I would like to install a turntable on my HO layout. I would like the experiences of the moldlers who have worked with turntables, and in particular, the Walthers programmable 90' turntable, as to how well this table works or doesn't work?
Thanks Gary
Gary, the new Walthers TTs are excellent. very straight forward installation and set up. I've installed the N scale 130' one, and did the HO 130' one on a friend's layout. I've done others, in the past, none were a simple and easy to do.
Jim
This is my "pit-bashed" Atlas turntable:
I took a standard Atlas deck turntable and turned it into a pit. This was, of course, a lot of work. This is a link to the photo-essay on the job:
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1162790/ShowPost.aspx
The Atlas turntable is very short, and indexes at 15 degrees. This makes it ideal for small areas, as long as you're using small engines. I'm planning to dual-era my layout, 1930's and 1960's. Except for the Hudson, all my engines fit on this turntable. The P2K 0-6-0 hangs over the edge a bit, but the wheels fit. For larger steam or modern era diesels, though, this turntable is going to be too small. You could build a larger bridge, but you're limited there, too, by the motor mechanism's placement at the side of the turntable rather than below it.
Also, think about your roundhouse. The 15-degree indexing of the Atlas turntable works with (surprise!) the 15-degree Atlas roundhouse. Other roundhouses have 12 or 10 degree stall spacing, and won't work well with this turntable.
A roundhouse and turntable takes up a lot of real-estate. If you can afford the space, though, it's one of the most interesting things you can put on a model railroad.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I don't have any experinece with Walthers programmable 90' turntable, but I do have an Atlas roundtable/turntable and you can view progress on my website roundhouse and roundtable page.
Here are a few images for your preview:
Cheers,
Ryan
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
JandB01,
I've been giving serious thought to setting up a Walthers 130 ft turntable and a 6 stall roundhouse on my HO layout. My question is, how much space would this take up? I suspect it would have a footprint of something like 18" and 30" on the front and back ends, and the sides about 40". How far off am I on this?
Thanks,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I am very interested in the track work inside and outside the round house. I installed a 125' turntable and am building a 9 bay roundhouse with a one bay shop building attached. I have not decided what material I will use on the floor and also how to construct the inspection pits. I believe the rails should be buried below floor level but have not seen any modeling articles on it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks Doc
loathar wrote:SilverSpike-Are you sure that's an Atlas TT?? It looks just like the Heljan kit.http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-804
You know, my TT is 30+ years old from my old 1970's layout and I thought it was an Atlas, but maybe it was Heljan. It sure does look like the one in that Walther's image.
Mr. Beasley,
Nice looking work there. Do you plan on painting your track and weathering the TT bridge?
I asked the same question a couple of months ago. I got some great links
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1229667/ShowPost.aspx
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Hudson wrote: Mr. Beasley, Nice looking work there. Do you plan on painting your track and weathering the TT bridge?
Thanks. I probably should have done that during construction, but now that everything is in place it will hopefully stay there for a long time. I designed this so that it could be removed from underneath, but the pit wall kind of joins the turntable to the layout base with glue, so I'm not sure just how easily I could take this off if I had to. The rest of my track isn't painted and weathered, either. I guess that's another one of those things to think about for the next layout.