Comments on Turntables?

[BurlingtonJohn]

Thanks Charles,

Couldn't remember if it was 130' or 135'. I too have bought the modern roundhouse ... gonna have 12 stalls with 4 extended.

I patiently await the arrival of the new turntable ... if there is one thing I have learned in my 35 years in this hobby it is to be patient and that estimated delivery dates are just that ... estimates!

Regards,
Burlington John

[Anonymous]

John,
The new Walthers TT is advertised as 130' and I too have watched with dismay as it's schedule slipped repeatedly. Another thing is that I thought the original ad copy indicated it came with a metal pit but it now says a one piece plastic pit but more indexing positions. I don't know of an older copy of the description to verify my recollection. I have had one on order from Trainworld since last January and I sure hope it's worth the wait. I also bought the Modern roundhouse kit but wish it had a floor option to allow a little more space between the pit and the front doors. My maintenance crew is going to have to be really careful not to get knocked into the pit when someone opens the doors :-).
Charles

[mwalther]

Any easy way to adapt the Atlas TT indexing from its preset 15 degrees to 10 degrees to match the Walthers roundhouse I bought to go with the Walthers TT? I never seen the inner workings of the Atlas and was tempted to buy one and try

[mwalther]

Any easy way to adapt the Atlas TT indexing from its preset 15 degrees to 10 degrees to match the Walthers roundhouse I bought to go with the Walthers TT? I never seen the inner workings of the Atlas and was tempted to buy one and try

[BurlingtonJohn]

Any inside information on when Walthers is coming out with their fully assembled, rocket powered 135' turntable? It hit the catalogs in the fall of 2003 with an estimated release of spring 2004. It is currently scheduled to be out on February 16th of this year. The date seems to keep slipping every time I check ....

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2829

Regards,
Burlington John

[Anonymous]

I recall the article in MR about burying the Atlas turntable and have (and still) considered doing just that. However, I also recall that there are examples of covered turntables - either to prevent employees from falling in, or to keep the pit from filling up with snow... which would certainly slow down any loco dispatching. Does anyone know of specific examples? I know the B&O RR Museum has a covered pit, but I'm not sure it was original.

[motordoc427]

The buffalo is empty?[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[Anonymous]

Fishplate,

I remember that article - although at the time it was way too advanced for my skills. Please post pics when you get the thing done - would love to see it and it may motivate me to try to do the same!

[fishplate]

Way back in March of 1972, Model Railroader had a article "Build a Turntable" by
Joe Kunzelmann and the MR staff. The text is great and the drawings (plans) are
excellent.[tup][tup] I'm about half way on a 120' turntable based on this article. So far the results have been great[^]. I to looked at the manufactured tables and came away dissapointed[sigh], sticker shocked[:O], or both. Also cost (low) and quality (high) can
be factured into the project. The best part, It will be just the way I want it [:)]. I believe
for pocket change this article can be purchased from MR.

There is so much electronic stuff out there that indexing and table drives can also be built (Scracthed). [wow] Again, cost (low), quality (high). And Remember, when the
chips are down, the buffalo is empty.

[robengland]

The Walther's 90-footer was just the size I wanted so I went for it anyway. I started out trying to re-use the big gear wheeel to drive it but now the only bits left are the pit and the bridge. Everything underneath is new. So far it isn't working yet but I'm getting there! I bought a Technics beltdrive record-deck from a junkyard for a buck. My neighbour came by just as I was taking to it with an angle grinder - my standing in the community falls another notch.

I've cut the platter down to about 45-size (you youngsters ask an older genration what that means). I cut the middle third out of the chassis with a jigsaw (luckily no neighbour saw that bit). I bet I sell the tone-arm for more than I bought the whole rig for.

The motor is luckily not a stepper motor (I did consider stepper motors for their low speed and controlability - CDROM drives provide an essentially infinite free source of these, but it is too complex and expensive to drive the danged things). It works on DC but at too low a voltage (even at 3V it is still too fast). So my next step is to experiment with DCC decoder drive for it (which is pulsed), and if that fails to replace it with a 12V motor and a gear-box (I have a Tamiya kit).

I have made up a set of "fingers" to go on the platter for optical track alignment according to this excellent design http://www.ida.net/users/tetonsl/railroad/turntabl.htm. I love it: only one pair of LED/detector, and easily adjusted for alignment. I don't like systems with slots/holes for optical alignment - too hard to adjust. And I don't want a dozen detection circuits.

I'm going to use fleshware for turntable control: ie I'll give visual feedback of alignment with LEDs on the fascia (as the turntable is set back about 2 feet from the layout edge) but the operator will drive the turntable with a DCC cab to manually align it, just like the real thing. People build these superb computer-controlled track selecotrs, but there is nothing prototypical about them. If the turntable was close to the edge, I'd push it around by hand, "armstrong" style for maximum realism. In that case I'd have built the bridge mechanism like this http://www.simplytrains.com/pages/hints&tips/turntable/turntable.htm

Last hurdle will be a removable method of attaching the bridge to the platter spindle. I hope my engineering is good enough to drill a cotter-pin with no lash. Else I may tap the top of it for a 2-56 bolt.

The Walthers looks nice enough so I'm still glad I got it. I'll weather the bridge, add some real timber decking, and line the pit with cinders

[karle]

Just to affirm another's comment - forget Heljan. Junk. Very difficult to assemble (I consider myself an advanced kit builder and gave up) , cheaply made, oversized detail.

[rockythegoat]

dkelly: Good to see you could help out one us USAF folks. Us veterans of the real military appreciate it! [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

(Man, I haven't had a chance to use that line in years! Thanks!)[:D]

[Anonymous]

Rocky,

No problem. Given the massive amounts of information and assistance I have received on this forum, it's pretty cool that I can say something that will help someone else for a chance!

Besides, as a member of the Navy/Marine Corps team I've grown used to showing you Air Force types the way lol. Just avoid those Tim Taylor hijinks and have fun!

Dave

[rockythegoat]

dkelly:

I like that method. Sounds a whole lot easier. Thanks for the "Heads up!" [tup]

[Anonymous]

Rocky,

I think it is possible to extend the Walther's bridge. I tried doing this several years ago, but in my haste I messed the whole thing up. The key, I learned is to have the bridge properly centered. If it isn't, it won't look right in the pit.

If you are thinking of sinking the Atlas turntable and then using it to turn a Walthers/modified Walthers/sratchbuilt bridge, I don't think it is necessary to grind down the Atlas table. There was an article in one of the magazines, bunches of years ago, where a guy mounted the atlas table under his layout and extended a center shaft up through the pit floor. I think he used a 35mm film canister for this and then ran feeder wires from the rails of the atlas through the can to the rails of the new bridge. Doing it this way, although I'm sure it was kinda tricky mounting the shaft, he didn't have to worry about changing the size of the atlas table nor worry about the pit floor revolving around with the bridge.

alll,
I think the TT that folks are raving about is the new one that Walthers is introducing. The 95foot table I believe is the same, or close to the same one that Heljan has been marketing for years. The new Walthers one looks way cool, but a little too long for my use.

[rockythegoat]

ozzieladd: Yea, I was kinda wondering the same thing. I currently have a Walthers 95', and since it appears it will be a challenge to get it to both work properly and reliably, I think I will get an Atlas, sink it, and put the Walthers unit on top. I don't need to worry about steamers, but, plan on having (2) MP1500's coupled together, and I don't think 95' is long enough.

WITHOUT having an Atlas TT to look at, I was thinking of sanding/grinding off the top of the Atlas pit, the part that has the alignment curbs for the tracks. Adding more plastic to the circle to enlarge it to the size I need, then sink it. Build a wall to track height. Then use the Walthers turntable bridge to mount on top of the Atlas deck. I think extending the Walthers bridge may not be too hard, by either getting a second bridge or using structural shapes or Micro Engineering bridge sides. But, its been awhile since I've had the box open, so, this may be harder to do then I think.

[Anonymous]

If you sink an atlas turntable whats to stop you making the bridge longer to accomodate
steam with tenders?

[tomytuna]

Hi all..glad to stumble on this topic as i was about to go and purchase the Wlthers roundtable in the 2005 catalog.....Anyway....is this the turntable richhotrain is talking about...my dealer says that this turntable is supposed to be very good....thanks for any comments... Tom

[jrbarney]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rororo

I'm goona do the atlas conversion like the guy from the U.K. . I need a 115 ' to 120' bridge to mount it on, but have not seen any. Does anyone know of any suitable bridges in this length that are available ?

Rororo,
You didn't state whether you wanted truss or girder, but you might want to check the Diamond Scale Products site at:
http://www.diamond-scale.com/Products/products__turntables.htm
Haven't built one of their kits, but it's my understanding, based on earlier threads on the topic of tuntables, that some skill is required.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[rockythegoat]

Aw heck!

Are you guys saying my 2 month old, 95' Walthers turntable is going to be nothing but grief???? [V]

Double aw heck!

[Anonymous]

I'm goona do the atlas conversion like the guy from the U.K. . I need a 115 ' to 120' bridge to mount it on, but have not seen any. Does anyone know of any suitable bridges in this length that are available ?

[Anonymous]

I have an HO Diamond Scale 134' turntable that I built around 15 years ago. It looked great but was never a reliable performer. The white metal castings holding the wheels tended to bend with the weight of larger engines and I could never get a nice smooth rotation. I also found it frustrating without indexing. The uneven operation made it even more difficult to align manually. The bridge got damaged during my move 12 years ago so I lost interest in trying to make it work properly. While I was into 3-rail O gauge I picked up a partial 24" Bowser turntable with the idea of rebuilding it but I found it was a pretty klutzy design and not reliable or substantial enough to be a worthwhile project. It was one of the older ones and I have heard they have been reworked for improved performance but I was really disappointed with the one I had. Now that I'm back into HO, I am really hoping that the new Walthers Modern 130' turntable will be a reliable one. If so, I am going with it. Proper operation is the most important aspect of a turntable. Although it does need to have at the least the potential to look realistic, if it doesn't perform the function gracefully and reliably, it is worthless to me.

[cp1057]

I bought a Walthers turntable years ago and my opinion would be: So-So.
It looks nice and wasn't too hard to assemble and it matched the Walthers roundhouse that I received as a gift shortly after.
Unfortunately, it seems to be somewhat wobbly and even with my pulse throttle switched in to power the turntable it requires a very delicate touch to align properly. I also have had continuous problems with the contacts supplying power to the rails.

Overall in the future I think I would go for something simpler, reliable, less expensive even if it was less realistic looking, or hide something like a lazy Susan offstage somehwere. A nice-working turntable is fun to show to visitors, but it's been frustrating to fine-tune such a model to be mechanically reliable.

Sinking an Atlas turntable and mounting a bridge structure on it sounds like a good compromise as long as it could handle the length of a steam loco with tender.

Charles
Hillsburgh On

[Anonymous]

I just completed a Custom Model Railroads 135' turntable model. It is a more advanced kit, but not that hard of a kit. I did not buy a motorizing/indexing add-on as I plan on powering mine manually. Abbieleibowitz, contact me if you would like some help with your kit. I'm no expert, but I think I could help you get your turntable assembled.

[Anonymous]

Forget about the Walthers or the Heljan as they are about the same and are nothing but junk. They don't even make good Frisbee's.
The Diamond Scale Turntables are great and they have a very nice manual operation.
I've seen these in use several times and they are very nice.
Good luck,
gtirr

[MisterBeasley]

Wow, I'm just getting back into this. My trains have been in the attic for 35 years. I bought an Atlas turntable back when JFK was in the White House. It hasn't changed significantly, if the pictures are any guide. I really think the conversion of the Atlas to a pit turntable is a great idea. The big drawback I remember is the small diameter, only large enough for a single engine, and certainly not for a steam engine with tender. My solution then was to always park the Mikado directly across from the track out to the main line, so it didn't require rotation. Any comments on larger-diameter turntables?

[abbieleibowitz]

[:(] I'm a fairly good model builder, but I bought a Custom Model Railroads turntable kit and while it looks great in the picture, I can't put the kit together. It has about a million pieces (Ok, maybe just a couple hundred) and the skill level exceeds my abilites. The lesson is, make sure you get something you will ultimately be able to use. $350 later, I've got a box of acrylic parts that I'll probably never be able to use. Be willing to sacrifice realism for something that you can use. Riverosi used to make a great pre-assembed N gauge turntable I used years back when I modeled in N. Not sure it's still available.

[Anonymous]

For rugged non-prototypcial I would buy the Atlas TT with the motorizing kit. All you need is an extra powerpack and two track wires. On ebay you can get the two of them for less than $25

[ndbprr]

If you want it for a fiddle yard and it won't be seen try getting a rubbermiad lazy susan for a kitchen cabinet. It is only a couple of bucks and uses ball bearings in plastic tracks. You can glue a piece of plywood on top to hold you track. It could do what you want cheaply and easily. My personal preference on engine terminals is to avoid them. Having made one that could handle a Big Boy I found the entire engine terminal took up far too much space. Interesting - yes. Worth the real estate - not in my opinion. I know I am in the minority here but I prefer off line terminals and use staging loops to turn stuff now.