Repositioning the Big Screen

 A couple of years ago, I modified a digital photo frame to act as a big screen on the layout.

The location looked good but it's always partially obscured the far corner.  This weekend I finally got round to moving it to the background.

I removed the screen and replaced it with a marshal's hit, and fitted the screen to a new stand.

I also added a Big Red Button (TM) for starting the races.

Boars Nest Cup

Andy and I met up last night for the inaugural Boars Nest Cup featuring:

• Luke Duke in the Dodge Charger "General Lee"
• Daisy Duke in "Dixie", her AMC Golden Eagle
• Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane in his Dodge Monaco "hot pursuit" police car
• Deputy Enos Strate chauffeuring Boss Hogg in his Cadillac Eldorado

Highwood Circuit had been temporarily redecorated to double up as Hazzard County.

Twelve races provided each car the opportunity to race against every other in both lanes.  The General Lee is a Scalextric model with the magnet removed; the other three are all scratchbuilt cars.  The big American cars swing all over the track making passing a challenge.  Daisy's car was fast but its high centre of gravity meant it had to really slow for corners or else it might topple over.  I will add some lead to it for next time.  "Dixie" wasn't the only car to leave the slot though...

The lap times were pretty close but Enos in the Cadillac was the clear overall winner, taking first place in each of its six races, with the General Lee getting into second place just ahead of Rosco, and Daisy firmly in last place.  I was disappointed that the Cup wasn't won by a Duke but it was great fun.

Swindon Swapmeet 2015

Andy and I went along to Swindon Oasis today for the annual Scalextric Swapmeet.

We had a table where I laid out a number of cars for sale, with some scratchbuilt cars and a tablet showing some of my videos to try and attract the punters.

One of the first items to be sold was to a lad called James.  A photographer from the local newspaper spotted this and took a photo, which appeared in the Swindon Advertiser afterwards.

I sold getting on for half the cars I took with me and restricted myself to just one purchase - a scratchbuilt Lotus garage.  It will be a tight squeeze to fit it onto the layout but it was really nicely done and well detailed.