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turntable leveling

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  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: St Thomas, Ontario
  • 175 posts
turntable leveling
Posted by Rick Bradley on Sunday, November 19, 2006 5:14 PM

Do i have to raise the turntable (walthers 90') to the level of the track or do i put the turntable flush with the table top?Not sure and i want to do it the right way the first time

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, November 19, 2006 6:02 PM

The approach tracks have to match the turntable bridge track as your engines/cars will not climb or descend a step.  The track tops need to match within a few thousands so that things work smoothly when an engine moves onto or off of the turntable.

 

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Sunday, November 19, 2006 9:13 PM

"Ideally", your pit lip should be nearly flush with the ground surface, but if that presents a height disparity of more than 1/64", you will have to adjust with a transition in the track (up or down), or raise the lip by placing blocking material (even string or wire would do) under the lip to get it up a bit.

Regardless of your solution, you can then use fill around the area to make it appear reasonably flush.  Add a few bushes and shrubs, a few shacks and some old pickups, and stack some wheels nearby.  You should be able to make it look quite convincing.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Greenville, WI
  • 431 posts
Posted by ezielinski on Sunday, November 19, 2006 11:09 PM
The thickness of the lip on the 90' turntable KIT is the same as the thickness of a code 100 railroad tie.  They match up perfectly.  The installed rail on the RTR turntable I believe is code 83, so I'm not sure if the same concept applies to that one as well.
  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Utica, OH
  • 4,000 posts
Posted by jecorbett on Sunday, November 19, 2006 11:10 PM
I have the 130' version of the Walthers TT. The ties on Atlas code 83 track are too thick to match the height of the TT bridge without adjustment. I used a belt sander to bevel the ties so they become gradually thinner the closer they get to the TT lip. I just guesstimated how much to take off and it was quite easy to do to get it to the correct height. I would guess the tie closest to the lip will end up being about half of its original thickness.
  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: St Thomas, Ontario
  • 175 posts
Posted by Rick Bradley on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 3:54 AM
Thank you for responding, could i use code 100 instead of the track provided?

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