A light burns in a cement-block building on a lonely stretch of North Point Road. The cars whiz around the Dundalk store's black track at speeds that at times exceed 25 miles per hour, sounding like the futuristic spacecraft of old sci-fi movies. For those who didn't grow up in the '60s, slot cars are little electric cars outfitted with copper contacts that zip along tracks ribbed with electric current.
Quick fingers are essential to keep cars from crashing or flying off the track during turns.
It caught me like a bug, and I always had a love for it after that. Weinstein doesn't remember the place's name, but he remembers that the racers weren't the toy cars kids played with in their bedrooms. They were customized by their owners and they sped around tracks the size of backyard swimming pools. The tracks started folding. Weinstein believes the hobby required too much dedication from racers and provided too little profit for track owners.