Like your Micro motors, Mr. M, the expensive looking alloys are useless elsewhere as they are designed for O-rings, not real scale tires, and O-rings are illegal in the clubs I run with.
As to gears, I've been known to use some from an old mechanical wind-up alarm clock. So, all things are doable. Even braid pickups could be combined with the felt wiper; brain/mouth exercize notwithstanding; but I don't want to go there...
You may also be surprised what can be found in old film cameras and analog TV sets for use in slot car construction. They're a gold mine when it comes to track cleaners and other objects of their ilk. That's why I love these off-beat projects, and you can be sure another version will be along, as the more I talk about it, the more ideas brew up.
And by the way, I don't know if it's possible to run a chipless (analog) vehicle behind your suggested digital car to switch the LCs at the same time. In any case, my system does not permit analog, like the later versions from Scaley, so this point is academic.
