Turntable Choice: Diamond Scale or CMR?

[AndyMul]

I would like to add a turntable to my HO engine yard.

Marty McGuirk in his "Locomotive Servicing Terminals" gives praise to the Diamond Scale model and mentions the unit from Custom Model Railroads. I see that the Diamond Scale mounts from below the plywood and the CMR mounts from the top.

What experience has anyone had with the installation and maintenance of these turntables? What are the pros and cons of mounting above or below the plywood?

Thanks for any comments and help you folks out there can provide.

Andy Mulherin

[Anonymous]

I have built a large Diamond Scale unit. At that time, I believe it was the 120 foot long model. It mounted flush with the layout level. Pay attention to this, if you have track leading to the turntable on road bead. I built this for a club I was in at the time. The club purchased the indexing unit and power unit, as well. I never saw the thing operate so can't comment on it's operation. However, it was well designed and assembly was well described in the instructions. I saw no reason the turn table would not operate as advertized. It turned out very, very nice, but was a bit of a project to build.

I have also built one of Bowser's turntables, this is installed on my home layout. I like this one also, but feel the bridge is a bit deep and therefore the pit is deep. I do not have an indexing unit for this model. They're simply too expensive. I just align the table and tracks by eye. Bowser's model is much easier to build and simple to power.

I have no experiance with the CMR, although it to looks like a very nice model. Hope this has been helpful. I have given my email address which you can use, if you have specific questions.