I'm thinking these are some good starting points:
- Make sure joints are tight
Make sure track is level horizontally
Make sure track is level vertically
Lightly sand/file joints as needed
I am pretty sure that there is no guide rail taper on the Best track - but I will have to double check. Thanks for pointing that out.Shawn Stebleton wrote:I'm not familiar with the Best Track, as our pack has a wooden Piantedosi track. Does the Best Track have a taper of the guide strip on the uphill end of each section? If not, I believe it would be advantageous to put one in.
Read this for a good discussion for what I am suggesting. It explains the taper I'm referring to.
Can someone who has a Best Track let those of us without a Best Track know if it has or does not have a taper? My son's district race is this Saturday and I think a Best Track will be used. One has been borrowed the last 3 years, but wooden tracks were used the 3 years prior. Not exactly sure what to expect. It's hosted by the neighboring district with a track borrowed from a pack in their area.
Wow! I hope that is a new *Longest time* record and not a *Shortest time* record!rpcarpe wrote:Last year we set a new Pack record of 9 man hours to get it working smoothly.
Something tells me that the railriders are the ones who suffer most--or at least most inconsistently. If a joint is bad on one side but not the other, those that railride on that side will be impacted. It would be randomly selected by the track assembler as to which kids are impacted. If all lanes are bad on one side, it can lead to some very bad times for otherwise very good cars.birddog wrote:I realized after everyone left that the joints were not as good as they should have been. I didn't think much of it and felt that every car would have the same "disadvantage", so no big deal.
This is the situation I am in: my Scout and I put a considerable amount of work into his car this year, and bought a test track. The car runs much slower (on our test track) than any other cars we've built run on the Pack track, so I am really crossing my fingers that my first attempt at setting up the test track yielded less than optimal results, and that once we get on the Pack track, things will fall into place.birddog wrote:I know we built a faster car this year than last year, but on this track setup, our car actually ran slower (and less consistent) times than last year. Still ended up being fastest, but the times were not where they should have been.
I have a 1 lane, 42' Best track. Our Pack has a 4 lane, 42' Best track.rpcarpe wrote:What kind of test track did you get?
Gosh! Bet that rascal runs from the bedroom, down the hallway, and most of the way through the kitchen! That should be okay, though ... it is only for a few weeks. Who cares if it blocks access to the bathroom? It is "for the boys!"TimInOhio wrote:I have a 1 lane, 42' Best track. Our Pack has a 4 lane, 42' Best track.rpcarpe wrote:What kind of test track did you get?
Well, I see that the test track and pack track should perform comparably.TimInOhio wrote:This is the situation I am in: my Scout and I put a considerable amount of work into his car this year, and bought a test track. The car runs much slower (on our test track) than any other cars we've built run on the Pack track, so I am really crossing my fingers that my first attempt at setting up the test track yielded less than optimal results, and that once we get on the Pack track, things will fall into place.