PRINCIPLE OF  'THEME MODEL CAR TRACKS'

January 8 - Model car tracks are different from tracks used for scale racing and wing car racing, where there is no infield at all. A well built model car track, however, has always a well decorated infield. Most beautiful model car tracks of the world are found in Germany where AMS Solingen, Scuderia Wittgenstein, Weser-Ems and Kiel have somewhat the most beautiful tracks of the world. All those tracks, however, start from the same principle, that it are stereotypical racing circuits. A handicap of such approach is that such tracks are never very realistic: the grand stands are disproportional small, public is restricted to a couple of dozens of figures, and the stands are hardly a copy from what is found at full scale racing circuits.
On building the model car track of the Belgian Racing Centre, I refused to follow the general trend of the typical race circuit. I followed a complete other theme, nl. the one of the street circuits as they were created mainly in Germany in the early 1950s, such as Aachen (1951), Avus (1921-1999), the Bautzen Autobahn Circuit (1957), the Bernau Grand Prix Circuit (1952-1973), Bremerhafen (1960-now), the former Dessau street circuit, Essen (1951-1952), Frankfurt (1950), the former Grenzlandring at the Dutch border, the Hannover Maschsee (1949), the Ingolstadt Donauring behind the railroad (1949/1954-now), Kiel (1950-1951), Leverkusen (1950-1951), Lübeck (1949), the Norisring at Nürnberg, along the railroad (1947-now), the Sachsenring behind the railroad (1927-1972), the Schottenring (1925-now), the actual Schwanenstadt-Pitzenburg Ring, the Schweinfurt street circuit (1949), the Singen Allemanenring (1991-1995), the actual Villingen-Schweniningen ring, etc. Several of those circuits restricted themselves to motor racing, most of them disappeared.
One particular street circuit seemed to me a dream for model car racing, the Kreisstadt Sankt-Wendel street circuit, at the borders of France and Luxemburg, (some 70 miles from the extreme southern border of Belgium), with start at the market place, just behind the church, and with the railroad along the stretch. For model car lovers such circuit offered the major advantage that one can work with street buildings (as manufactured at scale 1/22.5 by Pola, Piko, Faller and others) and that one can combine it with a railroad as manufactured by LGB or Märklin 1. Even if it was impossible to make on a restricted place a copy of the 3.788-km St-Wendel street circuit, one could at least try to gave a good impression of a street racing circuit, where one can work with a real market place, a railway station, a couple of shops, etc., without being enforced to reproduce grandstands or pit lanes. That became the basic idea for the construction of the model car track at the Belgian Model Car Centre of Aalst.
Since I discovered St-Wendel in the mid-1960s, with in the small station exceptionally even a Belgian steam locomotive of type 64 (former Prussian P8, since 1945  in dark green of the Belgian Railroads), together with German steam locomotives (mostly old T9s), I wished to reproduce that atmosphere on a model car track, reproducing the atmosphere of the mid-1960s. The track was also built in function of the Franco Gianotti Trophy, in honour of the late Italian racer - a race, which, I hope, will be organised once per year.

The track, in a typical German decor, has one major inconven-ience, nl. that racing American Nascar cars on it give it a total unrealistic character. However, I am fully aware, that what I realised in international slot-racing, was nearly completely thanks to the sponsorship of Nascar. So it should be ungrateful to stop at once model car racing with 124 Nascar cars, now Winston is no longer the main sponsor.
Below I reproduce some pics of the model car track. Some of them were made before the street lightning was added. I used street lanterns of LGB. The more than 200 figures on the track are almost all made by Preiser and by Elastolin. Most buildings are Pola LGB and Piko. Layout of the track follows a simple design, made in 1986 by Jan Limpach (USA) and Sergio Maresca (I). It's a flat track, without bridge, with a 9-metres straight along the railroad, and with two chicanes. It seems an easy track, but it's more vicious than most racers believe. The new track, now 25 metres long, may be considered as an enlargement of the old 16 metres short track used at Grimbergen from 1999 to 2003. The new track was used the first time at the BXL X-Mas Races of December 20, 2003. Such top racers as Josef Korec (CZ), 'Piki' van Rossem (B), Vladimir Horky (CZ), Lasse Äberg (S), Michael Landrud (S), Mikael Silén (S), Salvatore Noviello (I), Francesc Reyes (E), Tamar Nelwan (B), Ralph Klose (D), and many others, were already seen in competition at the new track. [JPVR]

SANKT-WENDEL CIRCUIT AS EXAMPLE

Sankt-Wendel, a town with 27,000 inhabitants in the North-East of Bundesland Saarland, is situated at 69-kms from Trier and 35-kms from Saarbrücken. The last years Sankt-Wendel is famous as organiser of one of the rounds for the Mountain Bike World Cup. Since years the ADAC Rallye Deutschland - now counting for the FIA Rally World Championship - uses the street circuit for one of its special legs. And after a long period of inactivity the street circuit is since 2001 again used for the Sankt-Wendel Classics, a race with vintage cars. From 1983 to 1992 the inner part of the circuit, res. 2.700 kms and 2.850 kms long, was also used for motorcycle and for Super-Kart races. 
The fact that the railroad - the Nebenbahn Strecke from Sankt-Wendel to Tholey (13 kms) - followed until 1970 a part of the street circuit, is for builders of model car tracks a pretty starting point, since it allows to add a railway section to the race track. Moreover the railroad from Saarbrücken Hbf to Bad Kreuznach, 125-kms long - the former line 271 - passed along Sankt-Wendel and along the original circuit in the east of the town. From the mid-1960s only Triebwagen were used on both lines, but earlier local trains with ex-Prussian T9³ tenderlocs were busy on line 271. Of those locs Märklin produced in gauge 1 no less than three versions, res. #55913, #55912  and #55024. [After Worl War II the Belgian NMBS/SNCF received several T9³ tenderlocs as reparation payment for the war; they received series number 93].

NOTE ON TRAINS USED AT THE MC TRACK

The 25-metre Carrera 6-laner, following an old design by Jan Limpach (USA) and Sergio Maresca (I), here seen at the 2003 BXL X-Mas Races. Picture by Stéphane Martin.

The same track seen from the other side, the week before the 2003 BXL X-Mas Races. Picture by Bob Demeyer.

The track has been built in function of endurance races with classic cars. In January street lightning was added so that racing in the dark is perfectly possible. Picture by JPVR.

Decor is one of the late 1950s, early 1960s.  Here three trains in the station. The green one is a former Prussian P8. The two other steam locomotives are former Prussian T9³s. A second signal and a siding for a shunting-locomotive (the grey one) were added after the X-Mas Races.

Another view of the three ex-Prussian locomotives. Picture by JPVR.

A fourth and last locomotive, a former Prussian T3 has been brought in for demolition. Picture: JPVR.

Again the track before the street lightning was added. Here we see the church (from Pola LGB), the city hall (from Piko), the hotel (from Pola LGB) and next to the church the rear of the fashion shop. Pucture by Bob Demeyer.

Detail of the market place with figurines from Preiser, Elastolin and Corgi Icon.  If one looks closer there can be no doubt that this model car track was the work of an anarchist. Between the music chapel of the army and the round man with bowler hat we see a man (his gun hidden behind the back of the bowler man) making an attempt on both the military and the priest (hidden behind the two horses). And are army and church not the worst enemies of an anarchist? Remark the special security guard system installed by Bob Demeyer. Against the wall part of a pic of JPVR's Ferrari 250 GTO - pic: Bob Demeyer.

Again the market place with the double mariage. One sees how the anarchist (a late brother of Gavrillo Princip?) fires in the direction of the army and of the priest. Picture: JPVR.

Again the crowd at the market place. For the military it's extremely difficult to see the anarchist, firing behind the back of a man eating some Bratwurst. Pic: JPVR.

At the X-Mas Races several foreign racers tried to make a good pic of the anarchist and his gun. However, he is so well hidden among the crowd that one needs a special stative to make this pick of the attempt on the military. Pic: JPVR

The double marriage of the twin sisters - here seen at the market place with behind the city hall - inspired me in 2002 to write my most thrilling noven, The maquette.  Pic: JPVR.

Other view of the track after the street lightning has been added by Herman Helskens. Pic: JPVR.

Two smoking steam locomotives at the station of Sankt-Welden.  Pic: JPVR.

Rear side of the garage with funeral car and fire engine (partially hidden by the tree). Pic: JPVR.

View on the railway station with ex-Prussian P8 locomotive in its 64.015 Belgian version (active until 1966). Locomotive (with digital steering, smoke generator and sound) is Märklin I. Station and goods-station are Pola LGB. Pic: JPVR.

Front side of the goods station (Pola LGB) and the pharmacy (Piko) with in front an Isetta with caravan. Pic: JPVR.