Hi All,
Building an N scale code 55 layout and thinking of purchasing the Atlas 3 stall roundhouse (#2843), turntable (#2790), and moter (#2791). From what I can see it needs to be mounted directly to the plywood base. However, my base is covered with 2 inch foam. Can these units be mounted in the foam or do I have to dig it out and replace it with plywood for this section of the layout. Any other comments about this combination are appreciated.
Ron
You can mount it to the foam but it can be a bit more dificult. Also with foam you can get fancy and change it into a pit type if you want to go to the effort.
I haven't worked with a foam base but I believe you will have better results if you glue the TT down rather than trying to attach it with screws or some such. Over time I would think they would work themselves loose.
Good luck!
Provided the lip of your turntable is set flush into a carved receptacle in the foam of suitable size (meaning you follow the instructions and cut a round hole of a diameter that the lip CAN sit properly and be supported by the edge of the foam hole), and it is truly flush, your TT should not budge. If you want some cheap insurance against it tilting for some odd reason, or changing its orientation relative to your carefully graded approach track(s), you can always place two or three tiny dabs of DAP Alex Plus with Silicone caulking under the lip and press the TT into place.
If you bother to inset the TT into the foam, do go ahead and cut out a suitably sized access hole in the plywood below if you would ike to access the motor and mechanism...which you most certainly will...without having to remove the TT.
-Crandell
selectorset flush into a carved receptacle in the foam
I do not believe that is ever necessary with the Atlas Turntable that the Original Poster is using. It sits on the layout surface.
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Aaah ssooooo....if that's the case, kindly disregard.
Yes, these turntables sit flush on the surface, at the same level as your roadbed. You do need 1/4 inch roadbed for the approaches and any stall tracks outside the roundhouse. Glue is the right way to attach it. The roundhouse does not need roadbed, as it's already at the right height.
Edit: Mine is HO scale, so the size of the roadbed will be different for N. Sorry.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Ron:
I am basing my comments on an HO scale Atlas turntable. The design looks to be the same for N scale. If the N scale unit is different from the HO one then every thing that follows is junk.
There are a couple of things about the Atlas table that you should be aware of before you spend your money:
First: The drive system stops the turntable bridge at every track interval available. In other words, it goes to the first track position and stops for a few seconds, then goes to the second track position and stops, and so on all the way around. It will stop at each interval whether there is track there or not. Not very realistic. Also, you are forced to stay with 15 degree track spacing. It won't stop between the 15 degree intervals unless you shut the power off. Messy!
Second: Unless Atlas has redesigned the drive mechanism, the drive is extremely loud. It is beyond the point of being annoying. It sounds like there is gravel in the gears.
I bought an HO version a few years ago and spent a lot of time converting it to a pit style and making it about four inches larger in diameter. I hoped that the extra materials would dampen the sound. Not so. That plus the pause at every track position made me decide to give up on it. Someday I will pawn it off on some poor soul on eBay.
Again, I am speaking of an HO scale model with a drive system that is at least 10 years old. If Atlas has changed the drive system the turntable might be tolerable, but I predict the pauses will get annoying really fast.
While I am on a rant here, I will also point out that the roundhouse doesn't have any inspection pits, although that wouldn't be too difficult to fix with a little sheet styrene. You might also want to add some brick sheets to the inside walls. They have no detail.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I have the HO-scale version, too. I also converted it to a pit turntable and sunk it into the base of the layout. It started out like this:
I think the N-scale one looks pretty much the same, although it is wider in scale feet than the HO model. When I was done, this is what I had:
I like mine. The job of making it into a pit turntable was very time-consuming. It is still a noisy system, but in my installation, putting the motor into the foam base did quiet it down considerably.
MisterBeasley When I was done, this is what I had: I like mine. The job of making it into a pit turntable was very time-consuming. It is still a noisy system, but in my installation, putting the motor into the foam base did quiet it down considerably.
When I was done, this is what I had:
Awesome!
Yep, the Atlas TT is ugly and noisy, but it's CHEAP and works. I use mine -- converted to HOn3 -- at the end of my Animas Forks branch. Hiding it under a snowshed at least makes it look better
The Geneva movement that stops briefly at an assured spot is actually a great feature to have in this app. I just need to know when the loco has been 180-ed, then I stop the motor. I could see things through a tiny vent slot and I added LEDs inside to give some more light, because I knew where to look, but my operators complained. I took a couple of more boards off in several spots and they can do the trick now, too. Loco goes in one way, racous noise is heard, and loco comes out in opposite direction. It's like a combination of a Star Trek Transporter Room and a blender The snowshed was made out of coffee stirrers. They're a little over scale in this app, but not by much, as snowsheds typically had heavy, rough boards. I used a round plastic lid and a couple of longer pieces of 1/8" sticks to form it, then just kept cutting and gluing sticks. And, no, it doesn't help at all with the noise, but it happens only once, maybe twice at most in an operating session. One thing to keep in mind is if you build it on top of the turntable so the bridge clears the slots for the finger tracks molded in the base, you can actually make this TT longer than it is. I did this just to slap a piece of HOn3 track on it with mine, so didn't bother with the cosmetics or to make it longer, but that's easily possible since the Atlas TT is too short for many larger locos.
The Geneva movement that stops briefly at an assured spot is actually a great feature to have in this app. I just need to know when the loco has been 180-ed, then I stop the motor. I could see things through a tiny vent slot and I added LEDs inside to give some more light, because I knew where to look, but my operators complained. I took a couple of more boards off in several spots and they can do the trick now, too. Loco goes in one way, racous noise is heard, and loco comes out in opposite direction. It's like a combination of a Star Trek Transporter Room and a blender
The snowshed was made out of coffee stirrers. They're a little over scale in this app, but not by much, as snowsheds typically had heavy, rough boards. I used a round plastic lid and a couple of longer pieces of 1/8" sticks to form it, then just kept cutting and gluing sticks.
And, no, it doesn't help at all with the noise, but it happens only once, maybe twice at most in an operating session.
One thing to keep in mind is if you build it on top of the turntable so the bridge clears the slots for the finger tracks molded in the base, you can actually make this TT longer than it is. I did this just to slap a piece of HOn3 track on it with mine, so didn't bother with the cosmetics or to make it longer, but that's easily possible since the Atlas TT is too short for many larger locos.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehmanIt's like a combination of a Star Trek Transporter Room and a blender
It'll never take the engines, Captain!
Hooperon Awesome!
Thanks. This is an old thread about it:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/99558.aspx?PageIndex=1
MisterBeasley mlehmanIt's like a combination of a Star Trek Transporter Room and a blender It'll never take the engines, Captain!
Weirdly enough, the Atlas sounds like it IS going to explode, but somehow pulls through and is ready to take the strain again in the next episode.
The noise is less of an issue if you run it at lower power. On my previous HO layout I had the Atlas TT hooked up to a regular DC powerpack, and usually only used "just enough" power to get the TT to rotate. Yes it's slower that way but it's a lot quieter and more smooth. Considering how cheap it was compared to other turntables - and how nice the Atlas roundhouse kit is - it was a pretty good deal in my opinion.
Oh, and as to the original question...I had my TT set up on Woodland Scenic foam. It worked fine like that. Except for the glue / matte medium holding down the surrounding scenery, I don't think I even had it glued down or anything, and it worked well.