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Turntables, are they..
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Wow, does this open a pandora's box. <br />I had a TT on my last N-Scale layout, and I'm reusing it on my new one. It's a Bowser N-Scale model. I don't even know if they still make them. It can hold even my longest 4-8-2 PRR M1 Mountain with a long-distance tender on it, but that's about the limit, which is perfect for me. <br />The Bowser came pre-built with a pit and pit rail. All I had to do was screw together some parts for the <br />bridge and slide it in. <br /> <br />On space: <br />Many many articles emphasize how much space a turntable and roundhouse take up on a layout, but I disagree. It's a matter of how you place it. In my case, I put it at the end of a yard, on a 14" wide shelf section. The very END of the section widens out to 21", but that's really only for about 2 linear feet, so it doesn't take up much room at all, and that gives me room for the TT and an 8-stall roundhouse ( modified the classic Heljan/Concor/Walthers kit) <br />All the tracks in the yard terminate at the TT pit, so now I can run an engine around a train by putting it on <br />the TT, turning to another track, and running it back out. Compared to the space I'd take up with a double-ended yard, the TT is BIG savings. This way, I only need a ladder at one end, and my sidings are maximum length. <br /> <br />On operation: <br />On my old layout, I drilled tiny holes in the pit wall, put lamps behind them, mounted a photo cell on the TT bridge, etc. I mounted a slow-speed gearmotor under the TT. In other words, I made my own optically-sensored indexing system. It did work, but it was a colossal pain to build and maintain. <br />I also found that it really is of very little value. Sure, it's cool to just select "track number 3" and watch the TT spin to that spot and stop by itself. But honestly, at the end of the day, "SO WHAT?" <br /> <br />In its current incarnation, I am still driving the table with a slowspeed motor. But there will be no indexing. Instead, I wired the motor to a 5-position rotary switch. Center is off. One click right is slow clockwise. Two clicks right is fast clockwise. Same thing for left. <br />Now, you just turn the rotary switch, when the bridge gets close to the track you want, you click to the slow/crawl speed, and it's very easy to line up the rails by eye (yes, even in N-Scale). <br />It is simple, reliable, easy to use. <br /> <br />I'm not a big fan of a hand-spun TT. There are problems with people knocking engines off the bridge (the more times you stick your mitts in there, the more likely this will happen). And, you have to devise some type of locking mechanism to keep the bridge steady after you spot it. With a slowspeed gearmotor running the bridge, the motor keeps the bridge in one spot. <br /> <br />-------- <br />Summary: I love my TT, I'd always incorporate it into any layout, there are ways to not make it take up too much space. I would always motor-drive it, but not bother with the indexing. Total cost on mine was about $60 15 years ago. I'm sure it's more now, but you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on an elaborate indexing mechanism to have a motorized reliable TT. The motor drive I used actually <br />came out of an old remote-control TV (the kind from the 1960s that had a dial selector that was motor-driven with a slowspeed gearbox). I just put a heavy piece of rubber tubing over the shaft, braced it against the rim of the TT disc under the table, and that drives it nice and slow. <br />
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