I've been cruising around the forums and can't seem to find what I am looking for. I am trying to make a 12" turntable from scratch, as I don't really have the money to buy one. Does anyone have a method for building one?
Jacob
loathar wrote:Realistically, your probably gonna spend more money scratch building one than it would cost to buy one of the Walthers or Heljan 90' kits. They go on sale for around $25 from time to time at Walthers.
"Makins" for a 25 meter turntable, JNR prototype:
Total cost to an experienced model railroader with a well-stocked scrap box, about $6.50 in materials and a week of scratchbuilding. Others' costs may vary.
The final kicker is that you can model a specific prototype of YOUR choice - like the 100 foot TT needed to turn a NYC Niagara. A 90 foot TT won't handle it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
lvanhen wrote:There was a good tutorial on the general discussion forum a couple of months ago about converting an Atlas tt to a pit tt. You can make it any size this way. Go to gen discus forum & search Atlas tt.
If that was my photo essay, thanks for the nice complement.
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1162765/ShowPost.aspx
An Atlas turntable will cost you about $20-25, as will the separate motor unit. The rest of the materials will be pretty cheap. We did talk a bit about making this model larger, but there are a couple of drawbacks. First, the motor unit is going to get in the way of the bogies if you add more than a couple of inches. Second, this turntable indexes at 15 degrees, so as you make the turntable larger, your stub tracks will get further and further apart, and a roundhouse would need to be further away as well.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
tomikawaTT wrote: loathar wrote:Realistically, your probably gonna spend more money scratch building one than it would cost to buy one of the Walthers or Heljan 90' kits. They go on sale for around $25 from time to time at Walthers. Total cost to an experienced model railroader with a well-stocked scrap box, about $6.50 in materials and a week of scratchbuilding. Others' costs may vary.
And what if your NOT and don't have one?? Buying all those things, the gas to run from store to store or the S&H really kills that $6.50 figure. Many people can't even make a well designed turntable kit work properly, let alone a scratch built one made with junk parts.(again, my)
Years ago I scratch built a turntable using an embroidery hoop as the basis. I scratchbuilt the bridge from styrene, and used a stereo headphone jack for the pivot point.
Here's a brief article about it from Simply Trains.com. Hope this is useful.
Oh, and the cheap-o Walthers turntable isn't worth the box it comes in. The pit is usually warped, the details are clunky, and fitting it for a reliable drive isn't for the faint of heart. However, if you want to spend the money, their Cornerstone Built Up turntable is the cat's meow.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net