I’m working on MRR #2, an N Scale 4x8 layout with plenty of roadbed already in place per my track plan, but I’m stuck regarding the roundhouse and turntable.
The turntable/track are Atlas Code 80. I rec’d a Walthers Modern 3-Stall Roundhouse for Christmas and installed Code 80 flex into it. The problem is that the spacing geometry of the roundhouse and Atlas turntable seem to be out of sync with each other.
Was I nuts to think they’d fit together perfectly? Should I have just bought [would have if I’d done better research] the Atlas 3-Stall Roundhouse?
I’m not trying to be Mr. Obvious here, just asking if anyone’s encountered this, and if they’ve solved it.
Basically, yes, you may be in for a bit of work here to make it work. The Walthers kit is designed to work with their turntable, the Atlas kit for theirs. The angle betyween the stalls is determined by the angle between the tracks on the turntable, there’s not a whole lot you cna do about that. You can’t really alter the track angles on the Atlas turntable because of the way it operates. You can adjust the lengths of the horizonatal beams in the roundhouse kit to adjust the stall angle, but you’re also goign to have to alter the roof pieces, the base, and probably a bunch more.
I would replace the turntable. The Atlas is an OK for starters, but the Walther’s like many other versions are far superior and when finalizing your scenery a pit and bridge turntable may be what you really want.
Note that all roundhouses did not have turntables. Most pictures I have seen with 3 or 4 stall turntables were served by switches. Instead of the turntable they used a wye.
It would definitely seem each manufacturer wants to guarantee sales of both their roundhouses and turntable,as most do not seem to "play well with others’
EAch has its own set design and other than MAYBE moving the roundhouse a distance from the TT to adjust the tracks {which is NOT guaranteed to work}, you have little choice but to buy the companions to make it look real and actually work well.
Sad that they couldn’t agree on a formula that would make all TT work with all Roundhouses!
So either get the Atlas Round house or the Walthers TT to “make it right” {as Mike Holmes would say}.
It would probably be a lot easier to change the turntable. The Atlas TT has a “Geneva” mechanism, so it stops at each track for a second or two…kinda like a watch gearing where it goes tick-tick-tick stopping at each second. You can change the gearing of the TT so it will not stop but just turn constantly. You’d have to do some work on the apron to allow the different track spacing but it’s doable.
How does the Walthers turntable compare in size to the Atlas? I think the N-scale Atlas is 7.5 inches, which comes out 100 scale feet, but I don’t know if that’s the rotating part or the whole thing. An N-scale Walthers 90-foot would fit the same space. Is that large enough for the OP’s needs?
I’ve got an HO-scale Atlas turntable and roundhouse. I converted the turntable to a pit. In HO scale, the turntable is only 65 feet. It limits the size of engines I can put on it, but at the same time the whole scene fits in a much smaller space, and I don’t think you can beat the price for a working, motorized turntable.
I did the same , except in HO. the turntable is 15 degrees from center and the rondhouse is 10 degrees. I fixed by adjust the rondhouse 2.5 degrees from center when you do your layout of R.H. and TT. Ifound this to work perfectly and at both loading from both sides of the Bridge. If you need some more info. E-mail me at nickyb65@tcbnb.com. I have a layout picture.this project tokk me approxamently 3 months to align. Not fun. You would think the engineers of these you of made them standard.