Turntable Stubs and Leads - How Long?

[Attuvian]

I'm likely to have my first layout with a turntable (spendy little items, eh?) in the next few months.  And for planning purposes am wondering what is appropriate for the length of the stubs/leads between the turntable and the doors of the roundhouse.  I'm not too concerned with tenders sticking out and keeping the doors from being closed but want to leave a reasonable distance behind so that yard workers can at least walk behind a loco without falling into the pit.  Is pleasing to the eye sufficient?  The longest concievable loco for my pike would have been an SP cab-forward, even though I don't have one (working with 24" minimum radii).

Thanks, all.

John

[BroadwayLion]

Most locomotives would be backed into the turntable with the boiler facing outward, but that depends on the railroads preference and where the vents are located to vent the smoke. Major repairs are done elsewhere.

The length of the intermediate tracks is a function of the size of the turntable and the position of the roundhouse..

Draw the location of your turntable, and the size and shape of your roundhouse. The tracks must simply go from here to there.

 

Fortunately for LION, subways do not use trurntables.

 

ROAR

[Attuvian]

BroadwayLion

 

Fortunately for LION, subways do not use trurntables.

 

ROAR

LION,

And what extravagances attend subway operations there in North Dakota, Brother?  Does LION indulge in manned paybooths and operating turnstiles?

John

[MisterBeasley]

Attuvian

And what extravagances attend subway operations there in North Dakota, Brother? Does LION indulge in manned paybooths and operating turnstiles?

They have them, among other oddities, on my Moose Bay Transit Authority.

[rrinker]

 WHile the practice probably varied by railroad, I'd wager boiler out was NOT the most common way for locos to be put into the roundhouse. The roundhouse was for repairs. Most repairs are neeed at the front of the loco. By heading in, boiler to the rear, there was more room alongside the cylinder and valve areas. Those nice photos with every stall filled, boiler out, plus a loco on the turntable were almost all publicity shots.

                                            --Randy

 

[NWP SWP]

If you see pictures of SP equipment the tenders are almost always sticking out, I have seen photos and videos of SP geep 7s and 9s and Trainmasters on stub tracks off a turntable, yes they were stored just like steamers on an uncovered roundhouse stall like track, usually with the cab and short hood facing the turntable...

[RR_Mel]

Attuvian

I'm likely to have my first layout with a turntable (spendy little items, eh?) in the next few months.  And for planning purposes am wondering what is appropriate for the length of the stubs/leads between the turntable and the doors of the roundhouse.  I'm not too concerned with tenders sticking out and keeping the doors from being closed but want to leave a reasonable distance behind so that yard workers can at least walk behind a loco without falling into the pit.  Is pleasing to the eye sufficient?  The longest concievable loco for my pike would have been an SP cab-forward, even though I don't have one (working with 24" minimum radii).

Thanks, all.

John

 

Check out the CMR site for roundhouse and turntable info.  This link shows the roundhouse track length vs turntable size.

 

http://cmrtrain.com/instructions/RoundhousespecHO.pdf

 

The angle of the roundhouse stalls has to be taken into the length of the track between the doors and the turntable.  If your planning on Cab Forwards the longer the turntable the shorter the tracks.

 

My roundhouse is a Korber 104 kit with 7ֿ½° spacing and a CMR 135’ turntable to easily accommodate my Cab Forwards.  The distance between the doors and the bridge is 9¾”.

 

 

 

This picture was taken during construction over ten years ago.  It really takes up the landscape, this is HO Scale and measures 24" wide at the turtable and 32" wide at the back of the roundhouse and it is 53" long.

 

I spent three of my out of school summers at the SP Yards in El Paso TX and I never saw a locomotive backed in to the roundhouse.

 

EDIT:

 

The Korber 104 Kit is a three stall 15” deep roundhouse, I ordered a second kit and used it to kitbash my roundhouse to 19½” deep and 5 stalls.  It will accommodate a Big Boy if needed, at the time of constructions I owned a UP Big Boy.  I sold the Big Boy because I’m a SP Guy and now I could fill up 15 stalls with Cab Forwards and AC-9s.

 

 

 

Mel

 

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[Attuvian]

RR_Mel

 

Check out the CMR site for roundhouse and turntable info.  This link shows the roundhouse track length vs turntable size.

 

http://cmrtrain.com/instructions/RoundhousespecHO.pdf

 

The angle of the roundhouse stalls has to be taken into the length of the track between the doors and the turntable.

 

 

Mel

 

 

Thanks, Mel.  Once I looked at the diagram I had to slap my palm against my forehead.  Of course, it's all a matter of geometry!  The width (sorry, Mr. Holdeman, the arc) of the stalls and the distance from the doors to the center of the table are the rigidly governing factors.  If you lengthen the table's diameter, you have to shorten the leads into the roundhouse by half that amount. [EDIT: Unless you move the table's centerpoint a corresponding distance away from the roundhouse.]

Whether it's an 85 footer or a 130' monster, the whole setup takes up an almost inordinate amount of space - and even more if you have to enlarge the house to accomodate longer engines.  The smaller one's layout (and budget!), the bigger the issue.

John