The 1980s were a great time to be a kid. Sure we didn't have iPhones or XBoxes or Legos you can control by computer, but we had other electronic devices to keep us amused. I know, I know, we had the Atari 2600, but I'm not referring to anything that required a connection to a TV.
Slot cars were a popular past time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Much like a model railroad, the vehicles were powered by electricity from the tracks they rode upon. Just as a model railroad looks like the real-world version in the type of track it uses, slot cars use a plastic track that looks like a highway with small wires embedded into it to power the cars. As slot cars became increasingly popular, TYCO (the Mattel division and not the international conglomerate whose CEO ran it into the ground in the early part of the 21st Century) introduced the HO-scale US 1 Electric Trucking.
It was a twist on the typical slot car racetrack in that instead of racing two cars side-by-side, you could "drive" vehicles in opposing directions on a track that looked like a road. Now I know what you are going to say, "I already experience the nightmarish trafficscape that is Roosevelt Boulevard, why would I want to when I am at home?" The only similarity the little plastic roadway shared with its concrete and asphalt cousin was the designation.
Much like HO-scale train sets have different themes, so did US 1. Of course there were Big City Trucking, Big Hauler Trucking, City Hauler Trucking, Cross Country Trucking, Long Haul Trucking, Coast-to-Coast Trucking, Motor City, Interstate Delivery, and Interstate Trucking sets of various sizes with various "exits" for dump yards, terminals, and material loaders. In a nod to the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, of which the toy was modeled after, there was an Army Transport set that had dark green colored trucks which hauled crates of ammunition and drums of, no doubt, some classified substances. At least a decade before the word "intermodal" came into existence, US 1 was already there with an airport and a combination rail and road set. The latter was a little dangerous for US 1 drivers as the rail crossings were at grade without warning signals.
Rather than buying all of the sets, you could buy individual accessories like the auto loader from the Motor City set or the fire station from the Fire Alert! set. Besides other trucks and various trailers, additional vehicles could be purchased to customize your layout such as an Airport Taxi to travel to the airport or a fire engine to sit at the ready in your fire station.
One of the presents my parents got me for Christmas 1984 was the Highway Construction set. I remember walking into the Family Room that early morning, rubbing my eyes, and making out what looked like a little roadway set up near the fireplace in the early morning light. As a young road enthusiast, I was entertained by this toy that was based in an interest of mine. It was a great and fun toy, and a shame that TYCO stopped manufacturing the US 1 Electric Trucking line in 1986. One of these days, I need to make an "archeological dig" in my parent's basement and find all of the pieces so I can take a trip down memory lane, via a small slot truck.
