I’ve decided I don’t like how my tracks end in the town up at the end of the branch. It’s fine for diesels; an RS1 or RS2 comes in on the arrival track at the head of a mixed local, and then backs out on the escape track, moves the caboose if there is one, then switches out industries, and then leads the train back down the mountain.
But I have a bunch of steamers I’d like to use on the branch, too, and it’s ridiculous that they should have to back all the way down the mountain with a train behind (in front of) them. Also, the steam locos often don’t have a great coupling function in the front. I hadn’t originally planned on this, but I now want to turn the power up here. The yellow circled track in the photo above is as far as they can go right now, but the second photo shows what I want to do.
I’m going to add a 15" radius curve that will turn right over the end of the yard and off the layout. I’ll build a cassette here that will be sturdy and mount to a base frame fixed to the wall like a shelf, extending through where the pencil sharpener is right now. I’ve been lying awake at night trying to figure out how to make it work with the limited tools and the limited carpentry skills I have, which are both suited more to building a rough chicken shed than to furniture making, let alone a turntable of this nature.
I’ve come up with a design. I’ll try to draw it next weekend. The cassette will be like a turntable bridge only with sides like a th
Real railroads had the same problem. Many installed a headlight on the tender to solve the problem. The PRR had 4-4-2, 4-6-0, and some 2-8-0 engines outfitted this way
Matt, as an alternative, why not just spend $35 to buy the surface mount Atlas Turntable? No cutting required, and it can be easily motorized with simple wiring.
Rich, thanks for doing legwork and finding this. If you mean why not use that Atlas table off the layout where I planned to put a cassette, the first reason would be that it is only 9" long, and my favorite steamer – the Atlantic – is nearly 12" in length.
The other reason would be that the track approaching this table would have to curve away from the wall after crossing over the yard, which I suppose would be possible but now we’re building a pretty wide shelf over my workbench that was not part of the approved permit.
If instead you meant why not install it on the layout, in the yellow-circled area just past the escape turnout, then there are more reasons. I don’t really like the way it looks. I’ve never seen a real-world turntable that looks like this (granted, haven’t seen many r-w turntables). Is it based on a prototype? Is there one of these anywhere west of the Mississippi?
And even if it weren’t too small for my 4-4-2, and even if I thought it the most handsome apparatus, there isn’t room at that spot for the diameter of even this small table. The track runs right along the edge of the “town board”.
I suppose I could tear up the turnout and curve everything a little so it would fit, but I think that would look terrible and then there would be trouble coupling on a nonstraight track.
I’m open to the idea, because it would sure be easier to install this if I could find room for it, but those are my initial ruminations.
This is good to hear. You may remember I was trying to get a coupler mounted on the front of my Atlantic a month or so ago… still haven’t done that. If I could get front couplers that worked well on my steamers, then maybe I’d leave the track alone.
Lee, that’s basically what my proposed design is, only I’m clumsy, so instead of actually picking it up, I’m sliding it toward me in a track (slot) where it is still supported all along its length, then rotating it as you suggested. And I’m not turning the whole train, just the loco and tender.
To add to this. Most of the locomotives assigned to pusher service had tender mounted headlights. There were also a few cabooses with roof mounted headlights and whistles. Although not very common.
While not a general practice, backing steam locomotives a fair distance (particularly back down a branch line), with or without a train, was more common than you might think.
You might want to take a look at how difficult it would be to improve or add a front-end coupler. Doing so has the additional advantage of easier switching with the loco, as well as pulling a train in reverse.
During the steam era, passenger trains were pulled into Dearborn Station at 8th Street in downtown Chicago. After the passenger car consist was uncoupled from the steam engine, the loco would back up to the engine servicing facility at 49th Street. That is 41 city blocks or just over 5 miles. Along the way, the steam engine had to back up over the 26-diamond configuration at 21st Street.
Pete, my Atlantic will, because even though it’s a big engine there are only two drivers. My Prairie has three drivers but it is a small engine. The 2-8-0 and the switcher – both the same Mehano item, only one lacks the front truck – may have trouble there. Good point. I could make it 18" radius but it’s also not critical that EVERY steamer be able to take this branch job.
I’m reassured and comforted by all these other stories of steam locomotives running backward, and in fact my BLI Great Northern Consolidation has a big bright stalag searchlight mounted on the tender which duly lights up on reversing. However, this is a DCC locomotive and I don’t run DCC that often.
With the feedback I’m getting, I may just work on front couplers and leave the track as it is. However, I have drawn a quick sketch of the cassette I have in mind:
A number of railroads – Ed will have data and pictures – optimized some of their power to run ‘in reverse’ with a pilot on the tender, better headlight arrangement, etc. I do not know how many of these went on to modify the throttle, brake, etc. to make reverse running more convenient, but there are sure ways to do that.
With a couple of minor tweaks, Matt, your sketched solution should work quite well.
Depending on the thickness of the faux turntable, a piece of 1/4" plywood rotating on a metal pivot (a smooth nail would would likely suffice), then all you’d need to do is raise the track across that bridge using some tapered shim-stock, available from a lumber yard or the usually Lowes/Home Depot sites.
I have two turntables on my layout: one is scratchbuilt with a cut-up Atlas bridge cemented to a block of wood, and turns (via finger pressure) on the shaft of an electric mixer beater.
The other one is a Walthers kit, and once I add some flexible metal wipers to the pivot shaft, finger power will move it accordingly, while the wipers will keep it aligned with whichever track is in-use.
As for your issue with working couplers on the front of steamers, I’ll take some photos of how I’ve done mine, as it’s actually a pretty simple process.
@David, I stand corrected… and… good to know this. I’m warming up to the pulling in reverse idea a lot.
@Wayne, the drawing is deceptively simplified. Neither the turntable base nor the bridge exist yet–you can see from the photo above that the track and bridge are just laid out loosely over top of the yard – so there is no need for shimming, if I understand your suggestion. I would simply mount the cassette base at such a level that the rails on the cassette/turntable match the rails on the spur coming over the bridge.
As for the front coupler issue, I posted that here a while back and got a lot of good feedback. For my cast metal Roundhouse Atlantic, it would involve either finding a very small drill and tap (and screw) to hold something over top of a Kadee coupler mounted around the screwpost, OR removing the screw post altogether and widening the hole in the pilot sufficiently to slide a narrow (#262) coupler box in there. Both options scare me so I haven’t moved on that yet.
-Matt
