This had to catch your attention. I have been thinking about this for a while. My wife had a knee replacement last fall, and she is doing just great. When you have this type of surgery you need all the durable medical aids for transferring. The thing that caught my eye was the “car swivel seat cushion” the swivels 360 degrees and measures 15 1/2” inches wide x 7/16” high with the cushion removed and with a capacity 300 lb....
Building a Model Train Turntable with 300 lb. Capacity!
I think that should work for most model trains, even American Flyer. My only concern was its stability at the outer edge of the turntable. So I went ahead and remove the foam cover. That took a whole 30 seconds. The stability was rock solid, and come to find out the American Flyer rubber roadbed with track meets flush with the top of the turntable.
I will just have to hand lay the track on the turntable, but that should not be to much of a problem.
The only modification I will have do on my layout drill a small whole for the nut on the bottom side to set into. Other wise everything sit flat on my layout without cutting any large circular holes.
I will post updates and pics as I build my first turntable. I would like to do this right the first time so any in put would be greatly appreciated. I’ve read most of the posts on turntables and this idea has never showed up. I will be looking for ideas to motorize the turntable, plus detail to realism.
Regards,
Chuck, from sunny Arizona
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”
AZ-Flyer@American Flyer Cabinet-top Layout (5'x16'): http://az-flyer.blogspot.com/
Today the railroad gang finished the walkway, spiked down the ties, and did the desert sand weathering on the turntable. I gave them the weekend off. Everyone is headed to the TCA meeting tomorrow morning. Next week they will start installing the handrails, and building the control cab. I will be looking into adding an angle power arch before installing the turntable on my layout. All that is left now is the power to the turntable and indexing unit. I have an idea how it may go together, but that is another day.
Have a good weekend,
AZ-Flyer
Building a Turntable with 300 lb. capacity
The question I need to ask is: how much does one of these swivels cost?
Dan
Sounds like an inexpensive and workable solution to the need for a turntable.
I would suggest that you post this over on the Classic Toy Train forums as they have the American Flyer and Lionel that would fit well. Most of the folks here are N and HO scale, but with a bit of modification it might work for them also. Probably a little small, but most likely strong enough for garden or even live steam.
Have fun,
Richard
I can see this having possibilities as the basis for a British-style train turntable - several more-or-less parallel tracks used for 'end of the railroad' staging. Run trains on, moving to align an empty track each time. When a train is scheduled to leave, rotate the whole yard 180 degrees...
I leave the electricals as an exercise for the student.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Dan,
I have a hyperlink "car swivel seat cushion" on my web site to a place where you can view more information and the price of $16.95. But you can buy it from whoever. Just do a search for "car swivel seat cushion"
Az-Flyer
I think it would work better for ho, n scale because its only 16 inches. I used it because I needed something small in size for my layout, and I was not going to turn more than 120 degrees. Yes, sparks would fly at 180 degrees.
The railroad gang got a little derailed the last few days on the turntable. They or I have not done much scratch built train projects before in S Gauge. Being in American Flyer makes it that much harder to match up things close to scale. We went to the railroad scarp yard for some usable items, tower and a control cab. We will be adding some railing, and do something more to the top of the tower. Anyone have any ideas to buiding railing or adding to the top of the tower? I added a link to the photo of the turn table and a link to my web page, with the update photos from the start of this project.
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k553/AZ-Flyer/IMG_2353.jpg
One of the below might work.
http://www.google.com/search?q=live+steam+turntable&hl=en
I have seen a small one at a live steam railroad not far from me that is made out of an old auto shop car lift with the piston that come up out of the ground.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Rich,
I’m making my turntable heavy duty.
I can see Chuck's wife walking into his train room, with him sitting on his turntable, spinning around. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina1128 I can see Chuck's wife walking into his train room, with him sitting on his turntable, spinning around. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
What ever turns you on.......
I'm 72 years old, and I would be very happy if I could go for a spin at my age!
Have a good evening,,,,,,,Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
AZ-Flyer (Chuck)
The railroad gang went back to work after enjoying a few cactus league baseball games here in Scottsdale, Arizona. After the game they went out to the railroad scrap yard looking for something they could use on the top of the tower of the turntable. We were looking for some kind of light that would work as a signal when the track was aligned correctly. The track forman came up with the idea of using the top part of the signal off an American Flyer turnout. After cutting off the light signal part of the turnout, we did some grinding and repainting. We had to do a little fine tuning. They fit like they were made for each other. We found light socket out of a steamer that aligned perfectly inside the housing. We wired the light down the thru inside of the tower, and into track to provide signal for alignment. With the green light going on, this would also signal for the train engineer to move ahead onto the American Flyer turntable.
Picture of upgrades of the 90’ AF Turntable is on Photobucket
The railroad track gang is planing to work on the guard railing (fencing) this next week.
All pictures of the American Flyer Turntable is available for viewing on this link to this page: http://az-flyer.blogspot.com/p/building-turntable.html
Enjoy your model trains, and have a great weekend.
A flush turntable is a prototype item. The first one I saw live was at the Pineapple Train on Maui, Hawaii. It is flush with the ground and is used to turn the engine around at one end of the line. keeps the tourists from falling in the pit . They use a wye to turn the engine at the other end.
If this turntable is too large for your road it can be turned down by anyone with a table saw. I was shown this trick at a lumber yard way too many years ago. You will have to remove the guard from the blade to do this. Raise the blade till it is just a little higher than the wood you are cutting. Since the pivot is already on the seat just bring the wood over to the side of the blade and start the saw. Move the blade until it just touches the blade and starts it spinning. Now it's like turning wood on a lathe. Keep sliding it into the blade until it is turned down to the diameter you want. Simple huh? you will have to fasten the bottom of the turntable to a board to hold on to while turning the table.
This can also be done with a piece of plywood , a 1" x 4" and a nail. I was shown this and he started with a eight sided piece of plywood and made a perfect circle in about two minutes.
I'm just going to get started on a new layout and I will sure use the swivel seat idea on mine. I already have the seat.
Thanks for sharing, Bing
Always let your dispatcher know where you are.
God's Best & Happy Rails to You!
Bing (RIPRR The Route of the Buzzards)
The future: Dead Rail Society
The Forman of the track gang is back to work in Arizona after a well needed vacation to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff & Sedona. While he was away the track gang completed the guard railing around the American Flyer turntable. They used 1/2” inch galvanized hardware cloth, cutting off the roll using side cutters. Grinding the points smooth was done with a dermal and painting the railing flat black before installing in pre-drilled holes. The paint is now drying while the glue sets up over night. Pictures are being updated as progress continues.
Depending where you buy them they will run from $12.00 - $20.00. I got mine at an auction for about $2.00. Usually one of the mail order catalogs, Harriet Carter, Miles Kimbell, etc have them. Just think, now you can buy from one of them and get catalogs f-o-r-e-v-e-r-!
You're going to have to supply power to the turntable. With a pole set near the edge run the Simulated powerline over head to the center of the arch. It's better, i.e. less headaches, to run the "real" power to the underside of the table, no sliding contacts to keep up.
View my photos of American Flyer Turntable in Photobucket
Check out the latest updates of the American Flyer Turn Turntable which is now installed on the 5‘x16’ foot table-top layout. Photos on Photobucket
I plan to turn the American Flyer Turntable with a 6 rpm gear motor unit. I will index the turntable with fingers from AF control unit (e-unit) to make the bridge rotate automatically to a selected track location. With a 1/4” inch clearance between the top and bottom of the turn table the fingers should line up opposite each other with very little adjusting. The light on top of the tower will activate when the fingers touch, and the turntable is aligned correctly.
I was just on eBay looking for train turntables. There sure is a flood of turntables available now, after I built mine from scratch (kit-bashing). Well, I did it my way...that is my satisfaction!
Enjoy your model trains, and build a turntable.........................