I have the Walthers Non-DCC 130’ Turntable (933-2829) and the Walthers Cornerstone 3-Stall Modern Roundhouse to which I have added 6-stalls, so it is now a 9-stall Modern Roundhouse.
I am in the process of fitting these structures on a new layout that I am building.
Does it matter exactly how far from the turntable pit I install the roundhouse? It seems to me that it doesn’t really matter, and the instructions are silent.
Your thoughts and comments?
Rich
Rich,
I presume that each stall has a flat door section (wall) that faces the turntable. Seems to me that a curve, the intersections (corners) where each front wall meets its neighbor, would define a radius from the turntable center. If the roundhouse were too close or too far from the correct spot, the leads from each stall, if centered in each, would not line up with the turntable track. Or if lined up with the turntable track, the lead (centered at the door) would not be centered farther into the stall if lined up with the turntable.
Can you measure that curve? If you have “x” stalls that make 90-degrees, that would be an easy way to measure the curve from lines extending from those stalls. The intersection would be the turntable center.
Extend the centerline of the roundhouse tracks. Where they cross is the center of the turntable.
I’m pretty sure that anything else won’t line up.
Yes, it matters significantly.
In its final setting, there isn’t much “free-air space” between the pit wall and the roundhouse front wall:
I used a laser to shoot the track center lines from stall #1 and stall #9 to meet the turntable center pivot and set the roundhouse accordingly.
Laser_RRtt by Edmund, on Flickr
There really isn’t any wiggle room.
RH_laser2 by Edmund, on Flickr
There is a tiny tick mark at the center shaft of the turntable (mine is a Diamond Scale 130 footer). Once I had these center lines I routed out the dados for the pits.
Good Luck, Ed
There is only one possible distance from the turntable pit to the roundhouse for any particular roundhouse and turntable.
You have no choice.
Ed
Yikes, it matters? Nuts, I set up the turntable/roundhouse 14 years ago, and I have no recollection how I succeeded then. Didn’t measure the curve, didn’t extend the center of the roundhouse tracks to where they cross the center of the turntable, didn’t shoot a laser to the turntable center pivot.
7j43k says that there is only one possible distance. Our other Ed says it matters significantly and includes a photo. Let me ask this. How far are the fronts of the roundhouse stalls from the edge of the pit in that photo? There must be a simple way to place the roundhouse, no?
Rich
The turntable stalls are at a certain degee 9 or 11 or something in between. What I see on the Internet is 10 degrees for the Walther modern RH.
From the backwall to the center of the turntable pit is the same distance, no matter what size the turntable. Get yourself a protractor and draw some lines at 10 degrees.
I have a small Details Associates RH that I am going to use with a 90’ CMR turntable. I’m going to have to curve the two outside rails inward, because I think it was made for a 65’ turntable. It might look a little weird but I can deal with that. A bigger RH that is too close or too far will have clearance issues with the doors and curves.
OK, I understand what you are saying, Henry.
Yes, the Walthers Cornerstone Modern Roundhouse stalls are set at 10 degrees. So, my 9-stall roundhouse is a 90 degree structure.
Let me mess around with drawing some lines at 10 degree angles.
I appreciate the help and advice. I really need it.
Rich
If you’ve already mounted your turntable, work with some kraft paper. Once you figure out where the back wall has to be, and you know the depth of the RH, you will know where the front wall has to be.
There’s a relatively simple formulat for calculating the distance from the roundhouse to the pit. I started to develop it, but none of you guys are going to actually do it, so I’m not, either.
My point, however, is the same: there’s only one distance for a given roundhouse and pit diameter.
If the roundhouse is already built, and the turntable’s in, you can move the building around until you can sight down the roof discontinuities between stalls and move it until you sight down the pit center.
Ed
I get a little under 2.75 inches from my pit wall to the edge of the floor:
Pit_to_doorRH by Edmund, on Flickr
The rail ends and feeders haven’t been tucked & trimmed yet.
The former roundhouse at this site was a Heljan model and the front wall sat back a bit further, still 10° track spacing, though.
Roundhouse4 by Edmund, on Flickr
Roundhouse3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Notice that there’s about four-feet of brick between each door hings where the Walther’s Modern roundhouse there’s barely a foot.
The C&NW’s Erie Street turntable was so small and the track spacing so tight that frogs were used at each track.
http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2015/07/cnws-passenger-yard.html
Scroll down or click a photo to see them all.
Part of a Wallace Abbey photo:
CNW_RHcrop by Edmund, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
Ed, thank you very much. It has finally sunk in. If you measure the distance from the edge of the pit to the front (or the rear) of the roundhouse for the two outermost stalls so that they are the same distance, then all 9 stalls will be the same distance. And that can only occur at one point. Any shorter or longer distance for the two outermost stalls will result in the inner stalls being a different distance away from the edge of the pit.
Rich
Ed, thanks for the measurement and the photo. This is extremely interesting because I came up from my layout to read your reply after concluding that the distance needs to be approximately 2.75 inches. So, I take great comfort in your measurement. Actually, you noted that it is a bit shorter than 2.75 inches, and I was concluding that it needs to be just over 2.75 inches, around 2.875. So, the exact measure is somewhere in that vicinity.
Rich
Ed, any chance you can publish that formula for all of us to reference.
Rich
I wouldn’t worry about carrying out the decimal places to hundred thousandths based on my measurement, Rich.
As I mentioned earlier, my TT pit is a Diamond Scale 130 footer and it may not match Walther’s plastic pit. Mine is plaster.
Still, you’re on the right track.
Cheers! Ed
I made CAD drawing of my roundhouse and turntable. I inserted a 90’ circle so you can see what happens with the tracks. My Korber roundhouse has 7½° stall spacing. I extended the roundhouse to 130’ to accommodate my Rivarossi Cab Forwards. My turntable is a 135’ CMR.
Mel
My Model Railroad
Ed, I plan to take that measurement out 7 decimal places. [(-D]
Rich
Mel, that is interesting that you were able to extend the tracks between the turntable and the roundhouse to nearly 10 inches. I assume that is because the stalls are 7.5 degrees, and there are only 5 stalls.
Rich
It really has more to do with how far apart the doors are, center-to-center that determines how far away the front wall is from the pit.
15° spacing means you can fit 24 stalls in a full circle.
10° spacing means you can fit 36 stalls in a full circle.
7½° spacing means you can fit 48 stalls into a full circle.
None of the above has anything to do with how much track is exposed between the pit and the front wall of the roundhouse.
As the front wall of the roundhouse moves toward the pit the door centers HAVE to get narrower, away = wider.
Still, there’s no choice unless you want to custom build or modify your roundhouse. Again, strike a line through the center of each radial track. They will intersect. At the point of intersection must be the center of the turntable pivot.
Regards, Ed
What I should have done before cutting out the circle of plywood for the turntable was to mark the centerpoint of the turntable on the plywood. From there, I could draw lines on the plywood, radiating from the centerpoint at 10 degree angles. Then, I could locate and mark the exact location of the roundhouse.
I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread. It has been a great learning process for me.
Rich
