Large Scale Central

New turntable build

I’ve been stewing over this for awhile. I have a new town at the end of the line that needs a turntable in order to change the direction of the locomotive.Eventually, the tracks will be three wide and it will be a great place for setting up consists for a meet. During an operations meet, I would like the locomotives to turn around and head back the other way. Here are some pics of the area (structures removed) with a crude 38" prototype.

I don’t have room for a run-around or a wye, and the slope will not allow me to place the entire turntable on solid ground. Part of it must swing over the retaining wall. Also, I need to keep it as low as possible to the retaining wall height. Here are some examples from other garden railroads.

I am considering using a 24” x 24” x 3/16” steel plate for the base (painted or epoxy coated) and building something like this European prototype.

I like the idea of the full size round deck since it will cover the steel plate and I can simplify the mechanics of rotating it. The decks can be lumber or steel plate. No need for a pit, pit rail, bridge support wheels, etc. I think I can keep it low profile. I’ll have to figure out how to anchor it, maybe weld on a couple of tabs that can be screwed to stakes.

Any thoughts?

Joe,

Here was my solution to the problem on my old railroad.

Of course I stole this idea from Dick Smiths Port Orford Coast RR(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif).

Rick

Have any locos gone “bush diving” off the end? (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

That does indeed look like a nice compact solution.

Greg

Hope the engineer does not fall asleep.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif) Later RJD

Rick, that’s a really clean build. I have a couple of questions. What material did you use for the base of the pit? What mechanism did you use for the pivot, a lazy-susan or something else? How stable was the turntable deck once it was rotated out over empty space?

Thanks!

Joe

I built a turntable and I love it. It is so much fun to spin a engine.

I needed a turntable for my bench top yard so I built one that measures 27x27" and the deck is 24". I built a support frame for it so I can remove the turntable and store it over the Winter. It has 2 wires that supply the track power which goes through a large headphone jack which the deck spins on. I use a DPDT switch to control the polarity. Engine drives on, spins, I flip the switch to the opposite side the engine drives off. I used coloured tacks pressed into the end of the table and next to the switch to keep the polarity correct.

I think you could do something similar to this.

I don’t seem to have too many pictures of the turntable but here is a fun one.

Those first three pit less turn tables are on the IPP&W railroad. They work well after over 15 years or more. They are based on "Lazy Susan"bearings. we have never had a locomotive or car fall off those turntables. There is no track power on any of them, as all locomotives are battery powered. They are turned very well by hand…sometimes called “Armstrong” turntables on real railroads.

The original concept for building the turntable on the edge of the bench work, came from Dave Goodson.

The first one I built has a brass plate on it, dedicated to the good advice Dave Goodson gave me. Even though, Dave is very much alive and kicking, the turntable is called “The Dave Goodson Memorial Turn Table”

Fred Mills

No, never lost an engine, that picture was taken before the project was finished. When completed there was a 16ga steel band 2 inches wide that completed the pit circle but it was above the rails not below. The band was fastened on each end and had a sloped leg from the center down to the bench work, very stable and secure.

Joe,

A quick rundown of the build.

The pit bottom was 1/2 inch cement board about 3 foot square, the pivot point laid out and the half circle scribed. Allowing for pit wall thickness a series of redwood blocks were screwed and glued around to brace the pit wall. The pit wall was Redwood strip soaked and bent and fastened.

The bridge deck was just a piece of dry Redwood 2 x 6 cut and shaped. I drilled and epoxied in a piece of 3/4 inch copper pipe even with the 2x6 surfaces as the outside bearing of the pivot point. Then built the deck and added all the decoration. the pivot pin was a piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe ( I may have had to do some machining, I just don’t remember) about 6 inches long mounted down through the table into solid blocking. I used a thin piece of Styrene , about .040 as a washer to keep the bridge from scrapping the pit bottom. This worked well but I did get small pieces of ballast splashed into the pit from rain and the could be a problem if you didn’t see them in time.

Because of the way the pivot bearing was built the deck was very stable.

Hey I found another picture that will help explain some of what I have just said.

Rick

Hehe…don’t think I have seen that one before …perhaps I missed it back in day in the hood

" Rooster " said:

Hehe…don’t think I have seen that one before …perhaps I missed it back in day in the hood

Maybe this will spark your memory Rooster?

Whatever happened to the Roaming Roving Renegade Rooster?

I found another photo of my turntable that might give you ideas for yours Joe. The whole assembly, black part lifts off the base support. I made it removable so it wouldn’t stay out in the elements year round.

Todd Haskins said:

I found another photo of my turntable that might give you ideas for yours Joe. The whole assembly, black part lifts off the base support. I made it removable so it wouldn’t stay out in the elements year round.

Notice the single rail in the left of the pic.

Todd can you tell us more about what’s under the table and how the single rail helps?

I don’t mean to hijack Joe’s thread but maybe some extra ideas will help.

To answer Sean’s question here is the best photo I could find to show what is under the table. The single rail has metal wheels from closet doors that ride on it when the table spins.

It is a “fingerstrong” not an armstrong type of table. The power to the rails is supplied through the headphone jack in the center which also serves as the pivot point.

This thing is giving me notices that x person has posted on a forum you have posted on for this thread - umm, I see no previous posts by me on here and do not recall making one, all I have done to this point is to have clicked to watch the topic.

Forrest Scott Wood said:

This thing is giving me notices that x person has posted on a forum you have posted on for this thread - umm, I see no previous posts by me on here and do not recall making one, all I have done to this point is to have clicked to watch the topic.

Just isn’t your day!

There is no moderator to see your troubles, send Bob a note.

Forrest Scott Wood said:

This thing is giving me notices that x person has posted on a forum you have posted on for this thread - umm, I see no previous posts by me on here and do not recall making one, all I have done to this point is to have clicked to watch the topic.

When you click ““Watch Topic””, it lets you know when someone has posted in that topic you asked to watch… It doesn’t mean that you posted it…

At least, that’s the way I understand it works…

It’s doing exactly what it is supposed to, although the email message is flawed as you have found out.

Greg

Greg Elmassian said:

It’s doing exactly what it is supposed to, although the email message is flawed as you have found out.

Greg

I don’t understand why you say it is flawed… I thought where he put the X, was the member’s name who posted the post…

Andy, please read again, Forrest said he never posted on the thread, but what he got does indeed say that he, Forrest, posted on that thread.

Forrest specifically says he did not post on the thread.

Therefore the notice is incorrect, really, beyond flawed, but I used the word flawed to be a little “nicer”

It uses the same message no matter if the “watcher” posted or not assuming that a person watching a thread would also be posting on that thread, and that is indeed flawed logic.

Greg

"

Forrest Scott Wood said:

This thing is giving me notices that x person has posted on a forum you have posted on for this thread - umm, I see no previous posts by me on here and do not recall making one, all I have done to this point is to have clicked to watch the topic.’

Greg Elmassian said: MLS is dying, hardly any posts

And once again I’m intrigued as to why that is happened?