# Antique Mall find



## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

Worked a conference Thursday thru Saturday, and drove home today, about 7 hours. Had TM with me, and both of us like to stop at one of a couple of nice antique malls to break up the drive. One of them usually has some slot stuff - occasionally even something worth the price LOL.

Went to the counter empty handed, TM was not, and told her I didn't find any slot car stuff. Guy also at counter asked if I had seen the set in his case - I hadn't. It was standing on end book style, and was mostly hidden, I had looked in the crammed full case and couldn't see what it was. Apparently the set had been overlooked for some time, as the price was immediately dropped by 60%. He said he was cutting the price because there was no transformer, though from looking at the packaging I don't think there was one to begin with. I have low expectations at antique malls, but if I hadn't said something I never would have even seen this. If the dealer hadn't been there, I wouldn't have paid over $100 for it either! But we both ended up happy! 





I have been curious about Triang cars - strange power pickup system now that I get to see how the darn things work - now I get to fool with some!


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

Neat!
Are those the cars that have the pick ups on the right and left sides of the guides?


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Plug that bad boy in Split!!!*

Can ya find a power pack that'll crank it up? :woohoo: nd


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

noddaz said:


> Neat!
> Are those the cars that have the pick ups on the right and left sides of the guides?



Yes, guides remind me of one of those tools used to push window screen down into a groove, brass "wheel barrow" wheel with a fiber insulating disc in between each half (hopefully) picks up power from either side of the slot! Track looks to be in mostly good shape, but darn hard to clean. We'll see how it works.

ND, gotta figure out what voltage to try, but I am guessing from packaging that British version had a euro spec transformer bought separate, and here some sort of train transformer was appropriate.


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Cool find!!!! Hope ya get it powered up without having to call Fire Dept.:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Kick it!*

I'd go choo choo Split. 

Use a DC train transformer and a voltmeter and "Go Fish!". Shouldnt take but a few minutes to figure it out. So put on yer *****-ear Bob hat and wire whatever it is they use to control wheel barrows across the pond inline with the cab control. Be sure to kick it twice, whack it with yer screwdriver handle and mutter an incantation...might be some Lucas compenents lurking. 

Nuthin a guy who has an MGB cant handle ...hahahahahahahaha.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

WooHoo, That's a feel good feeling, to find a treasure. Kinda makes you smile a little, maybe a lot!!! It does me...RM


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Great looking find! Can't wait for that one day when I can step into some great find.  rr


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Wikipedia says 12V DC...*

Hey Split.... Here's a blurb from Wikipedia. Not sure if it's correct, but for what it's worth.... nuther

Model road vehicles
Minic Motorways was a system of HO-scale road vehicles that followed a slot in a plastic roadway. The system aimed as far as possible for realism, and therefore the slot was as narrow as possible (about 1/8") with brass conductors placed vertically at each side. The vehicles picked up power via a small wheel (called a Gimbal Wheel) on their underside, which was divided into two halves by an insulating flange. At some time in the 1960s this mechanism was replaced by a pair of vertically spring sliding pickups. This design differed from that of electric racing car systems such as the same company's Scalextric, in which the electrical conductors were spaced more widely apart on each side of the guide slot, and were hence more stable.

Vehicles were controlled by a hand-held controller, which had a thumb-operated speed control plus a rotating reversing switch.

The range of vehicles was designed to be complementary to a model railway set, and for instance included a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, a Humber Super Snipe, a Routemaster bus, a Shell petrol tanker and a towtruck. The most remarkable vehicle was a Road-Railer, an articulated lorry with a pair of pivoting rear axles, one bearing road wheels and the other rail wheels. The semi-trailer could be remotely uncoupled and then collected by a bogie wagon on the Tri-ang railway system. These could in theory be chained together to compose a train. This vehicle suffered from being underpowered. Vehicles could also be driven aboard a car-carrying wagon in the Tri-ang railway system.

The basic track sections contained two slots, though single-slot pieces also existed. They permitted quite complex road layouts, and included a crossroads, a 4-section roundabout, forks to create dual carriageway sections, right-angle junctions, single-track forks to allow lay-bys, and later a crossover from the left to the right track (with a break in the conductors). Railway compatibility was ensured by a level crossing and road/rail interchange pieces. Curves could be built with up to 5 parallel slots.

Points were manually operated, although third-party electric point solenoids could be fitted.

A range of trackside accessories such as a petrol station and a ferry allowed users to build towns around their systems.

At a late stage of the system's life, an attempt was made to update its image and enter the model racing-car market. Racing car bodies were introduced, which contained more powerful motors with worm drive, and with the improved pickups mentioned above.

The Minic Motorways system allowed the modeller to animate the roads as well as the railways in their townscapes. Some modellers used flexible track manufactured by Peco to enhance the level of realism.

Minic, like Tri-ang railways, used 12-volt direct current, which made reversing loops impossible without an insulated section. The competing German Faller system used alternating current, and had a compatible trolleybus system.



check this link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-ang


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

Thanks nuther! Hooked everything up last night with a 16v train transformer, couldn't get anything thru the controllers - kinda neat, they have a lock button on the power slide so you can set to run a steady speed - but they have been sitting a long time. 

However, with direct wiring using the train throttle, and MINIMAL cleanup, *IT LIVES*. The vertical channel arrangement in the track looked to be an absolute bear to clean, BUT the "gimbal wheel" wedges in and apparently has a really good contact. The Rolls scooted around the little oval at suprising speed, given 45 y/o spinning tires. The chassis is old school train, mostly metal with steering - I'll post a pic tonight.

The bodies are neat too, as all "chrome" - door handles, crest down the hood, turn signals - are separately attached plated plastic. Talk about labor intensive.....

Ummm, anybody got any NOS triang tires or silis....... ? I didn't think so LOL


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

How about Wierd Jack?

Might have something close...he doesnt just make HO tires. His compounds are easily ground to shape. Might be worth a shot Split.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

ND,
Nice little background on the item. Thanks, OFD. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## craftymore (Jan 25, 2005)

Nice looking vintage set. Thanks for the pics.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

got a web address for that Weird Jacks Tires?


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## 22tall (Jul 28, 2002)

Scott www.weirdjack.com Jack is another great guy to deal with and very creative.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

22Tall thanks for the address !


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## foxkilo (Mar 27, 2008)

Hey splitposter, have look at the attached link.
In my opinion it's the best side about minic.
Be amazed about the kind of stuff they had.
Best thing in my opinion is the roundabout.
http://www.tri-ang.co.uk


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

thanks for the link, neat stuff with lots of possibilities. Resisting the temptation to look for more track pieces, and maybe hunt for just one more car LOL. No.... sticking to tjets..... but I wouldn't turn down another minic find either, just too interesting to leave alone. The concept appears to have stayed true to scale "model motoring", for better or worse. 

Suprising how well the darn things pick up power and run, even on grimy old track, and they'll run trainlike by themselves. Actually much better than similar aged ho trains on tarnished old brass track.


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