Curious about the Walthers 120’ turntable

[SleeperN06]

hereis a better link... http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=33.455851&lon=-112.10132&z=18.3&r=0&src=msl

So I wonder exactly what is this facility and what is it used for?
I don’t know a whole lot about turntables, but I wish I would have seen this before I started building my layout because this would have worked nicely for my diesel layout. I never thought to set it up like this.

I took a snapshot of the Google Satellite photo and I’m going to save it as reference for any future extensions to my layout.

Oh by the way, I have never heard of “Flash Earth” before. What exactly is that?

[Bremner]

flashearth is a new site that I stumbled accross with better images than google earth. The AT&SF line into Phoenix is really just a long branch, and that is the end...go north and you will see plenty of switching areas

[Hyperion]

So I wonder exactly what is this facility and what is it used for?
I don’t know a whole lot about turntables, but I wish I would have seen this before I started building my layout because this would have worked nicely for my diesel layout. I never thought to set it up like this.

It's just a standard locomotive servicing facility, nothing special.

That particular arrangement is unusual on the BNSF however.  Turntables are rarely integral to the servicing process in most places, instead they're off to the side only to be used on the rare occasion power needs turning; but every single unit must traverse it to be serviced at Pheonix.

[DKS]

You don't even need to include a roundhouse.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=salt+lake+city&hl=en&ll=40.789269,-111.908144&spn=0.002519,0.00515&sll=40.664364,-73.708477&sspn=0.089846,0.152092&t=k&z=19

[SleeperN06]

You don't even need to include a roundhouse.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=salt+lake+city&hl=en&ll=40.789269,-111.908144&spn=0.002519,0.00515&sll=40.664364,-73.708477&sspn=0.089846,0.152092&t=k&z=19

Wow, is that just to turn around a loco or is there something I'm not seeing? I've never heard of that before. Now that I think about it, there have been many a time when I wish I could have done that.

[Bob Bufkin]

they are sometimes used to turn equipment other than locos such as work equipment,l snow plowes, flangers, etc.

[SleeperN06]

That turntable in Salt Lake City has me thinking about the Walters 120’ turntable again, except that now I’m thinking about just as a loco turn around. I’m hoping that it’s not a problem to just turn 180 deg and not indexing. I cannot find any specks or dimensions and I need to know the depth of this, because I have a lot of electronics under my layout. I can move some stuff around, but not all of it.



Also how does it actually turn? I see that Atlas has a crank, but I don’t want that on my layout.

[inkaneer]

Thanks, guys. I’m glad to know they are still in use. I saw one on the Google Maps in Pittsburgh, but when I called my brother-in-law who lives near it and actually works for the Railroad there, he said that it was shut down and there was talk of removing it to build some commercial/industrial park. He didn’t know of any others in that were in use. http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh176/SleeperN06/Roundhouse.jpg

I probably don’t have room anyway. I was thinking of a place to put some more locos in my service area, but I can only squeeze in one more switch and a small turntable might do the trick. I have the Walthers template for the 130’ turntable and I laid it on the diesel service area, there was absolutely no way it will fit.

I think I’ll forget about it and look for an alternative. I’ve been trying to avoid building a staging area under the layout, because it’s too hard for me to get under there to do anything, but I probably don’t have much choice because my train collection has doubled in the last year.

That turntable and roundhouse is for the Union Railroad, a subsidiary of US Steel.  The Union RR is not doing a lot of business lately and their motive power, which consists of small switchers, has been reduced in number to the point that the turntable and roundhouse are not needed.   I do believe that the turntable at the large PRR/Conrail/NS yard at Coway, west of Pittsburgh is still in use.   

Also regarding the Walthers 120' turntable, Berkshire Junction  made a neat little motorizing unit for it.  It did not have indexing and alining the bridge with radial tracks was by eye.  Still I was able to do it.  I checked their website but I did not see it listed.   Probably deleted when Walthers brought out the 130' turntable.   

[wm3798]

I'm not sure about the DCC version, I imagine that has a control module of some sort, but it should be controlled from your throttle.  Mine is the first generation with DC control, which has a control box that I mounted on the fascia in front of the turntable.


It's not in that picture, but it's mounted on the vertical brace right in front of the turntable.

You will definitely need to move some things around, because you'll need to jigsaw out an opening in the deck to accept the TT pit.  If your deck is 3/4 to 1" thick, it won't interfere with anything underneath, as all of the moving parts are in the bridge itself. 

Lee

[Chris333]

Chances are at one time there was a roundhouse around the turntable in UT.

Here is the old diesel shop and turntable for the Erie RR.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qvnwj5888mgy&lvl=18.40378707048894&dir=2.1252687324729353&sty=b&where1=Youngstown%2C%20OH&form=LMLTCC

But before the diesel shop and Rt.422 there was a roundhouse there:

[Bendtracker1]

I cannot find any specks or dimensions and I need to know the depth of this, because I have a lot of electronics under my layout. I can move some stuff around, but not all of it.

Also how does it actually turn? I see that Atlas has a crank, but I don’t want that on my layout.

I may be way out in Left field for mentioning this, but a buddy was having the same problems with the lack of space under his bench work on his HO layout, so he said something about trying to kitbash his TT by starting with an Atlas "HO" turntable.

When I mentioned something about it not having the "PIT" he told me that the Rock Island had an "Above Ground" table in their old Council Bluffs, IA yard.  Which is now owned by the Iowa Interstate.  We jumped on Google maps to have peek and sure enough, there it was.
I bet I'd been by that thing a hundred times and had never noticed it.

Here's a link to it through BING: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qw508870dd46&lvl=19.4516764353374&dir=353.72360970753033&sty=b&form=LMLTCC

It actually has a shallow incline to it from the North end or top left in the pic, and is on the end of a stub track at the present.  Don't know if it ever tied into anything else or not.

Not sure if there would be any merits here or not for a kitbash or scratchbuilding project.

[SleeperN06]

Also regarding the Walthers 120' turntable, Berkshire Junction  made a neat little motorizing unit for it.  It did not have indexing and alining the bridge with radial tracks was by eye.  Still I was able to do it.  I checked their website but I did not see it listed.   Probably deleted when Walthers brought out the 130' turntable.

That reminds me, Barstow Rick gave me a motor for a turntable a few years ago and I put it up because I wasn’t interested in a turntable at that time. I’ll have to find it and see if I get lucky. I can’t remember what it even looks like now so its going to take me a while to find it.

I just looked at the Walthers site http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3203 and it says they are 9” diameter and 5/8" deep in the pit, but I don’t know what the overall dimensions.

I’m still looking for a place to put it. My layout is so full of track that there are only a couple of places that it might work and 9” takes up a lot of room on my layout.

[SleeperN06]

I'm not sure about the DCC version, I imagine that has a control module of some sort, but it should be controlled from your throttle.  Mine is the first generation with DC control, which has a control box that I mounted on the fascia in front of the turntable..............
Lee

Lee is that a staging area under your turntable? If it is how does that work for you? I might have to do something like that myself.

[Chris333]

Those Atlas turntables... You can build a bridge and pit around them. Then sink it into the ground. I did it once. Only problem is the whole pit spins with the table.

Hey here is 2 TT's in once shot:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qwbx5770bdm1&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=b&form=LMLTCC

[SleeperN06]

I have to give up because it just will not fit.

I've been measuring and measuring and there is only one place it will fit and that’s just not very practicable and hardly worth it. If I knew about this in the design stage I would have liked it on the yard lead track or the arrival track and that just isn’t going to happen now on this layout. This layout is 3x8 Code 55 dedicated entirely to engine and car service area. It would be the best place for a turntable.

I have a second 3x8 Unitrack layout that is connected by a 4’ double track deck truss bridge, but it is dedicated for a small town and station.

If I would have thought about this a little earlier I might have used a single bridge and tried to put it between the bridge and service layout. But I like my bridge better.



Oh well maybe some other time on a different layout.