That long black line.

[Dave Haller]

I just read on the SCTA site that the long black line will no longer be allowed due to the high cost of oil and enviromental concerns. End of a very long and big part of history for us speedfreaks. Sure hope the markers used from now on can keep us all on the track as well as those famous lines did.

[willieworld]

                                                                                                                           willie buchta

[Rex Schimmer]

Willie,
Great picture! As the saying goes, "It may not be the end of the earth but if you stand on your pickup tail gate you can see it from here!"

Rex

[Glen]

We run at El Mirage with cones only and End signs at the finish. At Bonneville with three courses and each one layed out with three lines so there are two lanes in case the course has to be moved, so this is nine lines total. Over all that is roughly 60 miles of striping. It does get pricey. 

[LSR Mike]

Ahhhh.....

[bak189]

For many years now the BUB M/C Speed Trials has been run without course marking lines.....only using flags to mark the race course.......to date it has worked just fine...................................................

[Rocky R]

And if you get bored, you can play pinball with the pvc-framed markers like Wheeler, Carr, Amo and Slim have done. The trick is to leave the frame standing. I think Wheeler and Carr have both done it and I'm sure there are others. Maybe we can get Matel to make us some NERF markers. 

[Blue]

On the Fossett program we came up with the system of using a bio-degradeable dye and GPS-steered pickup to lay it down.  It got dissed by quite a few who were used to the oil lasting for weeks.  The dye lasts from 3 days to 100 depending on dilution level and rain.  We ran it highly diluted which led to misunderstandings about its staying power.  It is used on many playas for marking with no environmental concerns for everything from roads at Burning Man to striping for land sailors to the annual Black Rock Golf match.

http://www.beckerunderwood.com/en/products/greenlawnger

Time for a long green line...

[Wester]

Bio-degradeable dye has been considered as an option for several years but the cost is MUCH more than the oil.  In order to be green I wonder how much more the racers will have to pay in entry fees?  Markers need to be definite enough to be visible from very low angles on vehicles with no suspension.  With all the methods that have been tried I'm hoping that something safe will emerge.

[Blue]

Bio-degradeable dye has been considered as an option for several years but the cost is MUCH more than the oil. 

I'm not trying to be argumentative here, just offering information.  The stuff we bought was $33/gallon and we diluted it 50:1.  A 12" stripe that lasted 5 to 8 days with no rain took a flow rate from our sprayer of <3 GPM at ~25 mph (the slowest speed we could cruise control and NOT kick off the GPS steering, since it was ag based). 

This worked out to 82.5 c/mi, or $18.56 for 2 ea. 9 mile long stripes and a 50% coverage intermittent stripe down the middle.  We did the latter for fun since we had so much left over.  It proved to be very visually helpful (at 90 mph) to have a dotted line to run over and solids to either side.  We used the inverter switch to power our sprayer on and off to create 100' long dashes with 100' spaces.  I personally thought this would work well up to 400 mph and would double or triple the spacing for ALSR.

If I was doing speed week, I'd double the concentration to 25:1 and use up one gallon of the concentrate per course.  The system was incredibly simple once set up- a single man operation could stripe all three courses in a day.

One of the best things about the GPS system was that we could come back days later and overlay exactly the same stripe within a few inches.  This made perfect sense when we realized the accuracy required to harrow fields without plowing up planting rows, which is what the system was made for.

Just curious, what are the flow rates, coverage, and cost of the oil?  The rig can't be cheap.  The dye was sprayed from a standard pickup with mil-surplus 55 gal drums in the bed and a $350 airless paint sprayer hooked to the bumper.  We had a couple of feet of offset running one direction vs. the other, the found that moving the magnetic GPS antenna in line with the sprayer solved that.

[Nexxussian]

I'll miss the lines, and I've only run there 1 event.


Is there a collection to perhaps offsset the cost and "re-instate" the lines?



The GPS setup sounds more cost effective as described.

[mkilger]

why dont they use food coloring,or black salt??

[HotRodV8]

I'll miss the lines, and I've only run there 1 event.

Is there a collection to perhaps offsset the cost and "re-instate" the lines?

I have never been to Bonneville Salt Flats, but will be there for SW this year. I had wanted to see that long black line to confirm "this is the place." 
I too am willing to contribute to a collection to make the black line as green as necessary. I already have paid my BNI membership.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Realistically speaking -- it's probably already a set deal to have the lines NOT put on the salt this year.  Most of the arrangements for the facility are made months in advance.  It's likely too late to make changes - especially on something as important as adhering to BLM rules on the environmentally-required things like black lines.

I know that the contracts for the portable toilets have already been awarded.  No Subaru -- it's already a done deal.  You can assume other stuff is finalized this far in advance, too.

[oldrodder]

How about using a few rolls of bio-degradable black tp?