Slowly Going Faster

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog. The previous couple of entries make it clear why: I’ve been grieving, adjusting, thinking, planning, and spending as much time as possible with friends rather than in the toy room or at the track. Any readership I may have had has probably moved on by now, but for those who know me, here’s an update on how things are progressing in and around Drag City.

I was just getting started one what was to be only my second landscaping project for the track when disaster hit. By now I should have purchased a “static grass applicator” and some substrate, but that was forgotten about when Dale passed. Still, I did carve out some hills and berms from Styrofoam with the hot wire foam cutter and got them shaped for installation in that desolate area at the far north end of the track where the fuel depot is located. Hopefully there will be some actual accomplishments to write about in this area within the next month or so.

There have been a few new diorama pieces added as well; nothing too massive, but a few new “Premium” Hot Wheels have been added for scenery, and the long overdue purchase of the vintage late 70’s Dodge Van from Greenlight with the San Diego news logo on it has been added in a strategic place at the track; new figurines of a news crew have been acquired as well and are awaiting unboxing and placement with it. And in addition, several other new peeps have also been added: I bought a pocketful of new 3D-printed figures and got out my acrylics to paint them; about half of them are now done and being added to the crowd, while a good dozen more still await painting.

Two more interesting pieces have been acquired but not yet added to the layout: one is a “winner’s podium” custom made by one of my favorite vendors, “AFX Driver” up in Canada. I will have to make a new decal for it with the Drag City logo, but although I haven’t done much with it yet, some landscaping and other changes are planned for this area of the track that I hope will make this little “dead spot” on the layout kind of a big deal.

The other is a piece I had never seen before until I bought it. I’ve made a big deal more than once about my attempt to acquire 3 good condition examples of the rare Atlas grandstand from the 60’s, but to my surprise, the same company made a different grandstand that I recently purchased for a fairly high price, but its in nearly mint condition. Since this doesn’t fit into my master plan for “pit row” I’m still not completely sure what to do with it, and as with the winner’s podium some new decals will be needed, but I am working on an idea that will rearrange much of the infield areas; I’ve also bought another Bachman kit of the pedestrian gantry as part of this plan, and will be working on putting that together soon. So ideas have been hatched and changes are coming.

Although I hadn’t been at the big track much until the last week, I have been spending even more time with The Road Crew. No new cars have been purchased but I’ve spent hour upon hour at this track, with its cool custom made controls and old, slow cars, enjoying the skill of keeping them on the track as well as running them in “auto pilot” and just watching them go around chasing each other: this may sound boring to some people, but I find it remarkably calming in a Zen-like way.

But here is something new: someone to race with! My buddy Shanon has recently expressed an interest in seeing what this “slot car hobby” of mine is all about, so a few days ago I took him down to the track and we ran a few of my completely stock Auto World Ultra-G’s around the track so he could try them out. And darned if he wasn’t so impressed with the whole thing that he bought himself an Ultra-G the very next day, opting for the “distressed” pre-sale Christine release of the ’58 Plymouth. Only last night we were down the basement again with the same group of stock cars. It made since to me to introduce someone to this hobby using completely stock cars, with stock wheels, tires, magnets, and guide pins, before ramping up to the customized cars which represent over the overwhelming majority of my cars. To assist with this, I took a few of the Trans Am cars out as well, since those are all stock.

Like Patrick and Dale, Shanon is another of my “Gen-X” friends who is almost exactly the same age as me and grew up with many of the cultural icons I love. He missed the slot car craze as a kid, so I gave him my Life Like track to take home with him, and provided him with another car in addition to his ’58 Plymouth, so he’s planning on setting up his own track in his house. Maybe soon I’ll have someone to race with on a regular basis!

Beyond that…not much more news that’s fit to print: I’ve been spending as much time as possible with my man Patrick, either at his place in the mountains or at mine, and there’s been some additional nostalgia in the form of vintage TV shows, which I will be doing a post about shortly even though it has nothing to do with slot cars per se; but, as you may recall, I’ve always said this blog was about the whole “mystique” surrounding my slot car racing and die cast collecting hobbies, and re-visiting the TV shows of the past is a part of that for me, so balls-out!

I’m beginning to return to my hobby without my friend who was taken from this world far too early. His passing has left a hole in me that will never be filled, just like when I lost my dad 5 years ago. As we age, we begin to lose loved ones, and I have to bear in mind that this is going to happen again. I haven’t got a whole lot of time left myself, so I’m going to try to enjoy it, even as I remember those who have passed. I hope you, dear readers, are cognizant of doing the same.