North Fork Motor Speedway

Scenic Model Motoring in HO Scale

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It’s Labor Day Weekend 1969 in the sometimes sleepy river area that is surrounded by the most beautiful hills to be found between upstate New York and the Rockies. The grasses are a little burnt this time of year, but the folks around the North Fork area are out and about enjoying this fine weekend – from old downtown, through the entertainment district and the merchant’s streets, into suburbia, past the city parks, all around the North Fork racing venues, up into the hills, past the cows and the old saloon and on up and around by the old moonshiner’s still. And then back home at the end of a wonderful day at the races.

Yep – it’s just exactly as you remember the Midwest in 1969. Come on a tour and relive the glory days of

The North Fork Motor Speedway

Constructed of 100% original Aurora Model Motoring lock and joiner track, NFMS (North Fork Motor Speedway) was at the top of her class in the late sixties. And remains so today! The layout is 360 degree walk-around - providing views of all buildings and terrain from every angle. It also incorporates a good deal of 'single lane' Aurora track. In addition to both Pit Stops having their own single lane Turn-Off, there is an Expressway; a long elevated single lane road which connects Downtown to the Hills while avoiding the steep hills and banked turns that would otherwise prevent the large semi's and trucks from using the circuit. And three pair of Aurora Service Road Turnoffs - the piece that makes the single lane roadway work, and my single favorite track piece ever. In fact, all available Aurora track sizes and most different types are used in the layout; the notable exceptions being most 'trick' pieces and all non-black pieces. There are many multiple radius turns with elevation throughout the course, making it a blast to drive!

As a kid in the early/mid sixties, my layout had the ‘required’ 16 foot straightaway, and thrills and spills from one end to the other. But it also had the Life-Like grass mat, a couple of trees on stands and some racing buildings i.e. pitstop, bleachers, etc. I liked to try and make it look ‘real’. So, on no more than a whim and desire, in late 1999 I began a project that would truly bring Model Motoring to life. My concept, briefly outlined above as ‘downtown to the mountains’, was complete prior to starting the project – however, I had but rudimentary small scale modeling skills to start with and even less talent as a table maker/wood worker. I didn’t care. I had no timetable; just a clear idea of what it was supposed to look like when it was finished. Which took ten years. Oh, and a quick word on ‘finished’. A project like this is never truly ‘finished’. For my next improvement, I want to “light up the town”!