Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter Keep It In The Slot!

VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Page 1
Shinoda Bodies +
A 60 Second History Of “Thingies”!
By Ye Olde Editor
Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
http://vsrnonline.com
Greg Holland, Ye Olde Editor
Issue 112
October-December 2003
From The Editor
Hi Gang –
Sorry for the long gap between issues, but I’ve been
thrashing to get the Vol 3 Model Car & Track CD completed.
It’s just about ready, so if you are interested, check with
www.professormotor.com for details.
In the later 60’s, there was a growing trend towards slot cars
built for speed without much regard for scale appearance. A
few years earlier, Classic had blazed some new territory with
some custom designed bodies such as the Manta Ray, Asp,
Astro=V, Stinger, Gamma Ray and Serpent, which sold well,
but weren’t top performers.
Around this time, someone got Larry Shinoda, famous for his
63 Split Window Corvette design (and later the ’69 Boss
Mustang), to sketch up some futuristic body designs for slot
cars, and the mysterious “Shinoda Thingies” were born.
More on them later. First, I think it’s appropriate to do a brief
history of the “Thingie”….
Lots of pages this time to make up for the delay!
A 60 Second History Of “Thingies”!
Keep It In The Slot!
IN THE BEGINNING, as in the days of Rail Racing, cars
were made to look like real cars, and all was good. Then
came to migration to Slot Racing, and modelers still made
cars that looked like cars, and all was good.
In This Issue:
Shinoda Bodies
Letters to the Editor
Chaparral 2C
Rail Racing – The Final Chapter
Racing was mostly at someone’s home or at a club facility.
When commercial raceways appeared in ’63 or so,
companies Like Revell, Monogram & Cox came out with kits
that were (reasonably) scale appearing, an extension of what
the hobbyist was doing at home.
- Page 1
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 4
Next Issue – who knows?
(or whenever I get around to it!)
2003
But the long straightaways at the commercial tracks offered
the opportunity to go faster than you ever could on a typical
home track. Soon someone discovered that wider tires made
a car faster, but it was difficult to fit wider tires under the
body. So wheel wells got cut out to let these wider tires stick
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Page 2
out. And this was the beginning of the downfall of scale slot
racing!
Around this time, these hi performance cars that didn’t look
like cars started to be referred to as “Thingie-ma-bobs”,
Next came the notion that using smaller than scale diameter
which got shortened to “Thingies”. And the name stuck.
wheels & tires, thereby lowering the car, improved lap times.
And cutting off some of the bottom edge of the body helped
OK, 60 seconds is up….
get the car even lower, and a little faster. Scale appearance
**********************************************
was rapidly taking a back seat to functionality.
A company called Dyna-Rewind started advertising 99 cent
rewinds with the purchase of a Cucaracha, or similar Thingie
The first cars used hand carved or fiberglass bodies. Then
RTR’s. They also took the motor business pretty seriously,
someone discovered vacuum-forming thin plastic to make
coming out with several versions using their own magnets,
the bodies lighter, giving up detail for reduced weight. Called
started their own race team, and dominated racing in their
“blobs” by those who still wanted cars to be scale, they
home state of Michigan for a time.
nevertheless were immensely popular, and a number of
companies sprung up to produce them. As the Pros tried to
get the cars lower and wider, it got to the point where it was
necessary to flare the fenders, and even put a bulge in the
body to clear the crown gear. Some of the more advanced
companies quickly came up with special distorted “Low &
Wide” bodies, which still sort of resembled real race cars.
This was sort of a compromise, since the National Rules still
promoted scale appearance. ( As a side note, I entered a
regional event for the Car Model Magazine race series, with a
car that met the rules, only to discover that I had the only car
that did, but everyone raced!!!!)
Magazines started running construction articles on cars with
commercially available bodies, using really small diameter
tires, and ultra light piano wire frames.
Cox fired the shot “Heard Round The World” when they
came up with the Cucaracha. Here was a production car that
had the handling potential to be a world beater. With a strong
motor in it, the Cuc
could outrun most cars at the typical commercial track. The
body was definitely anything but a “real” car, with a
“cowcatcher” nose that would go under anything that got in
it’s way.
2003
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Page 3
Dave’s Shinoda “Bullet”
What happened when is not clear, but somehow they ended
up using these Shinoda Bodies on their team cars. It’s
possible that they were the ones that had them made up.
There were several articles that appeared with them shown:
Don’s “No Name” Shinoda
Model Car & Racing April 67
Model Car & Track May ‘67
I started looking for more background info on these bodies.
Fortunately between Dave Dobner and Philippe deLespinay,
we’ve been able to piece together at least a little of the story.
To view these articles, check the new
Dyna-Rewind Search Index at:
http://vsrnonline.com/SearchIndex_DynaRewind.html
Over on Scratchbuilt.com, Dave Dobner and Don Siegel
posted pictures of their Shinoda thingies, which caught my
interest.
2003
In the magazine articles, there appear to be
9 or 10 different body styles shown. No one seems to have a
list, but Philippe does have 4 NOS bagged & tagged bodies,
so we’ve got a start. Here are the tags:
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Page 4
And Dave posted a few more on the Home Racing Vintage
and Scratchbuilt Forum on HomeRacingWorld.com:
http://pub44.ezboard.com/fhomeracingworldfrm11.showMessage?topicID
=49.topic
I’ve added a Thingie Section to the Photo Gallery where all
the pictures I’ve gathered are posted:
http://vsrnonline.com/photos/thingies/shinoda/shinoda_phot
ogallery.html
The #128 “Bullet” is Dave’s red & white #7.
Here’s Philippe’s #102 Lampray:
The open wheel designs are the best in my opinion, and
arguably rival Classic’s in styling.
Dyna-Rewind produced some killer motors, yet weren’t
widely seen outside the Midwest. At least, I know that I never
saw any where I was at in the Northeast…I have one of their
later, own design 16D’s, and it undoubtedly has the
strongest magnets of any I ever felt in the 60’s and 70’s!
By Far!!!!!
The hand written tags are for the #109 “Small Bus” Body:
In the hands of Ted Lech, one of the owners of Dyna-Rewind,
a Shinoda bodied thingie with a Dyna Rewind 26D was
practically unbeatable at the time. One of the magazine
articles talks about Team Russkit coming to “The Grove”
Raceway in Royal Oak. MI for a race. The article showed
some of their cars, but neglected to mention the outcome.
I’ve been told that the locals massacred the California Pros!
But apparently, it was a lot of home track advantage,
because my source also mentioned that anytime the DynaRewind team ventured elsewhere in the country, they got
trounced just as badly!
Interestingly enough, Ben Jones tells me that Parma bought
the Shinoda molds, and at one time sold reproductions. Does
anyone have any more info?
2003
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Letters to the Editor
*************************************************
Hi Greg,
The only bad thing I've ever learned reading VSRN
was unfortunately the passing of Ed Roth. While it's
taken me forever to finish them, I know how much
of a fan you are so I thought you might enjoy seeing
photos of two cars I built.
Regards,
Phil Frank
Page 5
Chaparral 2C
By Ye Olde Editor
In the Fall of 1965, Chaparral unveiled the
latest evolution of their dominating 2A
design, called the 2C. It looked similar to
the 2A, except it was shorter and narrower,
which gave it a 13 sq ft frontal area
compared to the 2A’s 14 sq ft. Underneath,
was all new. In the interest of saving
weight, the fiberglass chassis was
abandoned in favor of an aluminum
monocoque. All together the car was 100
pounds lighter than the 2A. The operating
flipper of the last 2A was retained. The car
was only raced 4 times, winning in it’s first
outing at Kent, Washington. The next race
was at Riverside, but a suspension piece
pulled out of the monocoque on the pace
lap, and the car was withdrawn. For the
final 2 races in Nassau, a different intake
system was utilized, based around some
experimental Rochester fuel injection units,
supplied in secrecy by GM.
I’ve always been surprised that no one ever
came out with either a 2A or 2C with an
operating wing. Apparently there was an
injection molded version by LS in Japan,
and I think that AutoHobbies had a vac
body, but none of these are very available.
I’ve been wanting to do a 2C by cutting the
top off of a Monogram Chaparral 2D. But I
figured that there was a better chance of me
getting it done if I used something that was
a little closer to being done! Fortunately,
both Electric Dreams and Tom Anderson
have the Auto Hobbies / Veco winged 2A
bodies available. I’ve been working on an
article that you may actually see in 2004 or
so, on various ways of making the wing
work. In the meantime, I’ve taken the Model
Cars Magazine plans for the 2C, and made
some additions / corrections that show the
details of both configurations that were
raced.
(Continued on Page 6)
2003
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
2003
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
Page 6
.
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
2003
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
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VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
were allowed
RAIL RACING : The Final Chapter
seconds else
From: "Jeff Davies"
<j.davies4@ntlworld.com>
To: "gregory p holland" <vsrn@juno.com>
Subject:Tom Nelson Rail Recollections
For Built with Passion.
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 19:22:29 +0100
Hi Greg,
This is my favourite
personality chapter, and I would like
you to publish all of it on VSRN because
even people who don't buy the book I want
to read how it all started. The book was
written so we could record forever the
story of how Rail/Slot started while some
of the key people were still alive. So the
more people who read even some of it the
better.
Best wishes,
Jeff.
**********************************
RAIL RACING –
Recollections of the early days.
Tom Nelson.
Southport is the focal point for the
beginning of Electric Rail Racing, the
model car racing we know today as slot
racing, and once briefly called 'sunken
rail'. With such a period of time between
the pioneering days of the mid 1950's and
today it is pleasing to find someone who
played a part in our hobby's history, a
person able to share his memories of those
times.
Tom Nelson was one of that original
and unique group of people who created a
hobby that today is world- wide and a
source of pleasure to millions. Educated
at the same time as Colin Sinclair at King
George V Grammar School, Southport he took
up aero-modelling and shared this pastime
with Charles Fitzpatrick, Harold Griffiths
and Bill Crusham.
They started with gliders and rubber
powered flight before changing to petrol,
diesel (compression ignition) and glowplug engines, as they became available.
Tom recalls that these small engines
became so powerful that the planes were
launched vertically, nose up/tail down,
and upon release disappeared into the sky
like space rockets. In competitions for
the longest duration of flight,competitors
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Page 8
a maximum engine run of ten
the plane was lost to sight.
Much running ensued in retrieving and if
the engine timer failed to operate it was
unlikely that the model would be seen
again that day and the owner would have to
wait hoping for a card or telephone call
telling him from where it could be
collected. If by chance it had caught
a thermal then it could be miles from the
take off point. As radio control came in
many transferred their interest to cars
via an interest in railways. Modelling was
paramount. Enjoyment came from sharing and
discussing ideas, passing on tips and
overcoming problems.
In the second half of the 1940's
further study had to take preference over
modelling. Tom continued his studies at
Loughborough College (now a University)
qualifying as a craft teacher specialising
in Metalwork and Engineering in 1948. The
course complete, National Service followed
in the Education Branch of the Royal Air
Force teaching mathematics to regular
recruits and commissioned officers
preparing for promotion examinations, this
was his lot for the next twenty-two
months. It was during this period that the
Southport Model and Engineering Club(SMEC)
was formed. Tom started off on a journey
of forty-one years teaching the 'young
gentlemen' of Liverpool. Never the less he
found time to join and take an active
interest in the recently formed club and
acted as Honorary Secretary for several
years.
Here he became acquainted with Walkden
Fisher, F.R.S.A. (Fellow of the Royal
Society of Artists), a founder member of
SMEC who lived near the town centre at 34,
Princess Street, a road in close proximity
and parallel to Lord Street, a busy and
prestigious shopping thoroughfare. He
specialised in the water-colour painting
of landscapes and birds making the facial
expressions of the latter reminiscent of
his friends, or so he said. When a local
minister published the 'Eagle' comic
Walkden became deeply involved and
produced the original drawings for centre
spreads of famous railway trains and cars.
These were drawn out four times actual
size so that every detail could be
included before being photographed down to
size. The only time he felt able to do the
finer work was in the early hours of the
morning when the vibrations from the
traffic on Lord Street, 100 yards away,
ceased. Twice a year he would spend time
at a studio at Ascot where the 'set' for
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Dan Dare, the comic's hero, from which the
other artists drew was located. This he
updated and refreshed as needed.
Tom well remembers Walkden seeking
advice from Charles Fitzpatrick about a
clear 'Perspex' dome for Dan Dare's
spaceship as he had moulded something
similar for a six-foot wingspan glider he
had built previously. Charles produced the
half-sphere former and matching die and
assembled them with a sturdy lever onto a
strong wooden box. In the kitchen of Tom's
home, before he was married, they heated
the BC" plastic in the electric oven
before hurriedly clamping it in place on
the die-plate and applying their combined
body weight to the lever. After repeating
the process several times they finally
managed to get it to the required depth.
Dan Dare would be safe for another
expedition.
Walkden, meanwhile, supervised the
building of a fully landscaped 'OO' Gauge
railway layout in the clubroom which, when
completed, would take centre stage at club
exhibitions. These were held each year in
the Cambridge and Victoria Halls situated
in the very centre of the town. These
continued for several years with entries
and visitors from all over the country
providing a very necessary source of
income.
Few members knew of the existence of
'The Western Lines Railway', an AngloAmerican layout based largely on the
Atchison, Topeko and Santa Fe Railway
which was housed in the cellars of
Walkden's home at 34 Princess Street and
built over the years by Walkden and a
handful of friends. Viewing was by
invitation only. Tom received such an
invitation and was most impressed by what
he saw. The care taken in the construction
and the attention to detail was
unbelievable; and he had no hesitation in
accepting an invitation to join this small
group whose skills and perseverance had
made such a magnificent job of the track,
points, slips and double slips, etc. all
made from scratch. The front cellar was
nearly complete and the base and track for
a main line station was already in place
in the centre cellar. A hole in the
dividing wall would allow entry for the
trains and be incorporated with the
scenery. Tom was given the job of building
the station roof based on Lime Street
Station in Liverpool. He remembers going
to a glass merchant for the 40" long by
2003
Page 9
1BE" wide strips of picture glass to clad
the curved girder roof trusses which he
had previously made using balsa wood
strip. A reminder of his aero-modelling
days where he first met up with Charles
Fitzpatrick who, years later, was to
produce 1/32nd scale car bodies under the
name of 'Classic' and 'Betta'. Each glass
strip had to be ruled out into separate
panes (1/2" x 1/4") using a draughtsman's
lining pen loaded with thinned cellulose
paint as the ink. Locomotives and rolling
stock were modified 'Hornby' products. All
but one of this select group of railway
modellers became members of SMEC and
showed total loyalty and support to both
clubs. Many other SMEC members would
have liked to join the Western Lines and
would certainly have been welcomed, but
the limited space would not permit an
increase in membership and they were
always conscious of the fact that they
were in a private house. Tentative plans
were already in existence for spreading
to the third, and last, cellar.
'Gipsy Rose Lee', and her troupe of
young female beauties, visited Southport,
much to the disgust of the older
generation at the time, staging a show
posturing nude but totally stationary on
the stage of the Garrick Theatre. Having a
layout herself at home in the U.S.A. she
sought permission to visit the Western
Lines and was much impressed by what she
saw. A reciprocal invitation to the show
wasn't extended. Shortly afterwards an
approach from an American magazine,
'Mechanics Illustrated' led to a visit by
one of their teams who photographed the
layout and published an article shortly
afterwards.
SMEC arranged special outings of both
particular and general interest. During
'Festival of Britain' year a coach carried
members, their wives and friends to London
one Friday night to visit the 'Model
Engineer' exhibition, the Festival site
and other places of interest if time
permitted. Saturday night accommodation
was booked at the National Hotel, Russell
Square and the group headed back to
Southport late on Sunday evening. Harold
Griffiths, a most pleasant, lively and
happy person despite his diminutive
stature complained of being rather tired
on the return journey and was manhandled,
in no uncertain manner, onto the overhead
luggage rack where he slept soundly for
many miles.
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
Another outing was made to the
Northern Association of Model Engineers
exhibition in Manchester and it was here
that members had their first glimpse of
rail racing. The 1/12th scale model cars
powered by 1cc. diesel engines were
clipped onto a 5/16" diameter steel rod
securely fastened about BC" above the
track surface. Cars were held onto this
rail by four flanged rollers on a pivoted
plate at the front and a further two at
the back to keep it in line. Three pairs
of notches were filed out of the rod on a
straight to allow secure (?) location of
the car after the engine had been started
on a spinning drum at the side of the
track. Drive to the rear wheels was
provided by a centrifugal clutch and once
the cars were released the driver had no
control whatsoever. The cars were noisy
and smelly but went like a 'bat out of
hell'. Needless to say this caught the
imagination of some of the group and a
portable track and cars were soon under
construction at the clubroom. Although
engineering machinery was completely
lacking one of the members, a coal
delivery- man by the name of Halsall,
allowed the use of the tools and equipment
at his home workshop. The use of such
equipment was completely new to most of
the members and much of the turning had
been done for them. The track, with the
minimum of scenery, and cars were
eventually completed and tested in time
for showing at the annual exhibition at
the Baptist Church Hall at the junction of
Chapel Street and Eastbank Street,
Southport. Although it created interest
among the younger visitors only the stout
hearted spent much time there; the smell
got into clothes and hair and the scream
from the engines met with little approval.
The favourite engines, the highest
revving, were 'Elfin' diesels made in Edge
Lane, Liverpool close to where Tom was
teaching. This proved very useful to
members if trouble was encountered as they
could be taken in during his dinner break,
fixed while he waited and, more often than
not, with no charge.
He wonders, now that he is of somewhat
more mature years (74), what would have
happened if one of these projectiles had
come adrift when travelling at speed and
hit a spectator. Flat out was always the
order of the day.
This was, to Tom's knowledge, the
first Rail Racing in Southport?
How long could it last? Tea break on a
Friday night was when the 'Western Lines'
2003
Page 10
discussed many matters and generally put
the world to rights. It was inevitable
that, as members of SMEC, the recent
exhibition would be discussed especially
the feelings towards rail racing. Walkden
was never impressed by speed unless it was
proportional to the scale of the model. He
let his feelings be known in no uncertain
manner when 'Western Liners' exceeded
'scale speed' on the model railway track.
He would go ballistic if a chassis was run
without a body shell but perhaps the most
serious offence of all was to hide his
tobacco pouch in the mouth of a tunnel.
Walkden invariably had a well-burnt
'Sherlock Holmes' pipe hanging out of the
corner of his mouth. He said little but
that didn't mean that he wouldn't give it
further thought when crouched over his
drawing board in the still of the night.
His closing comment was " It might become
more popular if it was to a smaller scale
and electrically powered" adding that 'it
would give those who insisted on racing
their locomotives on the railway track an
outlet without upsetting others'.
And so it was, some weeks later that a
length of wood on which a 3/16" by 3/32"
brass strip was soldered to copper tacks
driven flush with the surface with a
copper wire 3/8" away to the side
similarly secured. From out of a box
appeared a model to 1/32nd scale of a
Mercedes-Benz 196 complete in every detail
and with Juan Manuel Fangio behind the
wheel. Underneath a piece of sheet brass
bent into an inverted 'U,' was secured in
the centre of the front axle, and a thin
leaf spring with a brass foil triangle
lining up with the wire. Under the balsa
wood body was a 'Triang' (Lines Bros.) 12v
electric motor as used in model trains
purchased at a cost of 10 shillings and
sixpence (52.5p), from Matt Kelly at the
local Hobby Shop in Bold Street. A
contrate gear vandalised from a child's
'push-and-go' car purchased for one
shilling and three pence (6p) was soldered
to the back axle and motor shaft and a set
of plated brass wheels with spokes printed
on celluloid inserts from a 'build-ityourself' car kit adorned the outside.
Other bits and pieces came from the scrap
box. A car built for less than a pound.
The sample of track was powered from a
spare railway transformer and the motor
speed controlled by a rotary variableresistance as used on the trains.
The Western Liners were 'hooked',
plans for extending the railway into the
third cellar were temporarily shelved and
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
a trial rail racing car track would be
built on the pretence that, if it didn't
turn out as expected, the base for the
railway extension would already be in
place.
The cellar at the back of the house
was 'L' shaped with the nearly square
base. The driving positions were to be at
the bottom of the upright looking down a
long straight. A tight circular bend
brought you back parallel to the long
straight with a left-handed turn taking
you into the square part where the cars
went through another 360 B0 incorporating
a raised crossover bridge to the end of
the lap. In the middle of the square was a
cut out where a marshal sat during races
to replace derailed cars. Harold Griffiths
had now joined the 'cellar dwellers' along
with Colin Sinclair, Bill Rimmer and
Charles Fitzpatrick who had now become
Tom's brother-in-law. It was Harold who
usually occupied the centre track
position. He didn't restrict the view of
the cars too much, was very agile and had
leant to absorb the insults appertaining
to his inability to replace cars quick
enough or in the right order. Always a
thankless job!
On the three-lane track construction
progressed steadily, scenery to 'Fisher'
standards was being added and more cars
were appearing. Walkden, bearing an
uncanny resemblance to the Mercedes Team
Manager(Neubauer) in stature, manner and
appearance added a Mercedes 163
(Alberto Ascari) and an Auto Union (Tazio
Nuvolari) to his stable and later a
300SLR. Arthur Moore, a Post Office
telephone engineer, settled for a Maserati
(Prince Bira). Colin Sinclair exhibited
superb craftsmanship in building and
detailing an E.R.A. (Raymond Mays?) which
other drivers were wary of damaging when
it was on the track. Harold Inman, a sales
representative for 'Pel' tubular furniture
tried his hand at a Lancia-Ferrari while
Tom built a 'Vanwall' in the hope that it
would have more success than the full size
one. Alas it was not to be against the
might of the Mercedes. It was sometime
later that Stirling Moss crossed the
finishing line first at Aintree in a pea
green Vanwall, watched by the 'cellar
dwellers' from the corner of Tattersalls
roof stand alongside the BBC TV camera.
Tom over-painted the nose on his model a
similar green to commemorate Stirling's
success. It did nothing for the
performance of his car as proxy driver
Alban Adams once found out! Influenced by
2003
Page 11
Stirling's win in the 1955 Mille Miglia he
then built a Mercedes 300 SL coupe. The
top moulded from a piece of thick clear
celluloid and glued to the balsa wood
lower body. Window frames bent from wire
were carefully glued in place and allowed
to dry before the spaces in between were
gradually built up with a paste made from
clear cellulose paint and talcum powder. A
lengthy and painstaking process before the
painting and the fine detail could be
completed. An experimental swinging front
axle was tried and seemed to help track
stability but it was no match for the
maestro's (W.F's.) cars. A friend at
church happened to mention Tom's interest
in the new hobby to a leading technician
who worked at the local factory of
Mullards, producers of radio sets, etc. He
asked if he could see the car and Tom
sent the 300 SL jokingly suggesting that
he apply his expertise and tune it for
him. In return, some days later, a handwritten document on how the motor could be
made to give higher revs and greater power
with formulae using such terms as gauss,
brush pressure, air gap, etc. accompanied
the car. He had tuned the motor as far as
he could without physically altering it.
Performance can best be judged in a race.
For several meetings the 300SL was the
'King of the Track'.
Intent of retaining the 'crown' for as
long as possible Tom took considerable
time in physically altering, and hopefully
improving, the 'Triang' motor. Carefully
setting up the armature, commutator and
shaft in a lathe he skimmed the outside
until it ran perfectly true. Obtaining
a piece of fine-grain cast iron, from a
damaged surface plate, he machined the
frame, magnet holder and pole pieces in
one piece allowing only sufficient
clearance for the armature to rotate.
After assembling it he put it to the test
and found so much power that he couldn't
stop the shaft when gripping it with his
fingers. Expecting great things he
rapidly replaced the motor in the 300SL
with the new one and prepared to show the
others the 'way home'. Yes it ran
beautifully smoothly and went round bends
at full power with never a hint of leaving
the track. Unfortunately instead of more
speed he had power in excess. The motor
would have been fine on the 'Western
Lines' pulling long freight trains
up steep gradients, at scale speed, but in
a model car race....! Motors were changed
back, one being consigned to the waste
bin, and the 300SL failed to win another
race. Was it trying to tell him something?
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
The last Friday of every month was
always race night; the outright winner
invariably being Walkden. His Mercedes
cars were so much faster than the other
cars on the track that you couldn't even
catch them to try to overtake. He must
have spent hours running motors and gears
in at slow speeds using a mixture of '3in-one' oil and metal polish - Brasso.
He experimented with brush and pick-up
pressure until he couldn't improve any
further; his efforts certainly paid
dividends. However a way was found to slow
down his progress. If when entering the
bend at the end of the long straight and
your car was on his inside, a quick spurt
on the controller would throw the rear of
your car out and nudge him off the track
sometimes delaying the other driver as
well. Apologies were always tendered, of
course, but he just waited for the
opportunity to do the same in 'return'
elsewhere on the track. 'All's fair in
love and war,' or so they say!
At what stage they started calling
themselves the 'Auto Rail Racing
Association' - ARRA - Tom can't truthfully
recall but it was about May 1958 that the
first reference appeared in the pages of
'Model Maker'. Walkden, Tom, Arthur Moore
and Harold Inman had been invited to lunch
at a hotel in Worksop by Mr LaidlawDickson, then editor of 'Model Maker'
magazine who had somehow got to know about
their activities and was eager to learn
more. Tom suspects that Walkden could have
been the source of the 'leak', however
many times the subject was raised it was
denied with the usual wry smile. Articles
in the magazine followed over the next few
months, other groups became interested,
visited the ARRA track and went away and
built their own. Ideas were freely
exchanged and interest in the hobby was
spreading; was it here to stay? It was
during these early stages that it was
considered advisable to produce a set of
rules governing the building of cars and
the conditions under which they should
race. These were formulated by ARRA and
named the 'Southport Standards'. The
number of tracks steadily increased and
the Model Aeronautical Press - M.A.P -,
publishers of 'Model Maker' decided it
deserved a magazine of its own and called
it 'Model Cars'. Tom wrote several
articles for this magazine; lightweight
wheels in April '61, chassis construction
in Nov. '64, a guide to metals in June
'65, and a series on joining metals in
July '65. A report on the 'Red Rose'
Trophy race in 1961 between ARRA and the
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Aintree Model Racing Car Club followed. A
rather strong letter defending Rail Racing
when a correspondent, a Mr Owen of unknown
abode, transferred his affections and fell
into the 'groove' and felt that he had
become superior.
The lightweight wheels which Tom made
came about after seeing cars at
competitive meetings shedding wheels at
critical stages and thus missing out on
what was almost certainly a win. The
commercial wheels which modellers were
using were made from brass with standard
right-hand threads for the axle to screw
into. Axles had to be threaded to suit and
the wheels needed to be locked in place by
a nut. Avoiding a 'drunken' thread on an
axle is difficult without proper equipment
and the lock nut looked unsightly. Ideally
of course two of the wheels should have
had left-hand threads but even those could
have vibrated loose during a race.
Aluminium alloy wheels with a brass insert
pressed in could be soldered in place and
be much lighter. On non-driven wheels the
insert provided a good bearing surface.
Better performance and an end to wheel
shedding.
He was persuaded to make wheels for
others and later, with the availability of
'Pitman' motors from America, brass
bearings for soldering into the over-sized
holes in the back bracket to take an axle.
These were made in lunch hours in the
departmental machine shop at school.
Production ceased when demands on his time
(pupils) became more pressing. He didn't
make his fortune; the small charge he made
barely covered the cost of materials and
postage. Likewise the articles for the
model magazines did not result in any
great improvement in his standard of
living; payment was thirty shillings
(A31.50) per printed page.
Roy Denholm ran the Aintree Model
Racing Car Club in a cellar under
a workshop belonging to the family
business near the Aintree Racecourse.
Roy was one of the Denholms of 'Denholm,
Rees and O'Donnell', a leading ship repair
company in Liverpool. Fortunately, for
others rail racing car enthusiasts, his
cars did not have the same robustness as
the ships his employees worked on. He and
fellow members of the Aintree Club
organised a 'Le Mans' type race for teams
of three cars and drivers at their track
in 1961. The race was to be run nonstopover a period of two hours hence the
title 'Deux Heures du Mans'. Part of the
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
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Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
race was run in total darkness; the only
light coming from the scale lamps at the
side of the track and the head and rear
lights of the cars. Laurie Cranshaw
was Chief Marshal in charge of racing on
the day. The ARRA team of Bentleys,
managed by Tom, came fourth. Talk about
'eyes sticking out like doorstops' after
the race! All very friendly and great fun
on a track ARRA visited from time to time,
occasionally winning.
It was then that disaster struck the
'Western Lines'. Dry rot was found in the
cellars in which the railway was built and
this had penetrated into the walls of the
house. The whole layout, many years of
devoted work, was stripped out and burnt
so that the property could be
professionally treated. There was no way
that it could be rebuilt to the same
standard and, since the venture into model
car racing, it had rarely been run or
serviced.
Discussion took place and it was
reluctantly accepted that this
unfortunate happening could be for the
best. Slot racing now had a substantial
following and by knocking the two cellars
previously used by the railway into one,
enough space would be available to build a
superior slot car track for four cars. The
completed track was featured in 'Model
Cars' during 1964 and was applauded for
its stunning scenery, an electrical timer
for consistent starts and reliable lapcounters. An Open race was held each year.
It was at this stage that many of the
'Western Liners' began to realise what a
monster they had created and lost
interest. The hobby became commercialised.
It was possible to buy all the parts for a
racing car ready finished and the
satisfaction of designing and building had
gone. Yes, the cars got faster but became
projectiles bearing less and less
resemblance to the full size versions.
Competition became intense and winning was
paramount in competitors minds. This
unfortunately 'killed-off' those who got
as much pleasure, if not more, from
building the cars as from racing them. It
was bound to happen especially when toy
makers got into the act. That's progress
(?).
It's at this time that Tom, now an
experienced teacher several steps up the
professional ladder and father of two
children, got involved in night-school
work and external examinations. One night
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a week was spent teaching Engineering
Theory and Practice at Old Swan Technical
College, Liverpool and another on
practical work for City and Guilds
qualifications. Two years later he was
asked to take over another course at night
for qualified engineers wanting to gain
qualifications necessary for entry into
the teaching profession; this he was able
to do in his own school workshops. When
such a way of entry into the profession
was stopped he was persuaded to run
classes for qualified teachers of
engineering on the more advanced
techniques of engineering machine work.
With the start of the Certificate of
Secondary Education Examinations he became
Chief Moderator for the Northwest Region
in Engineering Workshop Theory and
Practice eventually being responsible
for the examination over the whole of the
British Isles. Later, for the first six
years of the General Certificate of
Education he held the same position. Age
was beginning to tell; he tired of driving
many hundreds of miles each year to sort
out problems in schools and examination
centres to ensure that the standard of the
examination remained constant and so he
retired.
Relaxation became Crown Green Bowls
and gardening, a pastime more refreshing
and much healthier than the dank cellars
of model railways and car tracks.
Walkden becoming disheartened soon
lost interest as standards fell and
stopped racing but allowed the track to be
used 'coming down' from upstairs on fewer
and fewer occasions until he passed away a
few years ago. His charming wife, Peggy,
the lady who provided the tea and
biscuits for the 'cellar dwellers' for
many years, allowed those still involved
to continue using the cellar until the
time came for them to move elsewhere and
build another track.
Now, when Tom's youngest grandchild,
Daniel, gets out his 'Scalextric' and
challenges him to a race many happy
memories come flooding back. It is good to
know he says that what was started by
those 'cellar dwellers', six keen railway
modellers, many years ago is still
giving pleasure to 'children' of all ages.
Tom, the last of the 'Western Lines'
and 'Auto Rail Racing Association'
members, with early conscripts Charles
Fitzpatrick and Colin Sinclair, are the
last to be able to recount the early days
Gregory P. Holland / Vintage Slot Racing Newsletter
VSRN-Online
Issue 112 Oct-Dec 2003
of rail racing. They are still much alive
and kicking although their engines have
lost power and the 'knock and creak' in
their bearings is getting much more
audible. It is their intention to avoid
the 'chequered flag' for as long as
possible.
On their behalf, Tom sends car
modellers and racers, everywhere,
their very best wishes.
Happy racing to you all.
-o---o0o---oTom Nelson,
4th October 2003
2003
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