Is anybody out there?

[NFBrown]

I fear that this forum is about done. I know I haven't contributed anything for a long time so I shouldn't complain. Is anybody still working on cars or track? Or perhaps racing

I'm thinking I'll try building a 1/24 th scale car and a portable track using the foam board Ned promoted. If anyone has a copy of Ned's full description of making foam board track I could use a copy. I can't find the one he sent me.

Nick

[kiklo]

Hi Nick.

Still alive and kicking - but only minor kicks from Magracing - Will improve in 2022.
Regards all.
KimK

[WesR]

Hi Nick, Kim and all, I still have my 1/24 track and 6 or 7 1/24 cars. I got close to being able to manufacture these larger cars, albeit with a lot of hand work. I chose 1/24 because the standard rx could just be fitted in. I intended to have some 'open' days with the track and try to generate some interest locally. But Covid put a stop to that.
I also had second thoughts about manufacturing more cars. Manufacturing is ok if you are making some money but this is difficult if you are not using production methods. I know from experience that there are people out there who will buy the system but the problem that I found previously that many of my customers did not really appreciate the idea and were not prepared or able to build the cars and track properly. I do accept that the track in particular does need patience and accuracy when building, perhaps more than most people are prepared to invest.
So selling cars as a 'loss leader' to get people interested is not something I want to do again unfortunately.
Age has unfortunately caught up with me now so I have to think about clearing my house but selling such a large track may not be possible and it may have to be scrapped.
All very disappointing to me as I am bored stiff without a hobby.! I still think the idea was great and I don't regret any of the time (or money!) I spent.
Regards to all Wes

[NFBrown]

I'm sorry, Wes, that your effort to promote your invention hasn't worked out. Here in the US no one builds stuff themselves so without ready to snap together track .... Perhaps it all requires too much commitment for most people everywhere. I built narrow gauge trains in HO scale most of my adult life. When I started 50 years ago there were almost no kits. Now Chinese ladies build them for us and once again there are few kits.

I think I'll make another try to get a car running. I never managed to get a car to follow a wire. It's one of those unfinished challenges. First I should make a better test track; not so make-shift as before. I may try magnetic repulsion like you're using, Kim. I tried that once before but your's works, mine never did.

Get a new hobby Wes or keep the old one, boredom can be fatal.
Nick

[Vintage 1/24]

Wes,

This was a fantastic idea and really captured the imagination of many hobbyists, myself included. I bought a few cars and built a small track and it was simple enough and interesting. I have built routed wood slot car tracks and scratchbuilt slot cars - and by comparison, this was very easy.

The system is still very attractive, and I always thought there was something there, there.

Like others I also wanted to tinker with it, and with some success. . .
But mostly I want to thank you for a really interesting creation positioned right between RC and slots, and I still think you have something there. Still not sure of the exact form or the marketing or the making money side, but on the hobby side, as a hobbyist, and as a "maker", this was a huge success.

Keep inventing - there are always interesting problems on the creative side to engage with, and the Wes system may still have a future.

It's that good.

[WesR]

DSCF0987 (3) (640x405).jpg (146.72 KiB) Viewed 32647 times

DSCF0097 (640x355).jpg (161.78 KiB) Viewed 32647 times

Nick, Thanks for your comments and encouragement. I have tried a couple of projects in between Magracing and attach photos - hopefully Kim will forgive me this if I say that neither idea was as interesting or rewarding as Magracing. The cyclekart (a U.S. idea) was fun to build but driving it in the English rain and cold proved to be nothing like as enjoyable as the youtube videos made in sunny California made it look. The 1/10 scale 1938 Mercedes was also enjoyable to make during lockdown but now it just sits on the shelf and I don't know what to do with it!
(Panic now!! I cant see how to add the photos! Hopefully I can do it later )
Ron, Good to hear from you again and thanks for the kind words Ron has enquired about cars and I was about to post that I would like to sell my 6 1/24 cars. They do have three different speed controllers but all work well and even I am not sure which is the best. Just today I started to dismantle the track so the cars will definately not be much use to me now. I will mail you re. this Ron.
Re Magracing, I have been holding on, hoping that someone enthusiastic, with money and age on their side, would come along and take it up but it hasn't happened yet!

[Vintage 1/24]

Great pics!

Unfortunate that someone more local could not take interest in the track.

Again thanks for all your contributions to the hobby, and I will look out for your email.

I know I mentioned before how I like the cyclekart, an interesting and out-of-the-box kind of project. It looks really very nice in the pic above.

[davidwp]

Hi Wes,

My indoor G Gauge (1:24 scale in my case) train layout is up and running and I have a track and an autonomous car I purchased from Ed’s Garten Bahn AutoMobilia ( http://www.edgb.nl/?page_id=1879&lang=en ). I also have a 1:24 RC Cadillac (see picture) that I converted to mag steer. I am interested in having cars running on the layout that can be switched from autonomous to RC so they can change lanes like Mag Racing cars. (That might even lead to some "street racing"!

I am interested in purchasing one or more 1:24 cars and controllers from you if you still have some available.



Regards,
David Palmeter

[kiklo]

Hi David.
If you don't get any other response I might be able to help you out. I have not tried yet, but my chassis w. hw should be fairly easy to scale up to 24.

Br. KimK
www.id4u.no

[davidwp]

Hi Kim, Thanks, that may be my only hope. I'll ask Wes once more:

Hello Wes, Do you still have a 1:24 car and controller to sell? I am interested. Regards,
David Palmeter