In the book “Fun with toy trains” The author has a turntable made from a Lazy Susan. I admired it. Any tips on buildong one?
P.S I need it to hold a 1666 steamer OR a 18808 Acl SD
I actually thought that Lazy Susan referred to someones wife[:D][:D]
Ironic because that describes my mom[(-D][(-D][(-D]
Yes you can do it. I did over twenty years ago in Jamaica of all places and it is still operating great. I used a LAZY susan bearing and made realistic turntable as outlined below. Picture on OGR forum, search “weekend turntable” for thread. The picture is on post 7. Sorry I can not post picture here. Email me and I will sent pictures.
First it pays to do some planning and layout of where to put it and how to layout your track. Pick your turntable length. I had to go with two sections of 027 track due to space but wish it was at least 2 inches longer as my 671 turbine and long tender will not fit. If you have room make it 2" longer than you longest loco and tender or the longest you plan to buy, ever.
Pick your location which should be near the layout edge, and near your control panel if you have one. An edge location is desirable if you are going use my belt drive rotating system. If you are going to power the turntable this may not be that necessary. But I will recommend an accessible location as derailments and hand assistance may be desirable at times. All accessories are best located where help is available!
I cut a 18 inch circle in my train board and use the cutout as a pulley by adding heavy cardboard as flanges. Install a ring around the hole to say 1 1/2 inch deep and add a 1/2" plywood bottom. Screw as 6 or 8" LAZY SUSAN bearing (Ace or Home Depot for $4)on underside of well bottom. Install the 18" pulley on the lazy susan. Center a 3/8" hole in both bottom and pulley and install 3/8"threaded hollow lamp rod thru the pulley and pin the rod to the pulley with a nail and 2" x 2" block glue and screwed to the pulley. Make a turntable bridge out of wood and pin the bridge to the lamp rod. Add some type of wheels on ends of turntable bridge (I used some small spare ball bearings I had for wheels)
Run a pair of wires up thru the lamp rod and solder to the outside and middle rail of the track you put on the bridge.
Leave some slack in the wire an
Wow, this sounds v. creative. I wish I could visualize this better - I can’t find the pict on OGR.
Yeah Daan, I have one of those. Actually, she’s my sister.[:0][8][swg]