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Altoona Gets A New Turntable

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  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, December 1, 2018 5:21 PM

I would have liked to see the cranes drop that puppy in.  If you go back to the original link there are some other in-between pictures of the bridge on a truck.  Surely the rear wheels of the truck must be steerable?

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by NeO6874 on Saturday, December 1, 2018 5:14 PM

And the crew breathes the all to familiar sigh of relief as things don't bind up on the first test run.

-Dan

Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site

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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 1, 2018 4:40 PM
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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 12:59 PM

selector
Also, the central footing and pivot bearing, if that's all it is (and not also electrical) is being rebuilt/is new.

Yes, that's all it is. The pit is still the same pit.

It was looking pretty rough back in 1978.

http://68.169.49.59/Images/CR-2076-Altoona-PA-7-25-1978

 

I recall being there for one of the Railfests in 1997 and the turntable was down for repairs. The motor/drive unit was overhauled some time in the late 1990s.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lrmyers/14176092646/in/album-72157629091837684/

The turntable is critical for movement of locomotives in and out of the backshop. It would appear that someone at NS decided that a total overhaul, including replacement of the bridge, was the best economic choice.

I thought it was interesting to see this kind of work being done. That's neat to see the new bridge being prepared, Henry. Thanks for the link to the photo in the Mirror.

Cheers, Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
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Posted by selector on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 11:39 AM

Just based on the pictorial information I see, the pit remains, but the inner footing and circular rail that supports the bridge end trucks is being rebuilt.  Also, the central footing and pivot bearing, if that's all it is (and not also electrical) is being rebuilt/is new.

  • Member since
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  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 9:39 AM

This is from 2 weeks ago  today

www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2018/11/how-the-tables-turn/

Attempt 3 to make it clickable.  When is the update going to be finished?

https://tinyurl.com/yccamce9

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    March 2011
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Posted by NVSRR on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 8:27 AM

Looks like more than the table.  Looks like the entire pit area and surround is being redone.  Longer table perhaps?   see all the coal ash on the table after the tracks were lifted?   The stories that table has

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 8:18 AM

What wore out that couldn't be replaced by less than a total replacement?

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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  • From: Duluth, MN
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Posted by OT Dean on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 12:42 AM

Ed, seeing the size of the real thing, with workmen looking rather small in comparison, suddenly popped things into perspective after mostly looking at models for 60-odd years!

Deano

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Posted by 7j43k on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 6:22 PM

Can't help noticing that some lucky kid can look out his upstairs bedroom window that's about 50' from the turntable.

Ed

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 6:18 PM

40 years ago I stumbled on an old WM turntable in a very run down section of Baltimore.  It had a big builder plate on the side and I did not own socket wrenches big enough to remove it..  Probably would have needed a torch to get the nuts off. 

It was probably sent to the scrap yard and a factory was built in it's place.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,367 posts
Altoona Gets A New Turntable
Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 6:05 PM

I follow this photographer on the Flickr site.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lrmyers/albums/72157700692484762

He has been posting a series of photos of the replacement of the turntable at the Juniata Backshops of NS (Formerly the Great Pennsylvania Railroad's E&M Shop).

It will be interesting to see the new bridge set in place. I wonder if chunks of the old turntable could be cut-up and sold as PRR Relics to the devout fans?

Cheers, Ed

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