Pack 240 Pinewood Derby Track
The Starting Gate -
A track's starting gate can make a lot of difference in a successful track! Our track now incorporates an older solenoid unit that we use to electronically activate the gate, removing it from in front of the vehicles in the blink of an eye... No cars rolling off to the edge of the lane, no cars riding up the starting post. The pictures below show how our set-up looks from above and below....
From above, our starting gate is not that much different in appearance than many of the others you might see from pack to pack. The real difference begins to appear as you look up from below...
As you can see, the set-up is not really all that complicated. We started with a few minor items available at any hardware store. The spring, hinges, wood, screws and electrical hardware all are readily available. We were fortunate to have a solenoid that we were able to remove from a very old track that was in our school's old pack, many years ago. Another very important ingredient in the success of our gate is the "Shock absorber" of Ron's design. When the starting gate is activated, the handle swings back with considerable force. This is necessary to allow the cars a clean start, but results in a solid impact with the track bottom, and a tremendous recoil that sent the starting posts above surface again. This works really well for a car ejection system, but not very good for a clean race start. The handle is wrapped in felt, and as it comes in contact with the tape covered foam shock absorber, it comes to a nice, quiet stop. Below is a generic diagram showing a side view of the starting gate and how it works. In this image, the spring has been omitted that provides the force that pulls the starting gate into it's "down" position.
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