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Out with the old in with the new
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As many of you know, I have been racing these little toy cars for going on 49 years. And I have had a number of plastic tracks back in the 60s and through the 70s.
 
I was lucky enough to acquire a routed track back in 1976 after buying my house. The track was make back in was made back in 1960 and only raced on for a few years and then rescued from the chain saw in about 1965 and stored in a attic until I acquired it in 76.
 
The track below has been raced on for many years and has been re braided a few times over the last 33 years. And hosted hundreds of club races and several World Proxy races, and has given me countless hours of fun and relaxation... But it is no more..

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The track was built in 1960.

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Out with the old

And there is no one to blame but......... Nope not me, it was that dam Frank Labue.  Most of you know Frank as Chichumbo from the Slot Car Illustrated Forum.
That's right it is all his fault :-)   Frank is a good close friend and one hell of a carpenter and track builder.  Frank just got his second routed track up and running, He ripped out is beautifully Carrera track and replaced it with a routed track that is a basic clone of the old track with a few added features and a much better driving flow to it. And to top things off he used Magna Braid on the new track..
Well last week he had Janice and I over to help him break in the new track. I was amazed at how the track ran and how well the magna braid worked. He ended up with the best of both worlds. A glass smooth routed track that is great for scratch built cars and any well set up non-magnet car. And a routed track that the RTR cars are VERY happy on. I was blown away at how well the RTRs worked. They have always been a pain in the butt to get to work the way I want them to on my routed track. But the magna braid gave them just the right amount of traction and handling.
Janice loves the Mini Coopers and Frank let her try one out and I was amazed at how well it ran on the routed track.. He has 3 of then and we had a ball racing them.
Well after 5 hours of fun we went home. And it get me thinking, Not always a good think :-)  But in the end I decided to replace the old track with a new one with the magna braid.
Some might think well why not just re braid the track.. And if it was not for the fact that the track was close to 49 years old and not in the best of shape to being with I would have. But when trying to take up the old track is kind of fell apart.. I have to admit it was a sad day, but I am really looking forward to the new track..
Frank is helping me build it.. Well I am really his helper as he is doing most of the work.. And in the last two day we have taken out the old track, made a temple of the old track. The cut out the new track and mounted it on the table and have already got one lane routed...

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Frank making the templet

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Now for the re building part..... This went a lot quicker than either of us thought it would...

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Frank... thanks for the nice shot of my ass :-)

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The first lane is going in...

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