Bayview International Track Plans
8th October 2021 - The detailed track plans for Bayview International Circuit
It often takes me quite a long time to design a track layout, as I tend to spend ages considering alternative options. But this one appeared quite suddenly, and almost fully formed. It helps that the room is so big that I didn't have any particular space constraints, and it also helped that I knew almost exactly what I was aiming for, so the basic ideas just popped up naturally, and almost instantly.
As I've been working away from home, on unfamiliar devices, I had to use Inkscape to draw up the plans instead of my usual choice, Ultimate Racer. As it happens, that actually helped me to break out of old habits, and because the tracks are all routed, the curvaceous, freestyle nature of the software's bezier curves really encouraged me to create natural organic forms.
The track plans below are actually created at full size, meaning that in their native size they are as big as the real thing, 900cm x 600cm. Because Inkscape is a vector based software, it doesn't really make any difference how big or small the drawings are, but it helps to keep the design process streamlined if all the measurements are accurate, easy to understand, and simple to read.
Anyway, let's get onto the plans...
Track Room
As I've mentioned before my potential track room is 9m x 6m, which is an absolute luxury. As shown below, it has a 1.1m wide doorway, centrally positioned along one wall, and a slightly intruding buttress opposite to prevent the end wall of the rickety old building from falling down.
Railway
The base level of the track will be the railway, the platform for which will be set quite low at around 60cm.
The minimum radius of corners in most 1/32 scale train track systems is 4ft, or 1.21m, which very much defines the shape of the railway. The idea is to have a return loop underneath the slot track, which will allow the train to pootle around under it's own steam without the need for anybody to operate it.
That wouldn't stop anybody from playing with the trains if they wanted to, and the train or trains will be operated from a tablet or mobile. But whether the trains are operated or simply left running, I'd definitely like to have movement around the layout, other than the slot cars.
The train will enter the tunnel at the top right, remain hidden under the track through the return loop, and at the bottom left will re-emerge from the goods yard shed.
Single Lane Rally Track
Right next to the railway line will be a single lane track which can either serve as a rally stage, or as a simple country lane for the vans to pick up deliveries from the Gallows Close goods yard.
Again, this will have a dual mode of operation. Sometimes it will be a competitive rally stage, but on other occasions it will be automatically operated to allow my Transit, J-Van (eventually), and street cars to slowly potter about, providing yet more movement whilst the races are in progress.
Of course I won't be restricting my Transit van to delivery duties as it's a hoot to drive, and I suspect the J-Van will be a match for most things on track, with Ken's beautifully engineered chassis. But they will also be expected to be workhorses, delivering the mail, the newspapers, and other goods.
The track will start at the goods yard, at the same level as the railway. But it will drop down sharply into Drummond's Dip shortly after leaving Gallows Close, and will then rise up to Clark's Crest, before turning left onto Brookes bridge, taking it over the railway line, and onto the paddock access roads for the main rally track, before descending the devilishly steep corkscrew to the level crossing to begin the long run home.
Autograss Track
The Autograss track will be 3.5m x 1.8m, but is at this stage an experimental idea. It could be a simple four lane analogue track, but that might not create the pandemonium of the real events, and as always on an analogue track, it would create a favoured lane. A better idea might be a digital track with lane changers, and that is tempting. But again there will always be a faster route round the track, so overtaking could be difficult.
So I'm planning a digital track without lane changers!!!
I know that might sound really daft, but please hear me out.
My plan is to have a single lane, which runs four times round the track before it joins back up with itself. It may look like a plate of spaghetti on the plan, but if you follow it around you'll see what I mean. Each car will join the track on a different loop of the track, so after every four laps, each car will have driven not just the same distance, but exactly the same track, just in a different order.
In order to allow four cars to run on a single lane, some digital trickery will be necessary, which will be completely new to me. It will also require several crossing points, or crashing points, which may be a concern.
But I'm hoping it will encourage some spatial awareness, or an understanding of what's going on around you that is an element of digital racing, and equally important in real autograss racing. Well it will either encourage sensible, aware racing, or it could end up with multiple DNFs.
The Autograss track will be at the same level as the railway, and will be detachable so that when the main rally/race track is being used alone, cars can be recovered more easily.
The Main Rally/Race Track
The largest part of the track will be the rally and race track based on Olivers Mount. It will be bi-directional, running clockwise for the rally events, and anti-clockwise for the races.
The Room
The track will rise steeply as shown by the contour lines on the plan, from the long, lower straight above the railway, up two steep hils to an upper flat plateau which will probably be at a height of around 1.2m, or possibly higher.
In reality there are two separate start lines on Olivers Mount, with the motorcycles and sidecars starting and finishing on the main straight, whilst the rally cars start from the chicane, and actually finish at the top of the track, taking a separate exit down the other side.
Since this is intended to be a simple, two lane analogue layout, I might well simplify this arrangement, so that we have a single start/finish line for all events, and I probably won't include the chicane.
Buildings
There will very few buildings around the track, just as it is in reality. I will be making the distinctive control tower which was built in 1956, and overlooks the start/finish line.
The Room
On top of the track there will be the cafe, the memorial, and the communications tower.
I might also build one or more of the three footbridges which are dotted around the circuit, but this will very much depend on whether this adversely affects sight lines.
Trees
One of the most distinctive features of Olivers Mount is that it is covered with trees. But obviously I won't be able to mimic this exactly, because it would mean you'd be driving blind for most of the lap, with much of the track hidden beneath the woods.
The Room
I will try to cover the outside of the track as densely as possible, but the trees on the inside of the track will probably have to be restricted to the lower slopes, so that the elevation of the track allows it to be seen over the top of them.
