# Is Scenery Important On Slot Tracks ?



## A/GS (Jul 10, 2014)

Is scenery important to you on your slot track ? From the tracks I've seen on You Tube some tracks rival the best model train layouts; while others have none, or are bare bones affairs consisting of a grass mat and one or two buildings. My choice is somewhere in the middle; If racing, slot cars tend to fly off the track and damage some of the fine scenery you've spent so much time on. :wave: A/GS / Terry


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## carlosnseattle (May 12, 2009)

I love the look of scenery but I don't have any on my track, never have. And I'm in awe of the guys who can make dream up ideas for scenery and make it from scratch. There are some incredibly creative people in this world, just wish I was one of them

So I think it is important as long as it adds to the racing environment, you don;t want a tunnel or landscaping that obscure your line of sight.


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

Scenery works if you have only one layout that you want, and you like scenery. I get bored and want to change my track too often. I put in banked curves and then take them out, I put all straightaways and then go for more curves. Scenery was never flexible enough for all of that. It is great as a backdrop when photographing or displaying cars. HOJoe has a wonderful set up with campgrounds and restaurants with streetlights and everything. To each his own.

Old Blue


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

A/GS, good question in that it includes "important" rather than appreciate.
I certainly appreciate a scenery slot layout but have none on my layout.
In 1967 I was totally fascinated with a track called "Scottsboro Raceway" which was a dedicated build subject of a magazine published by Car Model. 
Scottsboro was built on two ping pong tables for a size of 5' wide x 18' long.
Over the years I've collected HO race related buildings in hopes of building
a large scenic track. I've had several 4 lane AFX tracks, a 6 lane Tomy and my current Max-Trax but due to the various cars we run and other factors unfortunately the scenery never came to be. 
The AHM building of Summer stock theatre in pic was a Dance Hall for "SR".


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I have 2 large layouts, one has a ton of scenery on it, trees, buildings, street lights etc, the other layout has some scenery, made out more like a "race track" with way less to hit for both cars and turn marshals. While I like the racetrack style, Its still nice to turn some casual laps on the heavily decorated track, who cares if at the end of the night you have to straighten a few trees or lamp posts, its all good. I have friends who like the race track & those who like the other one. 
I say do what you like, its also a ton of fun building scenery for your layout, you can build decorations out of almost anything, just be creative & do what you like. Can you go too far, sure, I did on my layout but it still races OK. 

Jaybird Speedway









The Glass Ring








Boosted


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

Its just a lot of work and repair! We called ours Haunted Highway and was complete with the IHC Gas Station, Church, and Graveyard! I even had the Adams Family House and Psycho Bates House from Polar Lights with a pond for dumping bodys and cars! It was all lit up and fun to race.

Trouble is things get broken in the heat of battle and afterwards you have to store it away you have to keep fixing and fixing everytime we want to race. After reacurring electrical problems, dead sections, then broken houses and telephone poles too? Ugh! I consider myself a modeler over a racer but this is too much work.

So now our track is pretty plain. I'd like to do another cool haunted town with zombies too but until I can figure how to build it indestructible we'll have to settle for plain paint and lifelike brush for our scenery


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

Either way is fine by me as long as the voltage is right and there are amps to spare!

My old 1/32 layout:









and my current HO layout:


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

aurora fan said:


> Its just a lot of work and repair! We called ours Haunted Highway and was complete with the IHC Gas Station, Church, and Graveyard! I even had the Adams Family House and Psycho Bates House from Polar Lights with a pond for dumping bodys and cars! It was all lit up and fun to race.
> 
> Trouble is things get broken in the heat of battle and afterwards you have to store it away you have to keep fixing and fixing everytime we want to race. After reacurring electrical problems, dead sections, then broken houses and telephone poles too? Ugh! I consider myself a modeler over a racer but this is too much work.
> 
> So now our track is pretty plain. I'd like to do another cool haunted town with zombies too but until I can figure how to build it indestructible we'll have to settle for plain paint and lifelike brush for our scenery


got any pics???
that 1 U describe, would be my "Dream" Layout...

I personally like scenery on a track-layout...
unfortunately, I only have a '50's era looking Texaco Gas Station.. so far..
VERY Detailed though "Bubba O'Reilly" over the door & "Earl's Midnight Auto"
over the garage (my step-Brother's name) ....
identical 2 the 1 on the corner where we grew up... 
now need a Diner, like the 1 we hung-out at ;-)..

Bubba 123 :wave:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

For the most part, it depends on how hard core you are at racing. Scenery can be a distraction, can create blind spots, and can get damaged. A lot of the damage factor depends on what you're running. Most stock T Jets really don't get fast enough to trash anything. When you get into the "go fast" mode, anything is possible, so a clean play area makes sense.


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## Serge (Jan 4, 2014)

*Scenery*

When I started club racing, I boxed up my old track and built a "bigger & better" routed track. I sure miss the old track. Someday I'll dig out the old stuff and build a scenery track for my grandsons. 

Until I figure out how to post pictures on the forum, you can see pieces of my scenery track on my album "My Tracks".


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

as a hard core racer, I care 1 way or the other
with or without it, everyone has to race it.

that said, I love looking at cool well done scenery


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## Green Destiny (Jun 26, 2008)

The Glass Ring








Boosted[/QUOTE]

I've been at races where scenery, unfortunately, gets broken. I do like the look of the The Glass Ring. A nice balance between aesthetics and drivability.


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## wheelszk (Jul 8, 2006)

NO. just race


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Scenery is the single most important aspect of racing.
If no one cared about it, we would all be racing on concrete floors.


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## Shadowracer (Sep 11, 2004)

Its really an unanswerable question. Everyone has their take. 

I like a racetrack to look like a racetrack. So where mine may not have hills, trees or much in the way of buildings, it will at least have a red/white wall around it, a pit area and some billboards...and maybe a tech shed in the infield if I'm feeling frisky. But then I build in hopes of having real race meets, so any scenic elements I would add would have to be able to hold up to that.

Some guys tend to treat slots, not like actual model cars, but as simple little electronic gizmos that you race. (Those are the guys who have an orange body, tires sticking way out the sides, red rear tires and blue fronts.) Most of those guys don't bother with scenery.

Now to be fair, that's a generalization...but you get my meaning. And each is a valid as the other. So I guess the answer is "whatever works for you"


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

.........


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

One other thing I forgot to mention. I'm not a racer, never have been, and probably never will be. I'm way out there on the fringe as a slotter. I just don't have the drive to be one. Don't get me wrong... I love horsepower... I miss my 69 Firebird with the built 68 GTO 400 motor, hot cam, dual quads, 4 spd, posi rear. But I never raced it either. It's just not in my blood I guess. I love my little toy cars though!


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

Could you imagine the carnage if the Fray introduced scenery into this setting? OMG, what would they call the tracks? Currently they are called "Purple Track", "Red Track", etc. LOL

I do like the concept of scenery mentally slowing people down. Interesting point!


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## Paul R (Nov 3, 2009)

I prefer a minimal amount of scenery on tracks where I am racing. I have found the material used in scenery, gravel, grass, etc, get's into the car and can cause issues. Marshals also tend to be really hard on trees, etc. That being said there are some outstanding looking tracks out there with full scenery. I'd love to tool around on them. Just not sure I'd want a full blown club race on them.


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

I can understand why racers prefer no landscaping/scenery. Since I'm not a racer I think track landscaping adds to the whole experience of playing with the cars and enjoying running them. 

However, I prefer race track type landscaping. There is something about a Ford GT or an F1 or Indy car running around a track that looks like a small town that doesn't seem right (unless the town looks like Monaco!).

I hope to start landscaping my track soon.


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## SouthLyonBen (Mar 14, 2012)

http://www.faller-ams.se/indexeng.html I love scenery check this Faller site for some amazing stuff!


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

I just bought some Peiser HO people for my routed track...I might have to put ice skates on them to go with the blue infield sections! Little people are cool!


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## Gareth (Mar 8, 2011)

Boosted-Z71 said:


> The Glass Ring
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I believe I've said this before Boosted but this is one of the nicest routed racetracks I think I've ever seen it. I love the subtle elevation changes and the way the track looks draped over the terrain. I only wish HO cars went at scale speeds to really compliment it. 

My track table just has green cloth on it and no scenery. Its designed so I can drop various HO, 1/32nd and 1/43rd tracks on it as I wish so the blank canvas is more important. Most of the time it sees use as a development centre for club race cars anyway.


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

Your slot cars can do scale speeds if you simply lower the voltage and/or change out the magnets (thinking pancake here) to make the cars more old school. Nothing stopping you from driving more slowly on any given track. It's part of the reason many people enjoy tjets. Emphasize the "model" part of model motoring!


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## hojohn (May 21, 2008)

i think its up to the owner of the track, as for me i get a track set up and its great for awhile then i get bored with it and down it comes and a new one takes its place. i did have a track with trains and houses mountains and tunnel. all the houses were lit street lights and all the bells and whistles that was the track i had set up for the longest time but just like all the rest i got bored and down she came. havent had anything but track on the table since.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Boosted-Z71 said:


> The Glass Ring
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've turned a few laps on that track, it has some good elevation, banks, straights, and a couple of tight turns that drive you crazy, lol...
Some great landscaping work, but doesn't slow you down when racing, just gives an added realism that catches your eye as you race around it...RM


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

I agree - sometimes you just got to tear down to rebuild. The fully landscaped track becomes an albatross to the owner after a while (depending upon circumstances of course). Here's the demise of one of my tracks:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

My biggest newbie mistake was messing with scenery before making sure the track was 100%. Fixing track issues after the fact became a major hassle. Hopefully, I'll remember next time!!


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## on the edge 02 (Oct 11, 2014)

I for like landscape. Adds a sense of realism.


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## tomhocars (Oct 19, 2005)

I have a Brad Boman built track.It's 106 ".I loved it from the start.It had one up and down elevation.It was missing something.I decided it needed some landscaping.I never realized it would take so long.It's a race track ,so there wont be any houses or churches on it.I have done some initial work on itand I willstart a thread on i.It will take awhile since Im get anal about what goes on to the track.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

If you want cars that went closer to scale speeds stick with boxstock T-Jets. If your cars were going a scale speed they would look like they were nearly stopped. Recently Road&Track tested a new Corvette at Lime Rock and it averaged just over 90 MPH. To 1/87 scale that would be 1.03 MPH, in 1/64th scale it would be 1.41 MPH. At those speeds cars would lap my 50 foot MaxTrax in 32.95 or 24.24 seconds. A good boxstock car turns my track in 7 seconds.
Most tracks are not to scale either, for the most part they would only be a little bigger than a gokart track. 
My own track is rather stark, once in a while I do race on a landscaped track. I tend to ignore scenery during a race unless it obstructs my view. I would not be likely to win any races if I was gawking at the scenery, the situation is somewnat different if you always run by yourself.


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## hojoe (Dec 1, 2004)

It is to me. I haven't gotten bored with it yet, but when I do I'll tear it all down and start over. My main problem is dust. I can clean the track, no problem. But the trees, buildings and even the grassy areas get dusty and little cob webs all ever the place. Very hard to clean and when it gets to bad it's time to start over.
hojoe


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Dust is always an issue with a scenery environment. I went through hell with this dusty old house, so I know first hand what you mean. Vacuuming isn't much of an option because little folk and scenery bits can get sucked into a Hoover's "black hole". :lol: If you have a small air compressor, a pressure valve and an air gun hand halve, you can gently blow off the scenery, which will transplant the major dust and webs to a place easier to remove it permanently. A Swiffer makes the track clean up fast and efficient. Tape rolls and lint removers are great for track with no scenery, but they're difficult to work with with trees, streetlights, etc. 

Maybe it's just my imagination, but my track used to be a dust magnet, and if I did a wipe down with WD-40, I found it attracted far less dust, and it stayed cleaner for weeks longer than a simple wipe down. I imagine there's some static electricity involved with the track... The only down side I saw was that first day, the track was slick, even after a wipe down with a clean rag.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

A number of people have noticed the same thing about WD-40. Besides solvents WD-40 contains some oil and that is what picks all of the dust up and keeps fresh dust off longer besides conditioning the rails. You would think that the oil would make the track slippery, but the solvent part of the formulation must remove it.


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## Franko (Mar 16, 2005)

IMO, scenery is important only as it adds to the racing experience and you don't care if a friend or a friend's child destroys your beloved scenery. The best track is one where you can enjoy with amigos and not give a s#$% if they crash.


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## vickers83 (Mar 8, 2010)

To keep the dust down I always covered the track with a sheet of clear plastic, it was lightweight & didn`t break the scenery pieces. Pretty sure it was a roll of painting drop cloth from home depot...:wave:


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I use a cheap car cover on my layout, it works really well and you can find them for ~$20 or so, they have elastic on the edges and as mentioned are light enough not to bother scenery

Boosted


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## TheRockinator (May 16, 2007)

I can take or leave scenery. I've raced with and without. "Serious" Racers around here (Seattle) generally have no scenery apart from Adverts on the guardrails or perhaps a Dunlop or Goodyear pedestrian overpass. My Track, The "Kitchen Floor" is laid out over a black & white checkerboard surface because it reminds me of where my old Eldon layout was set up when I was a kid. The only scenery I have is a scale, 1/32, Kitchen Table, 4 chairs, a fridge, Sink, and stove. Oh, and there's a roast Turkey on the table. 

That said, we have a couple of guys in our digital group who have landscaping, back drops, trees and tire walls. It's all good until somebody knocks a tree into your lane. 

Later The have no skills so that's the main reason I have no landscape Rockinator


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

hojoe said:


> It is to me. I haven't gotten bored with it yet, but when I do I'll tear it all down and start over. My main problem is dust. I can clean the track, no problem. But the trees, buildings and even the grassy areas get dusty and little cob webs all ever the place. Very hard to clean and when it gets to bad it's time to start over.
> hojoe


get some small, oscillating fans, just enough 2 keep the air "Moving" away from the track set-up area. that's what I do, & it reduces cleanups/time..
& my cave is in an outside 8x12 shed (insulated, 2 windows that can open, heated & A/C 'd).. I don't have much landscape, but packed w/ sci-fi models, 
& 200 - 300 slot cars (mostly in little clam-cubes..)

I think that scenery adds 2 the allusion/ day dreaming of the track being more
"Realistic" myself.. :thumbsup:

Bubba 123 :wave:

OH, U have a GREAT L&J set-up!!! ;-)


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Does this count as scenery?


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## A/GS (Jul 10, 2014)

Rich Dumas said:


> Does this count as scenery?


ABSOLUTELY ! ....I'm thinking of adding Godzilla to my Japanese N scale train layout. What could be cooler than that ? :thumbsup: :wave:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Just remember.... Godzilla has a voracious appetite!!! He will eat you out of house and home! Ask Bob...he has one...zilla!!


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

........


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## bdsharp (Sep 27, 2012)

I went with a theme that allowed realism and simplicity at the same time.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=376565

I really need to learn how to make videos.


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*if...*

If it is important to you, it is important for your track... 

Hows that for a non answer...

As for me, I don't care for totally blank tracks... A bit sterile for my taste...

Scott


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