I recently got my new-build retirement HO DCC layout wired and checked out and ready to begin the scenery phase.
I have a coal mine at the end of a 30 foot extension off the main line rev. loop to rev. loop folded dog bone track configuration and I’ve been kicking around the idea of a turntable at the coal mine to turn the engines around so I don’t have to run in reverse back to the main line. All my motive power is diesel and the Walther’s manual 90’ TT looks like a good fit for what I want.
Since all I want to do is turn an engine around to haul a string of coal cars back to the main line section in a forward direction I have no need for either a round house or programmed indexing (and the much higher cost) but would like to motorize the TT (nominal additional cost)and control it with a momentary DPDT toggle switch.
My DCC system is the Digitrax Super Empire Builder and I know I’ll have to add a ARI to power the TT track.
All said, if anyone is using this TT or otherwise has knowledge of it I’d really appreciate your input with the following:
How is power applied to the bridge track (wiper contacts, center shaft w/split ring, etc.,) ?
How is rotation of the bridge accomplished when using the drive motor ?
Any rotational concentricity problems with respect to bridge track to feed track alignment ?
Another option which might work for you is the Atlas deck turntable:
This venerable model, little-changed in the 60 or so years since I bought my first one, has a few virtues. First, it’s very inexpensive, even when you add the motorizing kit. Second, it’s very short, only 9 inches across, which for many engines is a problem, but for the short diesels you’re likely to see switching a mine, it may be perfect. Finally, it’s rock-solid reliable. The indexing is fixed at every 15 degrees, and you will never have alignment issues. If you’re putting this back in a corner, or someplace where access is awkward, you may appreciate that. For DCC, it needs no auto-reverser, as it’s got a built-in split-ring to handle polarity.
On the minus side, it’s a deck, not a more prototypical pit. The motor kit is very loud. And, when rotating, it always stops at every 15-degree indexing point.
I didn’t have the space for a full-sized turntable and roundhouse on my layout, so I took an Atlas and modified it, turning it into a pit and sinking it into the foam, which also greatly muffled the noise from the motor drive.
If you are running diesels, do you need to turn them? I know roads decided which hood end they wanted to call the front, but I have not heard of much performance difference. If you are pulling long loads when you are coming back from the mine, you might want two locos. If you connect them back to back, the lead loco would always be going forward. All you would need is a runaround track to get your loco to the other end of the train.
Another option which might work for you is the Atlas deck turntable:
This venerable model, little-changed in the 60 or so years since I bought my first one, has a few virtues. First, it’s very inexpensive, even when you add the motorizing kit.
Thanks. I documented this project when I originally did it. Here’s a link to the original thread, which our hosts have kindly kept here for the six years since I first posted it:
Thanks for the link. Pretty novel the way you “kit bashed” this arrangement…and quite an engineering feat in and of itself. At the rebuild stage I’m at right now, or rather the amount of scenery build ahead of me I think I’ll sit on this idea as it obviously involved a lot of time and effort to do it right.
Again, kudo’s to you for taking the time to document your Atlas TT adaptation. [Y]
