A small update on the track build. A little bit of carpentry goes a long way.
Eliminating all of the little plastic risers and giving the track something solid to sit on makes a big difference. Even with the track not secured to the table, it is so much more stable.
I was also able to increase the clearance of the overpass a bit:
That semi tractor just barely clears.
I did discover a small problem with the layout itself that needed addressed. As the track originally sat, the long downhill back stretch was right against the oncoming lane of the inside loop. Wide cars, like the Corvette tended to get wedged under the incline! Not good.
To resolve this, I had to tweak a few pieces and ended up putting more strain into the plastic track than I would have liked (about half a track width). It is tolerable, and once I secure everything to the table shouldn’t be a problem.
Here is what the pieces I used look like in the track planning software:
When I “pull” the start/finish line piece down to the “long” straight it pulls the loops apart and generates the desired clearance.
If I’d made the table 34″ wide instead of 32″ wide, I could have used a different combination of parts that had zero strain and deliberately spaced the loops. Oh well.
My track length comes out to 6.91 meters, and the lanes are equal due to the cross overs.