Meadowdale
International RacewayMeadowdale
International Raceway
The real Meadowdale track:
The 3.27 miles (5.26 km) long Meadowdale racetrack in
Carpentersville, Illinois, USA was used from 1958 to 1968. The track was
designed by Leonard W. Bessinger. The most famous features of the track were the
huge Monza Wall with a 45 degree banking and the 4000 feet (1219 m) long main
straight. The track was a great combination of flat and fast, hilly and twisty,
open land and forest sections.
In my opinion, the "essence" of Meadowdale is best shown using a bank turn and of course the Pure Oil Silo. Without these two elements, I didn't even want to do the course as a slot car track. Phil Trattner (WSSCA Tech Master) and I tested the banking of 1/2" MDF board and following is a shot of the successfully completed bank.
I did make one concession to the bank turn angle. The bank turn (Monza Wall) was originally 45 degrees, and there is no way I felt the MDF board could keep bending to that angle. As we bent it though, I realized that viewing cars on either side of it and behind it would be a problem, so I settled for a 25 degree bank.
The next task was to figure out the proper elevations and build the track from cardboard to be used as templates.
Because of the amount of elevation changes, I decided not to route the MDF board as several large sheets but to cut the track out and assemble the pieces like you would a plastic track. I got some ideas for a base and frame construction out of a model railroading book, and since I needed storage space underneath the track, the "open frame" approach seemed best.
The guys in the slot car club basically through my plans for the frame and base out and started from scratch. They made many good improvements and then the fun started.
Routing and Track Construction