TimReturningMRR I'm using SCARM to layout my new layout and will have to fit my Walthers 90' turntable, storage tracks and possible roundhouse into the space available. I'l be setting the tracks at 15 deg angles and use the Atlas roundhouse to minimize the space required. I understand I may have to trim part of the apron. However for planning purposes, how far back from the edge (or if you prefer center) of the turntable is the front of the Atlas roundhouse set so that the tracks line up in the middle of the door openings?
I'm using SCARM to layout my new layout and will have to fit my Walthers 90' turntable, storage tracks and possible roundhouse into the space available. I'l be setting the tracks at 15 deg angles and use the Atlas roundhouse to minimize the space required. I understand I may have to trim part of the apron.
However for planning purposes, how far back from the edge (or if you prefer center) of the turntable is the front of the Atlas roundhouse set so that the tracks line up in the middle of the door openings?
Put the assembled roundhouse on a sheet of paper and use a straightedge to extend the track centerlines to where they meet in the middle. Where they cross should be the center of the turntable.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
I'm using SCARM to layout my new layout and will have to fit my Walther's 90' turntable, storage tracks and possible roundhouse into the space available. I'l be setting the tracks at 15 deg angles and use the Atlas roundhouse to minimize the space required. I understand I may have to trim part of the apron.
Incidentally, I've built the Walthers 90' from a kit. I know there are many who have problems. Admittedly I haven't test it installed, but I have run it on a table. I've been using and plan to use a variable voltage. One needs to go very slow when trying to align with the tracks but I want to go considerably faster when making big movements. Unfortunately for the cheap power pack I tested, the current drawn by the Walther's motor is so low that with the power pack even set at the lowest voltage, its either on at full speed or off.
The main problem with the kit is the molding of the bogey wheels on which the bridge rests at either end. The way they are molded in 2 halves, the centers are sgnificantly off. I spent a couple of hours filing down the wheels to get them round. My test was to run the motor and look for hesitations and keep filing bogey wheels until there aren't any. Also some tabs on the large geared wheel caused the driver pulley on the motor to skip until I filed them into the tooth pattern.
I've recorded video but I haven't put it together as I was waiting until I installed it.
BMMECNYC,
Glad you got the property manager straightened out on that issue.
Take Care!
Frank
tomcatCan I place stall tracks at every point around the TT ?
Yes you can still put tracks there, they can be display only tracks, but you will have to use the 0-5-0 switcher (your hand) to move trains (edit: locomotives or MOW equipment before someone corrects my use of trains) to and from these tracks.
The Walthers "modern" roundhouse comes with the stall extensions (1 per roundhouse kit + 1 per additional stall addon kit). I clearer terms: for every 3 stalls you buy, you get to have one lengthened stall (2 short, 1 long). My roundhouse has 9 stalls (had to negotiate and addtional 1ft of space from the property manager, who asked for the additional 3 stalls to begin with) so I will have 3 extended stalls and 6 short stalls.
Frank,
That is better than the opposite happening which puts the locomotive in the pit and the TT out of service for several hours.
richhotrain tomcat I was thinking of saving myself the cost of getting an extension for my Round house and if I did own a big boy I could just have him sitting on a storage track in the maintenence yard. Good idea!
tomcat I was thinking of saving myself the cost of getting an extension for my Round house and if I did own a big boy I could just have him sitting on a storage track in the maintenence yard.
I was thinking of saving myself the cost of getting an extension for my Round house and if I did own a big boy I could just have him sitting on a storage track in the maintenence yard.
Good idea!
Yeah! It's better than to have this happen.
Tomcat,
Yes to both questions. The turntable has two...no track zones.
Should not put track there.
I hope there was a Union workplace investigation into that accident!!!
Can I place stall tracks at every point around the TT ?
Is there an area which is a no track zone ?
Alton Junction
The Big Boy, and all of its wheels, will fit on the 130' turntable. But the couplers will extend over the lip, so resist the temptation to place workers on the lip. I once decapitated one poor soul.
Rich
OOOOOPS !!! My very bad
Of course i meant locomotive . When I posted that message I was writing excatly what my other half asked me to. So it was her amature mistake..lol
ok so back to the issue at hand.... 17 1/2 inches so thats fairly long to handle most steamers anyway, I was thinking of saving myself the cost of getting an extension for my Round house and if I did own a big boy I could just have him sitting on a storage track in the maintenence yard.
So was I right in seeing in an earlier post that even a Walthers 130' TT the tender wheels on the Big Boy will overhang ?
Does this post any operating problems while on the TT ? If so can they be corrected ?
BTW thanks for all the replies..... Keep them coming..
Cannot resist the urge to correct. You mean locomotive, not train.
When I first got into the hobby about 10 1/2 years ago, I told the owner of my LHS that I wanted to buy a "C&NW train" like the one that I had as a kid. "Oh", he said, "you mean a locomotive".
Well, excuuuuse me. LOL
Anyhow, if we are talking HO scale, the stall in the Walthers modern roundhouse measures 17 1/2 inches from front to back.
What is the longest train that will fit into the Walthers round house without the extension ?
Help! I'm being attacked by both ends. NAW! Just kidding.
zstripebut part of the pilot and tender will overhang, especially on the Rivarossi Big Boy
Thats what they had to do with the full size Big Boys. (Cheyenne, Wy 126ft TT)
zstripeI don't know why Walthers calls it a Modern Roundhouse. A.T.S.F. San Bernadino Ca. Roundhouse very closely resembles the Walthers in 1941 pic.....
Well, as far as steam is concerned, 1941 was pretty-much modern.
Wayne
Rich,
I was also reading that the Walthers turntable 130' bridge track was 18-7/8 inch's in length and it would hold a Big Boy....yeah all the wheels, but part of the pilot and tender will overhang, especially on the Rivarossi Big Boy.
I agree with you, Frank. That Walthers Modern Roundhouse would be appropriate to house the Big Boy.
I don't know why Walthers calls it a Modern Roundhouse. A.T.S.F. San Bernadino Ca. Roundhouse very closely resembles the Walthers in 1941 pic.:
MisterBeasley richhotrain presented an enigma: You need the modern roundhouse with the extension for longer steamers. The trouble is, the modern roundhouse wouldn't be era-appropriate, would it?
richhotrain presented an enigma: You need the modern roundhouse with the extension for longer steamers.
You need the modern roundhouse with the extension for longer steamers.
The trouble is, the modern roundhouse wouldn't be era-appropriate, would it?
The dimensions for that stand alone roundhouse are given beneath the pic. 14x14-1/4x4-11/16.
Like others said, you need the 130' turntable for a big boy.
Dimensions for a HO scale Rivarossi ''Big Boy'' is:
Dimensions: 20 x 1.8 x 2.5 inches; Shipping Weight: 2.9 lbs
Walthers Modern roundhouse with extended stall is 20-1/8 inchs, close for a Rivarossi Big Boy
And the 130' turntable to hold a Big Boy! Those roundhouse/turntables take up a lot of real estate....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
tomcat Ok I was looking at that roundhouse , I guess what I really need to know is ,,,,, what is the longest engine I could put in the Walthers 3 stall stand alone type as pictured above... would it be about 30cm (12inch) loco? Does a Bigboy fit on a 90' Walthers TT ?
Ok I was looking at that roundhouse , I guess what I really need to know is ,,,,, what is the longest engine I could put in the Walthers 3 stall stand alone type as pictured above... would it be about 30cm (12inch) loco?
Does a Bigboy fit on a 90' Walthers TT ?
All three of the Walthers Cornerstone roundhouse kits have 10 degree spaced stalls.
Tom,
I don't know if you are aware of it...but Walthers cornerstone series has two different roundhouses. The Modern one, that you can add stalls to. And a three stall stand alone, the one below:
Actually, if your turntable/roundhouse is close enough to the aisle, the easiest solution is a manually-operated turntable - after all, the real ones didn't have indexing. The track spacing, structure layout in relation to the turntable, etc. can be arranged to suit your available space.
My space is so limited that my roundhouse is severely out-of-round and my 90' turntable is only 89' long:
I would also go with Rich's suggestion. Lot easier that way.