Hi Guys,
I have been working on converting my Geiger HO Turntable to use on my S layout. I am going to attempt to add some photos. It has been a long time and I have never added multiple photos to a single post.
Well as you can see, I had trouble adding to this post at the end of a photo, so the story runs backwords, from where I am now, to where I started.
This photo shows my 293 sitting on the modified turntable. It isn't done yet, but I am making progress.
This next photo shows the rails just sitting on the deck, I have them layed out, but not yet spiked to the ties. I need to get some railroad spikes tomorrow. Gee I wonder what they have at Lowes and Home Depot.
This photo shows the new deck I made complete with ties in place.
This photo shows the turntable as I aquired it, with the HO rails and bridge deck in place.
aflyer,
Great photos and good progess so far.
Continue to keep us posted.
As far as the order of the photos, once you have all of the IMG code for all of your photos placed into your post, then just cut and paste the links into the order that you want them displayed.
Rich
Alton Junction
Aflyer: Looks great! It's wonderful to see someone building something! You don't need very many spikes at all, so it's kind of a shame to buy even a minimum order from somewhere. Perhaps a hobby shop in your area would have some, or maybe someone on this list can send you a couple dozen scale spikes. You might also consider making your own per this link:
http://www.railwayeng.com/rrhints.htm#q12
I would go to a music store and look at guitar wire of the right diameter.
You can probably find a source for spikes from this link:
http://www.nasg.org/databases/websites.php
I don't see why you couldn't make them from wire nails of the right size. Just use your Dremel cut-off to cut one side of the head off.
I hope to see pics of the final product, installed and working!
Regards,
Timboy
Tim,
Thank you for the response, coming from you it means a bunch, as you were my inspration for not just slamming down a couple sections of AF track on rubber roadbed.
Now I wonder did real railroads balast the track on a turntable? In some prototype photo's it apppears they did. I haven't decided yet about that one.
I like the idea of getting some wire nails and timming down the heads with the Dremel. Off to the local Lowes Home depot shortly.
Thanks again,
George
Rich,
Thank you, I will have to try that next time. I think I needed to write the whole post and then insert as you suggest.
Happy rails,
aflyer Now I wonder did real railroads balast the track on a turntable? In some prototype photo's it apppears they did. I haven't decided yet about that one.
Another update, no new photos. On Sunday I bought a box of #6 X 1/2 inch Cut tacks. These are what are used in upholstery work. I took the Dremel tool and basically cut off 2/3's of the head of each tack and was left with what looks somewhat like a railroad spike.
I have 19 ties, times 4 spikes each, so that means about 80 tacks to be cut. I have 38 of them cut and installed, I cheated and did every other rail, alternating inside and out. So the rails are firmly attached to the bridge deck, and a couple of box cars have had a test drive. So far so good.
I got a 12 volt DC transformer and have tested the motor drive for the turntable, that works ok, but not sure it will carry the weight of an S locomotive. I might be searching for a can motor update.
More to follow,
Hi guys,
It has been a long day, but I finaly got my turn table operational. Still have lots of work to do on cosmetics, but it does rotate as the video shows. Also my first video, so the quality of that needs some work. Maybe a triopd would be a good place to start.
I ran the turntable on manual for about 1/2 a revolution, then switched to semi-automatic and toggled through about six stops.
I'll post a couple photos of my rail spikes in a little while.
http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/gkcooper/TurnTable/?action=view¤t=Turntable-1.mp4
George:
If I didn't know better, I would say that that is a commercially-made product. Props to you, brother!
Way to fire, George! NICE!
Well lots of work to do yet, I have been trying to figure out spacing between the turntable and the roundhouse, this turntable is indexed at 10 degrees which I believe is the same as my roundhouse. Then I will need to figure out how to power the tracks into and out the roundhouse. Wow!
The turntable rails are powered from the pit rail, but I haven't actually soldered the wires to the rails so can't test that part yet.
I took some terrible pictures of my "spikes", no good for posting. I am not sure why but I will work on them some more later. I did post a closeup of the bridge deck, and you can see a couple of my home made spikes.
That's it for today.
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/gkcooper/TurnTable/spikes001-1.jpg
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month