Thank you for your patience, dear readers, during construction of the latest addition to my ceaselessly growing slot car collection. Here I am proud to present, IN COLOR, my first Aurora Model Motoring set: the “Golden Gate,” originally marketed through the now defunct Montgomery Ward’s stores in the mid 1960’s. Its amazing how cool a few old pieces of cardboard can be!
I bought this set from the original owner in Texas, who said in the listing that he got it at the age of 10 and is now 64, so you can do the math! Although it was missing one track piece, it was overall in excellent condition. Of course there were some corrosion issues with it as there is going to be with any slot track that hasn’t been used in 50+ years. I found that the best way to clean the contacts at each end of the track was to grind them with my Dremmel and then clean them with electrical cleaner, a process repeated with the rails, which had to be gone over with 100 grit sandpaper and each piece thoroughly cleaned.
Naturally I’ve already expanded it significantly, adding some additional straight track pieces and more are on the way. I’m even planning to add another variable DC power supply for more even power distribution, because, although I have used a couple of pairs of hand-held controllers, including the original plunger style units that came with the set, and a nice set of Parma triggers that were also included as a bonus, I am favoring the “speed control” terminals with the reverse switch and brake; it isn’t quite as exciting, but I do like the vintage feel of them, and it’s fun to put the cars on “auto-pilot” once the speed for each car and lane is dialed in. I especially like the ability to go from competition mode to 2-way traffic at the flick of the switch.
While I will probably return to my Tyco “drag strip” style highway eventually because it was so fun to race on, I do feel like it has taken me too long to get one of these original sets. In good original working condition they are quite expensive, but I think I got a deal on this one, and individual pieces are easy enough to come by so expansion is no problem. The coolest thing about these old style tracks is how many unusual and special pieces exist for them, including the ramps, bumps, 4-way interchanges, split tracks, and the like, all of which I’m planning to collect and add to this set as I go. A lot of my cars are having a little trouble climbing the steep ramp leading up the bridge so they sometimes need a little shove, but that’s part of the fun.
This is absolutely amazing and such a great find. I do agree that this track in this condition was a must have. I know you have been searching for one for a long time. The options like the two way traffic and the different track options would make for a lot of variety that would never get old. That is interesting about the feel of the old time controllers, it’s the same on my train set. The old ones have a different feel thought they aren’t as complex to the extent that yours are. Although, my old ones were a bit faulty and I believed led to burning up the circuit boards in the engines. It is great to see these cars you have featured previously moving and cruising!