Turntable Preferences - Diamond Scale v Walthers

[CascadeBob]

Has anyone had any experience with the new Walthers 130' TT in N scale?  I'm planning a new large N scale layout and would like to incorporate a TT into the track plan.

Bob

[Pdragon]

Yup, Cornerstone!

Pdragon

[MTRR]

Thanks to so who have answered so far. You are confirming the impressions I had. I'm in New Zealand and I didn't want to import a turntable and then have to do it again if I found I wasn't happy with it. The problem is that the Walthers 130' kit has to be backordered, so I guess I'll just have to wait. Plenty of benchwork yet to build though.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment. Bruce.

 

 

 

[claycts]

VERY NICE installation, who's round house? Cornerstone?

[claycts]

WE have (2) 130 ft Walthers and they are perfect out of the box. The hardest thing to do is finish the area once they are working, always playing with them. The ONLY thing that I did not like was the PRICE, but more than worth it.

I have a Heljan 98ft (kitbashing for parts) Walthers 90 ft (Kitbashing for parts). The 130ft is the answer and with a little care it is bullet proof.

[UNIONPACIFIC4018]

I have a DS 135' TT and it was very time consuming to build. Lots of balsa to cut to precise measurments and glue in place. unpainted and or stained you have to mount your pit rail. the proximity to my TT is at the edge of the layout so I just use a rod and a round handle to rotate the bridge. You have to be very accurate in construction otherwise your bridge will not fit in the pit correctly and will not turn freely. Not an easy project andn ot for the ready to run kind of people.

 

[Pdragon]

I've had the Walthers 130' TT since it came out. It's still operating like clockwork. It took about an hour after I cut the hole to get it up and running. The indexing is as easy as holding down a button to line up the table and then pressing the 'memory' button to lock in that track and then pressing on to the next tracks. The rate of movement and smoothness doesn't change from my smallest power up to my H-8 Allegheny. I'm sorry I don't have any experince with Diamond Scale other than I looked at it and thought it was a bit pricey and more complicated. 

Pdragon

[ereimer]

i have no real experience with either , but i know that the walthers 130' (list price $299) is an almost ready to go , motorized and indexed unit . the diamond scale requires a fair amount of construction , motorizing and indexing are optional . not sure why (browser issue maybe ?) but i couldn't find pricing on DS's website so i can't compare , my guess is that DS is more expensive

[MTRR]

I have a new layout under way which will include a large turntable for articulated locos - so a 130' t/table is required. I'm looking at either the Diamond Scale 134' girder turntable or the Walthers 130' turntable, preferably powered and indexed. I want reliability and ease of installation. I have a lot of layout to build and I don't to be forever working on a turntable. What experience and comments do you have to make about these two turntables?