Installing the IR sensors for the timing software was a piece of cake by comparision. I used a piece of 3" straight to test each operation and drilling through the track was no exception. I made sure that I used a backing board so avoid tearing out the plastic as the bit went through. Also, when drilling holes for screws with a countersink bit, I kept the speed down to avoid heating and melting the track instead of cutting a clean hole.

Connecting all the wiring points was more neck strain than anything else. I used colour coded wire for all the hookups. Things went much faster because everything blue was connected together.

The last detail that needed to be addressed was lane marking. I found Paint pens to work very well for this. Using a steady, unrushed hand I completed the entire lane marking process in under two hours. Of course now that the track was finished, the only thing left to do... drive it!

With Tracker 2000 software I was able to quickly work up the layout and get to the task of building it. Being power-tool challenged (executuion, not ownership) did present some problems, but because Home Depot offers a free cutting service, most of those problems were circumvented.

A quick sketch of a table plan and a check with some other d/l member and 3 nights of construction had the table finished. Painting, at the suggestion to my wife of Ed B, on the weekend, and the table was finished.

In the end many d/l menbers contributed ideas for "correct" procedure for this or that step. Brain Ferguson's web site and schematics were without a doubt a lifesaver, and should be kept handy by anyone thinking about builing thier own track & wiring it.

Wiring up the multiple power taps (there are 4 - soon to be a 5th) was easier than I expected. I found it was important to trim out pieces of track to allow the wire to pass out below the track without getting hung up on little plastic bits. If not for removing these plastic pieces, the deformations caused by heating the 14 gauge wire may have been noticeable on the surface. The track pieces with the power taps, once screwed down, filed and sanded are invisible to the cars as they pass over. I was striving for smooth and the extra effort taken has paid off in cars that stay in the slots and handle well even over these points

Once that was established, a layout had to be designed before anything could be built. Thinking back to my early teens I remebered what I liked and disliked about any of the (smallish) layouts I had raced on in my neigbourhood. It needed to be big - 4 lanes, minimum. It needed to be fast and it needed to be challenging for all skills levels and chassis...because by now I knew that box stock Tjets weren't the only cars around. And the only way to keep it challenging was to keep the cars and drivers off balance...change curve direction - and often. Overpasses were a must to lengthen the course in area provided - by the Track Manager.