[Robert Learmouth]

Howdy all,

Looking to build an 8'x4' circuit in the garage. But it can't be permanent. It needs to stow-away somehow. Some of the options I though about were pulley system on ceiling, fold-out on wall and mounting to a table-tennis table chassis for ultimate mobility.

Does anyone have any suggestions/pictures they could share. At this stage I'm not planning the circuit itself - that will come later.

Thanks,

Robert

 

[Robert Learmouth]

This looks interesting Layout Lift.

But I think a method of detaching the cables after descending and before racing would be wise. Slot car racing is a bit more animated than controlling model railways!

 

[loosesalute]

I bolted two wooden railway sleepers onto my garage wall Robert.
Then simply hinged the board & frame to these.
The board has simple hinged legs which drop down into place when it is lowered.
The layout is 14ft x 6 1/2ft and is an easy lift up & down for 2 people.
It`s twenty five years old & I`ve never had a problem with it.
Cheers,
Kev.

 

[The Original Tileguy]

When I was looking into doing this as an option I did a search on Suspended Garage storage systems...There were several Forums that had threads running at the time and I recall One of them was Very detailed about how to go about it....there were additional discussions on safety backups, Power options, weight vs span etc...

I am sure if you spend a little time researching this type of system you will find what you need. Just think outside the box when it comes too PHRASING your Search..

 

[Minardi]

Here is mine;

Minardi Ring

May be you will find some inspiration.

PS welcome back Tileguy.

 

[RoaDKiLL]

Being a yachtie, I would suggest visiting a marine chandler and looking at what they have to offer. I'd do it with halyard ropes, blocks, shackles, cleats and possibly even a winch. The halyards on my 24' yacht are less than half an inch thick and can hold loads in the hundreds of kilos

 

[RichD]

One track owner with a suspended track recently had it fall. The track was destroyed, the owner never said what actually went wrong. I suspect that a cable was not secured properly. I race on an HO track that is on a rolling stand and flips up for storage or over to use the 1/43rd track on the other side.

 

[sealevel]

There are a couple of ceiling hoisted tracks in Australia you can find on this forum.... can't remember the names.

Also, one of the Aussie members has a tilt and roll track where the legs are shaped like a "D" with the straight portion under the table and the bottom on coasters so the track can be moved then tilt on the curved portion and fold away the legs. Again, I cannot remember the name of the member/track but they are on this forum or the Australian one.

Maybe some others will narrow the search...

Cheers!

PS check out my build link below to see how I used a COSTCO hoist to raise my tables.

 

[The Original Tileguy]

Found these...Still had them in my Photobucket acct....I believe it was called E drive or some such...Anyways, I was going to build my own.....Looking at these photo's I figured it wouldnt be too difficult.....

 

[gokartride]

I have a fold-down unit, too, but I dressed mine up so it can live comfortably indoors. I can use it year-round this way. 4'x8' is a good size for this as you can use single sheets of foam or wood for construction. Mine is 4.5' x 10.5.' More info in my blog.

 

[Mike Buettner]

I'm building a 5'X12' table that will raise up to the ceiling in my garage. I'm going very light for the table. It will be a torsion box 2" thick made with 1"X1 3/4" "ribs skinned with 1/4" baltic birch ply on the top and 1/8" on the bottom. I don't think it will weigh more than 100lbs bare. It will raise with a small electric hoist and steel cables. I'll post some pics of construction tomorrow.

 

[Mike Buettner]

I started a thread on my garage track with lift construction : Reviving old Revel set

 

[Robert Learmouth]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts on this. I couldn't get comfortable with a temporary/stowable solution so I'm converting most of the other side of my double garage and we'll have a proper 9x9 room with a permanent 8x4 circuit. Just to make things complicated the rest of the room will have a model railway running round the sides including over the back of the Scalextric circuit!

Does anyone have any views on what height to set an 8x4 circuit against the wall so that an 8 year old has a chance of reaching over the back to retrieve his car?

I wanted to set the whole thing on kitchen cupboard base units to have storage under so ideally I wanted it at around 900mm height which is obviously quite high for an 8 year old. In which case I should probably be asking what methods people use for reaching over the back, eg sit little person on stool, have a small step-up platform, one of those robot arm toys! There must be a smart solution out there!