Does anyone know what the diameter is of the Sidestreet Banner plan? Also, What is a good dia. that would accomodate a large range of engines (steam). I am interested in a Gallows type.
Thanks for any info............Roger
Sorry, I posted question on the wrong forum.
Roger,
I guess that depends a lot on what kind of engines you'll be running and the scale. A 1:24 scale narrow gauge Consolidation compared to a standard gauge 1:29 scale Big Boy is a huge difference in size. Once you know what kinds of engines you are likely to be running you'd then probably want to build your tiurntable to accomadate the longest engine made in that scale/manufacturer/etc.
Walt
Walt, I am interested in early steam. Shays, 4-4-0's, stuff like that. I was thinking maybe 30-33 inches might be adequate. I noticed tonight that Accucraft is producing a new 4-8-0 that is an engine I would love to own. Its 30" long so I might need to go a tad larger. Also, I want to scratch build.
Roger
The length of the turntable pivot track (i.e., the diamter of the table) may be more important to scale to the majority of engines in use on your pike rather than to the longest engine (& tender) if there is a big difference in size between it (the largest) and the average. For example, the 33" size you mentioned will accommodate the 30" locomotive and tender; many prototype situations were similar with locos just barely fitting on turntables. But if you have shorter locos most of the time, they might look a bit lost on a larger turntable (say 36"), not to mention the fact that most railroads that ran fleets of geared steam locomotives rarely had serious standard gauge road haulers like a 4-8-0 in the mix at any one location.
Another thing to note is that Shays, saddle tanks, and such did not have tenders and were just about equally safe to operate in both directions, and thus a turntable was not a necessity for them, so many railroads that had them would rarely, if ever, have a turntable. So, in my opinion, if you only have one or 2 tendered locomotives, a turntable might be just a little out of place, but if you have 3 or more, then it proves to be a neccesity, at least at the engine house that the tendered locos sleep..
Mine is 33" and it handles my three truck shay with room to spare.
Karl
That's a good point Mr. Talon. From his initial post here I gathered that Roger wants to build a turntable for his pike whether it needs it or not from a prototype perspective. I can understand the attraction - the gallows tables are neat-looking structures and they do look right smart with a round house. I'm ready for pictures Roger. Are you done yet?
I am not sure what the diameter of the SideStreet Turntable is but I think that plan is now out of print. Brewer Plans has a plan for a Gallows Turntable that is 32" in diameter and the price for the plan is very reasonable.
Good luck,
Ron
Yes, I am going to build the tuntable. I have been interested in them since I was a kid. I love the turntable with roundhouse/machineshop look. I dont have any measured drawings yet, but I have found many fantastic resources and photos online. I consider myself a pretty good scratch builder and I have already built a few things based on photos alone.
Unfortunatly, I dont have any photos. I willl have to get my son to help me do that with his camera.
I would not have considered the fact that most Shays and such did not really need to be turned around. That interesting.
Thanks for the help
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