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There was a time when I saw absolutely no purpose for straightaway tracks…I mean, other than taking up space on your hard drive lol. I vaguely recall hearing about the 2000 Expo, but I was still relatively new to the game, and my sole purpose in life
(other than pretending like I was actually listening to my wife during our morning chats) was to race—race—race! Incidentally, in the world according to SLO_COPE, racing involved tracks with turns, twist, jumps, banks, varying degrees of finesse and speed...all of that. The notion of straight-aways seemed boring and mundane, which incidentally is how I felt about rumbles at one time lol. Admittedly I had drawn such conclusions without ever having sampled a straightaway; I just figured they were all very fast, and very…well, straight.

Needless to say I've...well, I honestly can't use the word "matured" lol, so let’s just say I've definitely broadened my horizons where this game is concerned. Admittedly I’m still not what you would call a devout fan of straight-aways, but I’m here to tell ya, there are some very nice ones out here. Interestingly enough you’ll find that they come in different “flavors,” if you will. For instance, MIYH’s “Box Canyon” is radically different from say, Phineus’ “Stealing Dudley’s Horse”, which in turn is light-years away from Winterkill’s “Winterwood” in terms of style, layout, and racing characteristics. So…if you’re one of those people who maintains a “if you’ve run one, you’ve run em all” mindset, do yourself a favor by doing what I did; try four or five straights online with a few friends. My guess is like me, the term “straightaway” will take on a whole new meaning. Cr@$h’s “Tame the Trains” is a rather unique piece of work. At least I’ve never seen anything like it. In a sense it would seem like the obvious approach to a straightaway seeing how trains are such a big part of this game, but to my knowledge, he’s the first to come out with this idea.

To set the stage for ya, “TtT” consists of a paved road encased by a tunnel that’s perforated on either side to allow for the passage of trains…lots of trains thru the tunnel (perpendicular to the road, by the way), moving rather hastily, even lol. The roadway is slightly raised where the train tracks pass thru to give you just a hint of airtime, which I think works well. There does seem to be a timing sequence to the trains, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what the heck it is lol. Regardless, the speed at which they pass thru the tunnel, coupled with the abrupt stop you experience after slamming into one of those trains <u>will</u> get your attention, and even startle you at times. It wasn’t designed to be challenging or a visual spectacle. It’s all about pure, uninhibited fun, and nothing more.

Fact is I like Cr@$h’s style, and his development where track making is concerned is starting to take shape. In my opinion at times he’s fallen short of getting the most out of his work due to his reluctance about seeking input & advice from others. He seems to have a new outlook on things nowadays, and given his potential I hope he stays the course. It’s been a while since I’ve fired up the Copey Rating machine, but it’s as trustworthy as ever, and for this one it kicked out a well-deserved 8 out of 10 possible points.

Very nice work, Cr@$h - keep up the good work, bud, and by all means keep using the Beta room. Heck if it’s good enough for guys like HotShoe, Phineus, Alpine, Winterkill, Fila, and other seasoned veterans…uh huh, I know you see where that’s going lol. Take care, bud – we’ll see ya next time around!

Thanks for the kind words Cope. It might be a while after the last post here, but I just dropped in to reply.

You say that the trains get your attention. You're right, the first time I hit one at full speed, I nearly fell off the chair! This was not designed to have good graphics of road textures. Nor was it a real serious racer's race. As you said, It's all about fun.

You might have noticed that I have another flavour out for the Expo, this one on ice. Now this is really slippy and adds yet more danger. That's all I'm saying.

I'm calling all model makers and was just wondering if you'd test my new aquarium track. Alpha 1 coming hopefully in under 1 month. If you're up to it, we'll talk more in The Beta Room.

Welp, I got nothing more to say.