New track: Here's the plan (tentative)

[SteveK]

OK, buying a house and I'm a month or two away from moving it but I'm already planning the track. The backyard is about 75x35 feet.

Note: This was owned by am ill elderly man, which is why the yard has fallen into disrepair. It will be gutted this summer and planted next year.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/SteveK2005/Backyard03.jpg
Start off on this strip of concrete, and take a hard left at the fence. I'll be continuing that width all the way around the yard, but it will be dirt or some form of packed gravel.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/SteveK2005/Backyard04.jpg
Continue along the fence to the grown-over fish pond. It was really solidly built, so I'll probably just leave and do some kind of high road-low road paths around it (The back side is elevated about 2').

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/SteveK2005/Backyard05.jpg

Continuing along the back fence and on to a dog-leg around the shed, which will be replaced with something once I get the cash (and some tools to put in it) and along the side fence. Until I replace the shed I might just do a series of switchbacks on top of the foundation.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/SteveK2005/Backyard06.jpg
I will plant some dwarf evergreens in front of the wall braces, and then zig-zag in and out of them. I plan to plant something around the path there, some kind of dwarf plants that stay short. I am considering pouring some concrete in that area, so I'll have at least a few tarmac corners.

I would like to find some form or gravel material that will pack well and not fly around or be too rough. Otherwise I will just do dirt. This will be rally-style, smooth with a few roller jumps, and lots of sharp corners. I will need to look into a one-way diff or pulley (Right now I'm planning to use my RS4 Rally) so I can pop the brakes and loop the car. No handbrake on an RC car :(

[microrcdude]

that sounds awesome! What surface are you gonna have? Dirt, or grass?

[SteveK]

To start will it fill be mostly dirt with that strip of concrete along the house. When I get the cash, I will look for some kind of gravel that looks nice than dirt but stays packed and smooth. That will probably be hard to find.

The fish pond is oval shaped and is maybe 8-10' long my 3' wide, and it's solidly built so I'll leave it. I will make a path in front of it along the ground, and one up the 2' riser behind it, and make one of them the rougher path of stones. Not sure which yet. I figure I could easily pour the concrete s-curves by the retaining wall myself.

If I can squeeze in three straights side-by-side, I may make a series of switchback roads in front of the retaining wall that climb to about three feet in height: Flat furthest from the wall, then a hairpin right and climbing to a hairpin left, and then you're on the straight nearest the wall at full height, with a steeper decline onto the tarmac by the house.

This summer will be all about clearing out the old, over-grown plants and clearing the path for the track surface. Next summer I will do the planting and build and structures or roads. I'll just get down to bare dirt and see what the cars can do, then go from there.