Ok. So I have been steered away from the walthers 90ft turntable. What about the peco LK-55? It is comparable in size. I can take care of any cosmetic problems as they relate to the prototype so that's not an issue my main question is how do they run? From what I can tell they seem to be a nice quality model. Thanks
JJF
Prototypically modeling the Great Northern in Minnesota with just a hint of freelancing.
Yesterday is History.
Tomorrow is a Mystery.
But today is a Gift, that is why it is called the Present.
I have the Walthers Built-Up 90' turntable with the controller (not DCC). I run DCC and I put a PSX-AR on the track for the turntable and I have no issues at all. It indexes properly once set and trains go on and off smoothly.
Why were you steered away?
Neal
I’m quite happy with my CMR turntable.The turntable didn’t come with the super structure, that’s Mel scratch built.
Installed and working.
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
If I was unable to find the Bowser turntables I wanted, I would have gone with CMR like Mel uses.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The OP is looking for inexpensive.
Inexepensive and good are pretty much mutually exclusive. Atlas is cheap and will do the job, but there was a complaint about the noise.
CMR is very nice, but not cheap.
Diamond Scale is also nice, but also not cheap.
The Peco will need some work to look non-British, but seems fairly inexpensive, and the motor is free turning, non indexed, so you cna set the stops anywere and control it manually, no fixed stops like the geneva mechanism of the Atlas. The track is a bit longer than the Atlas, but it's not going to fit a Big Boy.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinkerInexepensive and good are pretty much mutually exclusive.
Yes, when it comes to turntables, I do not think there is very much intersection between those two groups.
I can’t remember for sure but I think I paid under $100 for my 135’ CMR in 1999 and I’m really glad I bought it back then as the price has really increased.There are two things that stand out the most to me about the CMR:1) The quality of the laser cut Acrylic is out standing! By far the best kit I ever assembled in my 69 year HO career! 2) The Dayton ½RPM 12 volt motor is super smooth and quiet running.I was delayed getting it built because of a heavy work load and didn’t get around to assembling the kit until after I retired in 2007 and it has worked perfect since day one.I didn’t buy the recommended indexing unit for the turntrable because of the cost and built my own using IR beam and it too has worked very good. I think I have about $15 in parts tied up in my indexing.The CMR didn’t come with the superstructure.I built the superstructure from a Central Valley Bridge Girders 1902-5 Kit. I used the Model Railroader December 1989 Magazine full size center insert for the superstructure build.The control shack is scratch built from Styrene.
On my layout my lights have lights. I made a couple of Bishop's Crook curved lights for the end of the bridge and a light above the door of the control shack and one on the under side of the center tower.The CMR did not come with a slip-ring for powering the bridge so I built one, now six conductor 2 amp mini slip-rings are readily available on eBay at very low cost. I have six wires powering my bridge, two for the rails, two for the IR detection and two for the lighting.I don't remember how much time I have in my turntable but it was worth every second!
Keep in mind that the LK-55 is supplied unpowered, and there are alternatives to the "Peco" motorizing kit. There are a number of videos on YouTube that discuss various details.
As I recall, Mel described in some detail how his IR indexing was constructed and calibrated. This might be a good time to review his methods, or other 'best practices' to work with this table.
Ed -- what were the American designs similar to the Ransome and Rapier table?
rrinkerAtlas is cheap and will do the job, but there was a complaint about the noise.
In my experience, the noise problem comes from folks hooking the Atlas TT up directly to their 12V DC accessory power from a power pack. If you use a variable throttle to control it, and run it with only a few volts of power, it runs with little noise. It also runs slower, which I think looks better.
Keep the turntable near the front of the layout and you won't ever need indexing. Just line it up by eye like the real ones do.
That's the other downside of the Atlas one. The geneva mechaism means it HAS to pause at each stop, it can't just smoothly rotate until you cut power to the motor.
It's been a while now (10+ years maybe), but I do remember seeing an article online somewhere about how to change the Atlas turntable so it doesn't do the Geneva deal, it just goes all the way around and you line it up by sight. It didn't sound like it was all that difficult, but I never tried it.