still in operation? Man, that was a LONG time ago! Careful crossin' those Rockies!
> 
> Enjoy your "slot car safari" my friend, wish I was there to keep you company.
> I'll call ya... Ernie


Ernie, I also went D.A.D.C. finished in 1978. the school got bought buy Lincoln Tech. they built a new facility north of I-70 in Denver.


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## mr_aurora

*Salt Lake City, UT 5/31*

After pushing the Kia over the Rockies, I rolled into Salt Lake City with plans on looking up my old friend, Howard Johansen. I had not been able to get in touch with him prior to the trip so I took a chance and drove to his house, having his address. Knocked on the door and no response so today was a travel day exclusively. Next will be some much need R and R with the kids in Portland and back out there on the trail Wednesday heading into much anticipated California.


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## LDThomas

Enjoy the kids in Portland. They are the reason for the trip in the first place.


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## mr_aurora

*Redwood City, Palo Alto, San Jose, CA 6/5*

After a great visit with my kids, Alyssa and Jeremy, it was back out on the HO tour route. My first stop was Redwood City where I met Don and we raced on a wonderful track made of snap lock AFX track currently housed in the front window of an Auto Parts store. We then went to his house and viewed his home track, a work in progress. and looked over his collection. Then we went to a hobby store in Palo Alto where I raced on a fast and smooth Bowman track set up for profit ($5/15 minutes). People came in and were happy to pay it. The shop is called Red Racer and it caters to the up scale area clientele. We then went to Shaunadega Raceway, Shaun Lee's house, and 10 people showed up to race an IROC series on his fantastic Bowman banked tri-oval. We had a blast and even though I did not make the main, marshaling is exciting in itself. Yelling and screaming is the norm on this fast paced track.


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## eastside johnny

Shaunadega...is that the track with the pit lane that exits off of the back straight from the inside lane?


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## Rick Voegelin

We were honored to have Bob Beers visit Aptos Raceway on Friday night. We had a GREAT day with Bob, visiting the Canepa Motorsports Museum, stuffing ourselves with oversized omelets at the Red Apple Cafe, and racing on the GreenRing road course, a clone of the Green Fray track.



A good number of the NorCal Slot Car Brotherhood braved the Friday traffic jams to welcome Bob to our little corner of the world. Left to right: Greg Kondrek, Glen Schneiderman, Mr. Beers, Rick Voegelin, Jim Rose, and Paul Leuty.



Jim, Paul, and Bob checked out this full size version of the AFX Gulf Porsche 917 at the Canepa museum. This was the car we wanted to take home!



Bob "I'm Only a Collector, Not a Racer" Beers is very handy with a controller, and can drive with the best of them. We ran a series of IROC races with T-jets and X-Tractions.

http://s100.photobucket.com/user/rickvoegelin/library/Bob%20Beers%20Visit?sort=3&page=1

More photos of Bob's visit to Aptos Raceway at the link above.

It was a great privilege to host Bob for a day. His knowledge of Aurora history is vast, and he kept us entertained for hours with his stories about the Ford Aurora slot car competition and tales of the early days at Aurora.

We send our best wishes to Bob as he travels across the country!


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## mr_aurora

*Saturday 6/7 Escondido, CA*

From the question on shaunadega raceway, it does have an active pit road off lane 1. Saturday I spent the afternoon with expert track builder Brad Bowman and toured his facility. He has a very extensive collection of post 1971 slot cars from all makes with extra emphasis on F-1 and real race car representation. Geoff Campbell, a local racer who is formerly from the Denver area joined us. As always at brad's place it is my honor to run a few laps on K-S-R the Katz Spa Ring.


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## mr_aurora

*Tucson, AZ 6/8*

I arrived in Tucson, AZ at the home of long time friend Alan Strang. Alan and I have corresponded since 1990 and his love for collecting HO slot cars is equal to, if not larger, than mine. His focus is on not just Aurora but ALL HO slot car makers worldwide and trust me, his collection is vast and 95% of it is wonderfully displayed. We talked slot cars for hours and then got into some friendly bartering and when the smoke cleared, we were still friends.  I learned that Alan is a serious American Motors collector and enthusiast. So much so that he has the last production car to come off the assembly line, a 1988 AMC Eagle. It is documented and he has only 50 miles on the car. He also has no less than 5 other AMC unique cars in his stable. I loved his total collection and enthusiasm towards the hobby.......... Alan also is in the 3rd edition of a guide to ALL the HO slot cars ever made. It is a tremendously concise volume and I recommend it to all serious HO enthusiasts. email him for more info...... [email protected]


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## old blue

Are you doing anything in each city you stop in to commemorate the trip? A car from every stop, or anything? Will this all end up in a second book?

Old Blue


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## mr_aurora

I am, Blue. I'm having a large poster signed by everyone I meet along the way.


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## mr_aurora

*Dallas TX Tuesday 6/10*

Met jerry Boswell and drove to Lonny Getso's place to see his awesome race barn. It did not disappoint. It was awesome and we raced on the former KC Bowman track. Fast and smooth. Lonny restored the blue king and is working on the orange one. Both are rare originals.


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## mr_aurora

*Dallas, TX Wednesday 6/11*

I spent the day with Jim Freday and we raced on his new Bowman country road course track. It was just perfect in every way. It was a piece of beautiful furniture and it handles well. We raced IROC Jaguars and VW's. Then on to Stacey wrights place to race on his Tomy track, the beast. It was Fun, tough, and beastly. What a great man cave race room Stacey has. Back to Jerry's place to check Out his track in a storage container. Great idea. Neat and air conditioned too. He hones his racing skills there and it shows.


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## NTxSlotCars

Great to finally meet you today Bob!!!


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## mr_aurora

Good to meet you too Rich. Get the book from Stacey and enjoy it. Bob B


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## hojoe

Hey everybody, guess who?


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## mr_aurora

*Dallas, TX Thursday 6/12*

Jerry and I went to a couple of hobby shops. First was Wild Bills which was jam packed with kits trains and new slot cars. Then we went to MAL Hobbies where time has stood still for 40 years. Ed the owner, was great and we swapped Aurora stories and I bought and traded for some cool Aurora items. We then finished off the evening racing at Jim freday's house on his awesome Bowman track.


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## beast1624

Bob
It has been wonderful to spend time with you. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your knowledge and love of our hobby. It will never be forgotten!


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## Magnuts




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## mr_aurora

*Norman, OK Friday 6/13*

I met up with john herrin, a racer from Wichita who moved to OK for work. He had an extensive Afx and tyco collection along with several racers and special Road Race Replicas and other customs. We went to Tom galloways house where I saw the most extensive tyco pro collection and displays ever. He also has numerous banded and boxed Afx cars. What a Fabulous display. Wow!


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## tgallaway

Hey Bob,
thanks for the visit. it was a blast to hear the stories and learn from the master.
I hope you have a safe trip and I will get up your way as soon as I can.

thanks again, Tom Gallaway


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## mr_aurora

*Wichita KS Saturday 6/14*

I rolled into Wichita expecting to see a couple of guys and a dozen showed up. We met at Apple Graphix, Mark Johansen's place. We raced, I am getting better, and had a great time talking slot cars. We then went to Mike Lincous' house for more racing on the Pocket Rocket Raceway. Good fun and great guys. I took second in the Fray style race.


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## mr_aurora

*Kansas City KS Sunday 6/15*

Father's Day was memorable with a visit to the home of the "father" of HO, Howard Kilgore. His collection is by far the nicest in completeness and quality than most I have seen. Howard will always share his vast knowledge of the hobby with all who come to visit. We raced on his beautiful scenic track and saw his pristine 1:1 1963 VW bug. John habernal, Malcolm mcyntire, fordcowboy, mike smith and a few others came by to talk and listen about slot cars. When things quieted down Howard and I did a little trading and I am coming home with a much coveted Ford/Aurora trophy for my collection.


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## mr_aurora

*St Lous, MO Monday 6/16*

First off a short 3 hour trip to Lendell Peery's shed to see his neat setup. He had about 5 tracks up and running and we had fun racing freestyle. Some of his buddies came out along with our own LDThomas whose Kansas City style car building is world renowned. We had a lot of fun and lunch was dynamite. afterwards, I rolled into ST Louis around 5pm and arrived at Greg Skelton's house. What a fantastic Vibrator and Tjet collection along with a beautiful AFX collection. He is collecting all variations and I saw some I was not aware of...... His layout for his collection and the cars was fantastic. He has a great tjet track, 6 lanes, and we ran two neat races on it. First was an INDY tjet race and second was a fan-jet tjet race with cars controlled solely by the fan in the back. What fun!! Greg's group has the record for the biggest turnout so far with 16 guys showing up on a Monday night, thanks guys.


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## mr_aurora

*Huntsville AL Tuesday 6/17*

I met up with Kevin Riggs for a drink and was joined by Rob Rose and Billy. Afterwards Kevn and I drove to Pat Hastings house. He has a wonderful scenic track and we raced tjets on it and then raced the HO train to the crossings. What a blast. Pat's friend Tony joined Us and we talked slot cars and also raced on his cloverleaf Maxx Track. We ran IROC tjet motorcycles and they ran surprisingly good. A first time for a lot of things slot car related at Pat and Jenness' house. What a great time.


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## mr_aurora

*Marietta, GA Wednesday 6/18*

Started out at jeffrey (Homer) Stillwell's house where his overall shop is awesome and complete with a stock of all parts for racing. He runs a program monthly at his place. He has a tri-oval, an awesome tomy track, and an oval and dirt track. Also a 1/32 drag strip and an HO drag strip. Some Friends came over and we raced and talked slot cars for hours. In The evening I went to Mike Vitale's house to see his MEV operation. Wow, I was amazed at his thoroughness and attention to assembly line manufacturing. He is one master craftsman. Mike walked me through the process Step by Step and he has it down to a science.


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## LDThomas

I have been fortunate enough to visit both gentlemen. Mike Vitale's attention to detail is extraordinary. I left Homer's place with my name on his pole. (He write's down all track records for history's sake.) And my T-Jet record is never to be broken because he tore down the big sectional track the next day and reconfigured it into the gem he now has. My own little piece of Homer history...


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## WooffWooff

*Come again soon Bob...*

It was a real pleasure indeed to meet "the man" known to the fans of T-jets as "Mr. Aurora". I'm also very pleased that I actually got a picture of him with a big smile on his face. Looks like Kevin R. was into it as well. HO trains and t-jets do it every-time. Happy trails Bob, and good luck with the pontoon(sp?) clean-up when you get back home.


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## mr_aurora

*Winston-Salem, NC Thursday 6/19*

I arrived at Bob Weichbrodts house and we looked over his vast collection of tjets and AFX. He has been collecting since childhood and he is always looking for that elusive car to add to his stable. He has two real nice tracks and when the racing crew came over we held IROC races on both tracks with really nice and smooth running MEV cars. We had a blast and with crash and burn rules it made it real interesting. I then went to Steve's house where we ran on a beautiful 1/32 home built track he made. It had LaGuna Seca in mind when he built it.


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## Rawafx

It was a real pleasure seeing Bob Beers again and racing with him. Our turnout of usual racers was a little light due to several being out of town and our good friend Danny was in an auto accident yesterday(he is fine though his car was totaled). After racing we had a nice time of "bench" racing and discussing Bob's fantastic tour around the country, including his stop the day before at my good friend Jeffrey Stillwell's facility in Marietta, GA. 

Bob Weichbrodt
[email protected]
Winston-Salem, NC


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## mr_aurora

*Virginia Beach, VA Friday 6/20*

Arriving at beautiful Virginia Beach, I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Bowman. Tom has been in HO for decades and he has been written up in Car Model for his work in developing magnets for early AFX cars. Tom is always experimenting and has been making his own racing bodies BRP for years. When the racers came over, we ran an extensive series of IROC races with the final one of the night being custom Isetta's under black light. Awesome!


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## Magnuts

It was a totally fun, nostagic day, having Bob Beers visit my little raceway, tucked away in the East Coast cul-de-sac called Virginia Beach. Here is my pictorial race report of the evening: http://www.bat-jet.com/mascar/bb.html


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## bobhch

Right here reading this thread and looking at all the pictures on the other thread...WOW!!

Bob...love a good slot car party :hat: ...zilla


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## mr_aurora

*Alexandria, VA Saturday, 6/21*

Wow!, what a day in Alexandria at Elliot Dalberg's house. He had about 25 guys come over for some slot car fun and fun we had. Elliot's collection is one of the best I have seen and he is willing to show it in a way where almost all is displayed. From Playcraft to Atlas and large scale slots, he has it displayed well. We raced on his wonderful scenic track and watched Ford/Aurora videos on the big screen. It was a great time with several East Coast slot car collectors.


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## mr_aurora

*Kutztown, PA Saturday 6/22*

I was scheduled to be in Oxford, PA at a race hosted by John Forlino, a popular local racer in the area. He had several guys coming over for the race. John, also known as YENSID (Disney spelled backwards), has taken ill and had to cancel the race. We all wish him well and a speedy recovery. To the rescue came Randy Haydt, and the ECHORR guys, who promptly stepped up and planned an impromptu race at Randy's Raceway in Kutztown, PA, It was my first time there and since I know most of the ECHORR guys personally, we had a blast racing on Randy's wonderful Aurora tub track and his big oval. With a couple of computer glitches and loads of laughs, we held an ECHORR Nostalgic, Super Stock, and Indy class race. Naturally, I came in the bottom third but I did have fun... yeah right, trust me, I will stick to collecting from now on.


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## mr_aurora

*Scotch Plains Monday 6/23*

It was fitting that the end of my US Tour route went past New Jersey Nostalgia Hobby and a subsequent visit to Joe Corea's house to view his wonderful slot car collection. Joe and I have been friends for almost 30 years in the hobby and we share the same likes when it comes to slot cars. Joe's store is jam packed with slot cars and parts and he caters to both collectors and racers alike. You must see it on a trip through New Jersey. At Joe's house his collection is painstakingly presented like the fine antiques and collectibles they are. His variety is vast from Riggen and brass wars cars, to Atlas, 1/24 scale, and almost a full collection of Aurora slot cars. All this is surrounded by a fabulously restored and operational Aurora tub track.

Thank you all for being a part of my wonderful journey across the United states visiting friends with the slot car hobby in common. I would also like to thank those across the country with whom I visited, for their most hospitable friendship extended to me along my way. The Kia Soul logged 10,750 miles and performed magnificently.


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## LDThomas

Welcome home!


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## hojoe

It sure was fun following your progress here on HT. I was glad to be able to participate in one of your stops. Don't forget to post a picture of the poster that everyone signed. Will you be making copies of the signed poster available for sale?
hojoe


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## Joe65SkylarkGS

Boy oh boy I'd love to see Mike Vitale's operation. Your saying he does it all in his home?? How big a space? Did you get any pics of it??

I bet he was working on my 65 GS's!!!!! lol I got my order a short while ago and I'm waiting for a bunch of blems he's sending!!!


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## Rick Voegelin

I've really enjoyed following your travels across the country and back. You've fulfilled every slot car guy's dream vacation. I am so impressed with the quality of the tracks, the collections, and the people that you visited along the way. Life is a journey, so thanks for taking us along on this one.

Cheers,
Rick V.


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## old blue

It was an honor to meet you and talk with you about slot cars. I think it validates in all of us the fascination with these little cars that can span across the country and bring us all together in some way. We share a simple joy and I saw it in your face as you watched some vintage Aurora cars cruise their way around Lendell's magnificent track. For a moment we were all ten years old again and did not have mortgages and car payments and whatever else. Thank you for sharing.

Old Blue


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## Joe65SkylarkGS

Rick Voegelin said:


> I've really enjoyed following your travels across the country and back. You've fulfilled every slot car guy's dream vacation. I am so impressed with the quality of the tracks, the collections, and the people that you visited along the way. Life is a journey, so thanks for taking us along on this one.
> 
> Cheers,
> Rick V.


Very well said Rick. My sentiment exactly!!!


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## slotcarman12078

Hey Bob... Is there any chance you have pictures of Mike Vitale's track, or can you at least describe it? I've heard he has a cool table with both trains and slots, but that's all I've heard...


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## mr_aurora

SCM, I went to Mike Vitale's to see his body manufacturing process and I did not take any photo's of his track. Bob


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## Super Coupe

Looks like another road trip. LOL
>Tom<


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