Lets Talk about Storage

[pack529holycross]

I am honored to be posting for the very first time on this board. I am what you might describe as one of those guys who had a far too brief taste of BSA as a boy and now gets to make up for it by being a BSA leader. I feel fortunate to have landed a Committee Chairman position in this unit, as I now have a perfect outlet for my creative energy.

For the subject of this post I would like to talk about storage of your tracks. Our situation (pre - "me") was a 3 lane P.Oars wooden track being stored "in" the shipping containers ( I.E. uncovered and exposed ). I haven't pulled the entire set out to examine it, but I felt that with 60 boys in our pack we were due for an upgrade. After researching, I did a presentation of Bestrack vs. P.Oars vs. Supertimer systems, as well as Microwizard vs. Judge vs. NewBold to the Pack Committee and Leaders. In the end, the group voted for BESTRACK / Microwizard combination.

So now we come to the purpose of this post - I am looking for some insight into how others have effectively used the available plans for storage cases to mazimize the cost of materials as well as multi-uses for the event. Here are my own initial thoughts:


MATERIALS

I know that I want to have the cases be durable, and I have a concern about all the variations and things that can affect plywood. We are in Orlando, Florida to give you an idea of the environment. I am considering MDF 3/4" with the same construction materials as road cases for musicians, I.E. covered in dark low-pile carpet and using edge/corner caps for protection. at $22 a sheet, it's about $13 less expensive than finished plywood ( more consistent ) and just looks like it would give us less problems down the road. Does anyone have any experience with, or recommendations about, MDF and case materials in general?


CONSTRUCTION

As I read the plans and such for "Storage Crates" it seems to me in my laymans perspective that without additional corner or edge bracing the length of these cases ( 90" ) would affect the joints over time. Adding simple triangular inside corner brackets seems a good start, with L brackets along the length of the cases for additional support. Anyone have any emperical information about this?


MULTIUSE

This is really what I am wanting to achieve for our cases... I am considering making the lids overlap style ( think shoebox lid ) with a 2 inch perimeter lip, so that they can be flipped, joined together side by side, and used as a 90" x 52" impound area. I calulate that would be roughly enough area for about 110 cars conservatively. I am also considering adding casters to the bottom of the cases, so that when used as a base for the reversed lids, the entire joined unit can be rolled from Registration to the starting area. Of course with the cases being only about 12" high, adding 3-4 inches for the hieght of the casters still leaves the "table" at about a foot and a half off the floor. My initial thought in trying to solve the height issues was to utilize a set of vertical supports from Metro Shelving ( this is the steel shelving you see in restaurant kitchens, can be bought as kits from home improvement stores). Latching the cases together side by side with one support per outside corner would give the entire unit a 22" wide base.



I suppose my question here is what is everyone elses take on how they have made use of their cases other than to just store the track? ( I told you up front about having an "outlet" for creativity.... so you were warned..lol )

Nicholas Durante
Pack 529 Committee Chairman
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Lake Mary Florida
http://529.futureeagles.info

PS. thank you very much and major kudos to Staff at Besttrack, Microwizard, and Lisano Enterprises for their super service thus far in the ordering and shipping phase of our experience with these companies. Every one of their companies sent our orders prior to Christmas even though they didn't have to, and as a result we will have an extra week to get our track assembled, tested, and ready for our event. Very impressive and really allows our unit to feel like we made the right choices.

PSS. our website is a prototype for a system I am developing that uses a fairly powerful but easy to use "blog" system as its skeleton. I am considering offering to replicate it for other units as a fundraising project, if there is enough interest.

[Stan Pope]

Welcome aboard!

Sounds like a familiar tale.

I'm curious about how the pack committee evaluated the different track profiles. Piantedosi track follows the profile of the classic BSA Pinewood Derby track that has been shown in the Cub Scout Leader HOW TO Book since Lassie was a pup. BestTrack track follows a profile with a different heritage, although I can not tell you where the long straight ramp - short curving section profile originated. The two different track profiles emphasize different aspects of car design until the cars approach perfection, which is not a neighborhood in which youngster's cars usually reside. The classic gentle curved design rewards weight distribution more and the straight sloped - short curved section rewards alignment and friction reduction more.

I like your thoughts of multi-use storage containers. I'm not thrilled with the idea of rolling it about fully loaded with cars unless the cars are individually contained against side thrust and padded with a non-shedding material and box stability makes it tip-proof. I would be concerned for using the type of exterior carpeting as padding if it is exposed to and allowed to collect airborne dust most of the year.

In planning the display / pit usage height, keep in mind who will be moving cars out of and on to the pit during the races. If the car owners (youngsters) will bi the only ones handling the cars during the races (YAY!!), then the height will be much lower than if adult track staff handles the cars (BOO!!!). Also, think about depth and density ... can cars be lifted out of the pit without the cars passing over other cars and is there side clearance to that cars an be securely grasped without nudging adjacent cars? For this purpose, I like a two-row layout with the bays about 3-1/2" wide including a 3/4" side boundary / non-mans-land between adjacent bays to allow finger room.

[pack529holycross]

Experience is the result of successes and failures all food for thought. Mine is always a constant struggle between the fantastic theory in my head and what ultimately becomes a success ( or failure ) in practical application. Having the thoughts about mobility arose from the possibility of "registration" being significantly farther away from the staging area than desired. I'm still trying to get my head around the multi-use room that we will be operating out of at the School, so I am simply trying to anticipate solutions to problems that do not yet exist.

My original design theory used an angled display/impound rack. I wanted to try to eliminate/minimize weight, so by using a flat surface I feel I can get away with eliminating physical vertical separators for each car - although I hadn't taken into account your thoughts on reaching in and pulling out cars from the second or third rows. I suppose the advantage with what I have already concieved is that I am starting with a large enough surface area to not be too concerned unless we go over 100 cars, and in that case "finger room" will need to be addressed.

I believe that I will eliminate casters initially as I can control the layout of this venue. This will give me a little more capital to upgrade other hardware for the cases themselves.

With regards to the carpeting, I was only referring to the exterior surfaces of the cases and lids, and not the interior of the lids being used as impound lots. I think a simple painted grid with permanent car #'s will do just fine, with the MDF serving to provide a nicer looking surface than plain plywood.

Nicholas

[Hurly64]

The big problem with 3/4" MDF is weight. It is heavier than plywood by far, and you have to use pnuematic-driven fasteners to hold it together. Although I am a fan of MDF as a track material, my vote would be plywood for the storage box. I'd recommend an exterior-grade plywood like araucan. Araucan stays pretty flat once you have it cut and made into a box, especially with the shoebox-lid idea, you will have built-in stiffeners.

[pack529holycross]

in the end we used 1/2 plywood, with a 1x2 poplar nailer in the corners to avoid trying to secure screws into the edge of the plywood. We also used triangular surface braces on the interior of each corner, and finally we added T plates across the length of the box securing the sidewalls to the base, which also was a perimeter of 1x2 poplar. Casters are going to be essential to save our backs, but using the poplar insured that all attatchment points were long term solid. It also worked out that edging the lid gave us a built in 1" lip to use that 90 x 25 space for impounding the cars. Because we had to build two cases, that gives us enough room for about 80-100 cars.

nicholas

[Dad of 3]

I agree with Hurly, weight is a big issue. Our case is made with 1/2" plywood with the track in the case it is very heavy for two strong men. I don't think you want to build a case that requires a forklift to move.

[Pinewood Daddy]

in the end we used 1/2 plywood, with a 1x2 poplar nailer in the corners to avoid trying to secure screws into the edge of the plywood. We also used triangular surface braces on the interior of each corner, and finally we added T plates across the length of the box securing the sidewalls to the base, which also was a perimeter of 1x2 poplar. Casters are going to be essential to save our backs, but using the poplar insured that all attatchment points were long term solid. It also worked out that edging the lid gave us a built in 1" lip to use that 90 x 25 space for impounding the cars. Because we had to build two cases, that gives us enough room for about 80-100 cars.

nicholas

Pictures??