Rail Racing Returns

Four beautifully handcarved replicas of Walkden Fisher's original car were made for this historic event. This was the car that won the very first rail race and started the whole sport of slot car racing, currently enjoyed by millions of enthusiasts worldwide. The chassis of the original car was rebuilt by a specialist in Dubai, Russell Sheldon, and was used in the first race to open the event. The car was beautifully carved out of balsa wood and is a good scale model as Walkden Fisher was an artist of no small amount of talent. The rail racing track was constructed in the basement of Walkden Fisher's house where regular races were held. The new rail racing track, which is based on the design of the original Southport track, was constructed paintakingly by hand using all the original techniques by a team in Wales.

We believe that this is the only operational rail racing track in existence anywhere in the world. No rail racing tracks have been built since the late 1950s when virtually all of them were destroyed as clubs changed over to slot racing tracks. New rail racing cars are also being built. Everyone is providing their services free including Brooklands providing all facilities free to recreate a pivotal moment in British model car racing history. A four lane slot car track was also used for the some of the day's races.

The day started with the Walkden Fisher Memorial Race. Walkden Fisher built the first documented and photographed rail racing track for the Southport Model and Engineering Club's exhibition in 1955 following an article that appeared in the 1954 Christmas edition of the magazine Model Maker, publicising the various experiments being carried out up and down the country with electric racing. In this article it publicised a scheme involving the use of a Mighty Midget electric motor fitted into the chassis of a former Scalex clockwork Ferrari for which a small oval circuit was constructed. For the 1955 modelling exhibition SMEC had planned to use model diesel cars running around a rail track. Unfortunately the Zonker (the guide) infringed an MRRC patent, forcing the club to look for another kind of vehicle to use for the exhibition.

Also included was a memorial race for Percy Lambert, who was the first person to cover a hundred miles in an hour. The record was set around Brooklands Raceway on February 15th 1930 when driving his 4.5 litre sidevalve Talbot he covered 103 miles and 1470 yards in sixty minutes. In the Brooklands Museum is a film of his exploits, filmed on the same day. On October 31st he was killed while trying to regain the record. Over the first 20 laps of the Brooklands track he averaged 110 mph. On his 21st lap a rear tyre disintegrated, the Talbot rolled down the banking and Lambert died on the way to hospital. An obituary called him the best known racing driver in the world. Today he is virtually unknown.

A stox track was also supplied by the "Southern Area Slotstox" club (SAS) based in Ruislip Middlesex for people to try this exciting variation on the sport. The track is a six lane D-shaped oval with a chicane through the curve of the D. The track is about 12' x 6' and sits comfortably on four trestle type tables. Six cars and controllers built for demonstration / entertainment events were supplied. The cars are based on the Parma Womp-Womp chassis and run with a saloon Metro 6R4 body on sponge tyres. They are very durable and have very high entertainment value.

To contact the organiser Jeff Davies click here.