Curious about the Walthers 120’ turntable

[Bendtracker1]

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

The TT just south of the big light colored building, is CNW's [now UP] TT and the one just to the NorthEast of it is in the old ICG yard [now CN].

[pnolan48]

I've had both 120' and 130' TTs. I did manage to motorize the 120' with a lot of work and twiddling. I basically cut a hole in the pit and mounted a 1-RPM gearhead/motor from Grainger. To prevent wobble, the mount ended up being 1/2 inch thick of laminated styrene blocks. Without indexing, it worked just OK for alignment horizontally, but even the thick styrene couldn't cure vertical misalignment. Here it is on my pre-2002 layout:



I moved it to the Portsmouth Branch in 2003, and then replaced it with the 130-footer in about 2007--I can't find the pictures any longer. I wrote about transplanting the larger TT over on Trainboard a long time ago.

I think this posting method will work--my computers are a shambles right now.

[SleeperN06]

Wow Pete, between yours and Lees service areas, I may have to look for another place for my 130’ TT and roundhouse. 

I have right now 1 Walters Roundhouse and 1 add-on with the turntable hopefully in a couple of weeks. I just can’t get anything to fit in my little 10x11 train room.



Maybe if I ever retire (it keeps getting pushed back) I’ll move to a house with a large basement with lots of room. 

[pnolan48]

It got bigger with the Portsmouth Branch. Here it is with the 120' turntable.



You can see that I cut a larger hole in the center and used the rings (code 40 rail) for electrical pickup. Phosphor bronze pickups on the underside of the bridge were a pain, as they preferred to work in only one direction, and often tore away in the other. The motor mechanism was mounted with three adjustable bolts, and was heavy enough to really squash the pickups down. The only piece of the Heljan mechanism I used was the top cap that glues to the underside of the bridge. Unfortunately I built all this before I had a digital camera, and was thus loathe to take pictures.

Later I installed the 130 footer, with much track cutting. I've misplaced those photos temporarily.

[SleeperN06]

It got bigger with the Portsmouth Branch. Here it is with the 120' turntable.
...............
Later I installed the 130 footer, with much track cutting. I've misplaced those photos temporarily.

Pete that is really nice. I also like the big round house on left and I think it’s really interesting how it looks next to smaller ones. I really like the combination of the two. It looks like you got rid of it in the newer photo.

Just out of curiosity, how much space is required to have a service area like that?

I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m thinking of redesigning my service area to fill my whole closet. I just recently raised my tables up to 38” for storage and I haven’t built my helix yet, but I might be able to get the service area  up over 50” which would still allow me to have a work table underneath as long as it wasn’t too deep were I’m bumping my head. 

[pnolan48]

The right side of this drawing shows the entire servicing facility. The inner track around the roundhouse has a 17-inch radius--the one radius on the layout that is under 18 inches. The width of the layout room was about 11 feet at the right side.



I think helixes are space wasters, and prefer to climb to the next level along the walls.

[SleeperN06]

The right side of this drawing shows the entire servicing facility. The inner track around the roundhouse has a 17-inch radius--the one radius on the layout that is under 18 inches. The width of the layout room was about 11 feet at the right side..............

That’s really nice
I’ve been playing around with XtrkCad and redesigned my Steam Engine Service Area to fit entirerly in the closet. Well except for the helix which is larger than the closet. Now this is going to using my 130ft turntable that’s on order. I still have a lot of details to work on.

 

I have to keep the helix because my layout is modular and portable because when I retire in a few years, I’m leaving the state.

[pnolan48]

Those are very short tracks between the TT and the front of the roundhouse. Are you custom-building the roundhouse, or adding sections to the front of the Heljan? The Heljan spacing for the doors, as I drew it, is accurate and fairly tight for the door clearance for each stall. The Heljan spacing is 7.5 degrees, so I'm not sure you will have enough space for the doors as you have drawn it.

At 7.5 degrees, the tracks around the TT will need their ties clipped very close to the rails--i.e., the closer to the pit apron, the more you'll need to trim. The 120-footer requires even more trimming.

All this is to point out that the trackwork around the TT is critical to its success. The trackwork around the 120-footer was as flat and precise as I could make it. Installing the 130-footer was a nightmare. I had to rip up the tracks to the doors of the roundhouse to make things smooth--I'm not good at laying 1-inch pieces of flextrack!

Also, I forgot to mention that, to fit a Big Boy on the 130' bridge, the bridge tracks will have to extend over the apron. This is not a big deal, but just another complication in planning.

[SleeperN06]

Those are very short tracks between the TT and the front of the roundhouse. Are you custom-building the roundhouse, or adding sections to the front of the Heljan? The Heljan spacing for the doors, as I drew it, is accurate and fairly tight for the door clearance for each stall. The Heljan spacing is 7.5 degrees, so I'm not sure you will have enough space for the doors as you have drawn it.....

No, it’s the stock Cornerstone Roundhouse and turntable shown here http://www.walthers.com/instructions/extras/0933/09330000003260a.pdf. I also have the template, but can’t find it on line at the moment. I’m pretty sure that the new 130’ turntable coming out Jul 26 is the same dimensions.

[SleeperN06]

i just found the template http://www.walthers.com/instructions/extras/0933/09330000002613a.pdf

[FlyGuyB]

Has anyone ever used the Arnold Rapido or Fleishman turntables? Which one is better comparing all three for installation, operation, and realism?

[Nato]

   The Turntable shown on the Google Map in Salt Lake City sits along side what was Union Pacific's Salt Lake Diesel Shop which also set up and maintained Gas Turbine Locos. The shop completed in if I recall 1951 used this table for turning locos and occaisional cars. There was no round house associated with it. This facility is now owned by Utah Transit Authority and used to maintain their Front Runner Comuter Trains allso Light Rail cars can be repaired here although no overhead exists here. Visible in the map photo several of the Front Runner MPI diesels in their distinctive not too far away, it's final turntable could accomidate Big Boy's.                                                                                                                              Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[pnolan48]

Ah, I forgot the Cornerstone roundhouse is completely different from the old Heljan.

[inkaneer]

Has anyone ever used the Arnold Rapido or Fleishman turntables? Which one is better comparing all three for installation, operation, and realism?

I think they are the same turntable as the Walthers 120 foot table.   There was also a turntable made by Peco with a bridge length of about 80 feet.  LA Models made a motorizing unit for it and BLW sold it for about $75.00.  If you go to the BLW website it is still listed but is marked as sold out.

[Mark5]

I think they are the same turntable as the Walthers 120 foot table.   

I can tell you that the Arnold and Fleischmann TTs were not the Heljan one sold by Wally. At least one of them was indexed and both were powered. They were pricey back when I was looking at them (over 10 years ago).

http://www.reynaulds.com/products/Fleischmann/9152.aspx