Walthers 90' turntable

[dowop62]

 

are the 90' turntables from walthers beter than they were awhile back stock # 3171 i know the gears on them did not mesh right on the older ones.

thanks again

Larry

 

[rogertra]

I have both the (useless) kit and the rtr version.

Guess which I prefer, by a long shot?  It works perfectly, never had a problem with it.

You can tell how bad the kit is as it was NEVER reviewed by either of the two major magazines and if even MR can't find something positive to say about a major advertiser's product, Walther's, and therefore don't review it, you just know it's incredibly bad.  Which it is.

 

 

 

[don7]

A few members of the local model railway club have "HAD" the kit, all had problems mainly with the pit and the bridge. Not reliable to say the least.

On the other hand all those who have purchased either the 90' or 130' RTR turntable were very happy with it,

I have had the 90' motorized turntable or order since last summer. It was a very popular item and sold out quickly. Apparentely they will be shipping this summer at long last.

[dowop62]

Thanks I bet I know which one to get. Thanks to you people.

Larry

 

[HaroldA]

I have never read anything good about the kit version. Many years ago I had one - it was awful and never worked right. I have the RTR version now and it is terrific. The only word of caution I would make is to keep the pit rail perfectly clear of everything since even a single grain of ballast can cause problems. Whenever I work anywhere around mine I remove the bridge, put tape over the center hole and cover the pit with a piece of cardboard. Once the work is done, I remove the cardboard and vacuum the pit then visually inspect the rail for any foreign matter.

[richhotrain]

TA462

The Ready To Run version is 1000 times better.  Don't know about the kits.

Wrong!

There is no comparison.  The newer version is infinitely better than the old version which could only be effectively operated on a  manual basis.

Rich

[Doug from Michigan]

Man, I guess I got lucky.  Not knowing the pitfalls (pun intended) of the 90ft kit, I bought one.  The pit is a bit warped, but not so bad that the locos have a problem getting on or off the bridge.  I motorized mine, and aside from the occasional chatter it works just fine.  So, yeah, I guess it aint perfect, but one year later it still performs its duties and is nowhere near being on the chopping block.

[galaxy]

I have the kit available if anybody is interested. PM me {or click "start conversation" at the bottom of this post}

 

Just didn't have the room I thought I had for it.

[avlisk]

I have the built up, new version, non-DCC. It's a flawlessly-running, great-looking, magical piece of hardware/scenery on my layout. The only problem I have with it is that I had to downsize my layout when I moved, and I have no place to put it on the new layout, so it sits in a box. Hello ebay. Bummer.

[wedudler]

That's the new one, DCC!

And this is the control panel:

It works since a few years at my Westport yard without problems. I like it.

Wolfgang

[avlisk]

I love the way you incorporated the controller into that control panel. Very clever and  nicely done.

[rogertra]

The Walther 90 foot turntable kit is a piece of junk!

You can tell how bad it was because Model Railroader never reviewed the kit, which is unusual as they always review major advertiser's products and, as we all know, Model Railroader never gives any advertiser's products a poor review, they always put a positive spin on even the most marginal product.

However, the turntable kit is so bad I guess they couldn't find anything positive to say so they didn't review the kit.  That shows you how bad it was.  I, unfortunately, bought one.  The bridge is a nice model on its own but that's it.  Nothing else lines up or works.

Given this, some people have had success with it, though they seem to be in the minority.

On the other hand, I have the Walthers 90 foot Built Up turntable and it is just excellent.  Gets a 10 or out 10 review from me.

While I swear at the kit, I swear by the Built Up 'table. 

[robert sylvester]

Larry:

What I am going to say will go against what has been said here. I purchased the kit model as seen below. I built a fairly good sized railroad in South Carolina starting in the mid-ninetys'. This turntabe was built with motor and everything and placed in the pit for a scene on the railroad.

It was there for many years yet I never hooked it up eventhough it was wired. When you build the kit you have to do all of the wiring, and it is tricky.

When I started the WTRR 6 years ago in Tennessee I decided to install it in its present place as you see in the picture, only this time I decided to hook it up. The motor had never been used and I built this turntable years ago. I hooked it up to a transformer and decided to use the reostate inorder to power the motor and I could vary the speed. It worked, in both directions. Smooth and the motor still rotates either way even today when I turn it on. So, all I can say, it takes patience to build but it worked for me.

The best,

Robert Sylvester, WTRR

[robert20]

[cuyama]

Robert 20:

[robert20]

Try again.  I have the Walthers 90' turntable #933-3171 and motor 933-1050 and the only problem I have is keeping the table lined up with a track. When the table is stopped it still can be moved side to side. And to run an engine on it can cause a derailment if the bridge moves.'

Anyone else have this problem and can it be fixed?  I have detailed the pit and bridge and have had no problem with warping but the bridge can be moved a little up and down at the ends too.

Thanks,

Bob D.

[don7]

FYI the Walthers 90 Turntable kit has also been re-released. Hopefully it is a better product than the previous one.

I bought one of the new 90' DCC Turntable with the automatic indexing.

Have had nothing but trouble with it, I can turn the bridge but am unable to set any stops.

Walthers sent me a few fixes to try, but nothing worked. Will have to send it back, too bad because most people rave about the new turntable.

I will have to wait and see what it is like once Walthers has reprogramed the bridge and controller.

[jbc442]

I bought the 90 turntable kit and motor. The casting was less than stellar. The pit is not round enough to allow the bridge to turn without rubbing on one side. Sanding down the bridge and the pit solved the problem. Of course the problem was not fully realized until after the kit was built and installed. Taking the kit a part once it is built is not fun. The motor works, and the turn table works, The alignment between the 2 is a disappointment. The wheels on either end of the bridge are very poorly cast, I saw someone had replaced them with n scale wheels, and that be a good option. It is a little sad to have to scratch build a kit to make it work. I do not know what they were thinking when they designed the electrical contacts for the rails. There is nothing whatsoever to keep the contacts in line with the brass rings on the axel of the turntable. The directions suggest you wrap one of the contacts with tape to keep them from touching. I've now built a few Walthers kits and I am disappointed in the design of the kits and the precision of the casting.  Its one thing when you have to trim some flash. It's another when the wheels are not round enough to roll on a kit that needs them to operate. I'm not surprised that there are problems when the kit revolves around the integration of moving parts. I am going to the train show in Edison NJ in a couple of weeks, and I will be looking for kits, but this time I will be looking at kits from vendors other than Walthers.

[don7]

Glad to see this old thread brought back as I have now had both the RTR version and now the kit version of the Walthers 90' turntable.

As I mentioned previously in this thread I bought the new DCC Walthers turntable and while it worked great for the first few weeks, problems developed with it and despite Walthers sending me several fixes by e-mail for re-setting the electrical nothing worked and the turntable would not index properly.  I sent the unit in for fixing and according to Walthers they had no record of it arriving.

Long story, short version, turntable went missing. I did not mail the item myself, had a friend mail it for me as it was just before Christmas and there were lineups, as he had to mail some packages he took mine.. Well he gave me the receipt from the post office, but it was just the money receipt, he did not know that the tracking information was on another separate receipt and he left without it.

So, somewhere in a package lying who knows where is my turntable. Walther's said sorry, but they had not received it.

Well, as I was left with a hole in my layout, at the time I just could not afford to buy another RTR turntable so I had to take a chance and I ordered one of the 90' Walthers kits, I found out that they too have been upgraded and updated.

The kit works fine, I did not get the kit to motorize it.

The turntable bridge is turned by hand and it works fine,  manually. I have become a pro at lining up the track by sight.

It is well over a year now and it continues to work fine, had no problems with the bridge lining up to any of the tracks.

So, from all of the comments on the Walthers Turtable kits I can safely assume that most of the kinks have now been worked out with the last manufacturing batch that was updated.

If, somehow my DCC RTR turntable mysteriously showed up I would not reinstall it, would just continue to use the kit version that is now in place.

 

[decapod39]

Did you manage to sell your turntable?  I have need of one for parts and would like ot buy yours, if you still have it.

[e-mail]

 

Thanks!

 

Bill