I think that what you’re noticing does reflect changing trends in the hobby, as others have mentioned. When I first started reading MR back in the 70s, just about every track plan or layout story included and often featured a roundhouse/turntable, and some layouts/plans had more than one. They were practically de rigeur. In Track Planning for Realistic Operation, John Armstrong made reference to most modelers’ desire to include a roundhouse and turnatable as part of an engine service area–they’re just really cool places to model. Often, roundhouses were located inside a return loop (which was one way of dealing with the space issue) and frequently included far more tracks in the array than just those serving the roundhouse stalls. It seemed that the purpose of those roundhouses was as much display as operational–they made a great place to show off all those brass steamers. Sometimes there was no roundhouse at all–just the turntable array.
So why aren’t we seeing as many roundhouses/turntables these days? Well, as others have commented, they’re just not part of the railroad industry any more. Sure, there are a few around still, but as a common feature of railroading they belong to the steam age. Although the transition era is still popular, more and more modelers seem to be modelling the contemporary scene. Another reason, I suspect, has to do with layout design philosophy. We used to be big on lots of loops and that gave us a natural place to put a roundhouse. Today’s layouts seem to place more emphasis on linear plans in which the track does not double back on itself. Fewer loops mean fewer possible easy locations for a roundhouse. Even if we have a loop out in the open, most of us are forced to admit that curving a double track mainline behind the back wall of the roundhouse just doesn’t look that realistic (although I’m sure someone will be able to tell us that it did happen s
Many respondents seem to be missing the Original Poster’s point. He noted that lots of the published track plans do include turntables and roundhouses, only they don’t appear in the accompanying photos.
The answer is perhaps much simpler than some are making it out to be. The track plans published often include areas that the builder has not yet finished – and maybe hasn’t even yet built. The photographs, in contrast, tend to focus on finished areas. Often these stories are done years, even decades, before the entire layout is completed.
In my experience working with folks on a number of layouts, the turntable and roundhouse areas may not be fully finished and scenicked until long after many other sections are “camera-ready”. These just take a lot of time and effort to yield excellent appearance. Thus, they wouldn’t show up in photographs, even though they are a part of the layout.
A good example of this is Jason Fontaine’s layout in the July 2010 issue. There are a number of very attractive scenes in the photos – but none of the roundhouse area. Conspiracy! Umm, maybe not.
If you look at the track plan, note that all of the photos came from about half of the layout. This area was on the opposite side of the room from the roundhouse area. I am certain that the photographer or editors did not discriminate against the “roundhouse” half of the layout. It probably just isn’t yet as complete or “camera ready”.
As George Carlin once observed: "How often the simple solution wi
Thank you cuyama!!! My thoughts exactly, as happens sometimes, we where drifting away from my OP. I looked thru the online library of layouts and there are several with roundhouses. Just not many pictures of them. For an example of what I like to see and what could be done in a “relatively” reasonable space, look at Gary Hoovers layout. He has a HUGE roundhouse kinda tucked into a corner, sort of like Im planning on or my layout. Anyhow, I guess we beat that dead horse.[:)]
Those of us with limited space (for HO) often salivate when thinking of the grandiose roundhouse facilities we can never adapt to our layout spaces. I opted for a 7.5’ x 2.5’ branchline engine servicing facility, still able to fill with diverse structures and capable of operational switching tasks. My hope is that when I am near completion of this, my wife will let me attach it to a 4’ x 8’ that will allow for greater “range of motion”. By then, I will be near or in retirement, so she can’t “short me” on my plans for my short line!
I do agree that there is sometimes a lack of better “photo highlights” in some layout articles in MR; when you look at the graphic diagram of the featured layout and the identified photo spots, there are some other locations that could easily be included in the photo spread. On the other hand, I am not a publisher, so I imagine there are other constraints that limit the scope of each article- both image and text-wise.
Eventually, we may be subscribing to an all e-version of MR, with more “meat” on the bone, so to speak. That is the preliminary direction we seem to be headed in, based on the subscriber’s enhanced features on line. In that virtual world, images can be more plentiful.
If I forgot to say it, please have a Merry Christmas and a good New Year to all my neighbors on this forum. You’re a great group!
Even though I model in the modern diesel era I still really wanted a roundhouse so I decided to build a fictional Train museum. It also gives me a reason to have different era loco’s sitting beside each other. It’s not every day you see a Union Pacific Big Boy or two standing beside an old VIA Rail FP9A or a old TH&B GP7. My roundhouse sits on a 5x8 island on my layout, it’s basically built like the project that was in the Walthers catalogue a few years ago.
Eh? Medina1128 nailed that a few days ago, when he posted “I’m sure the owner of the layout would rather they didn’t take pictures of the unfinished roundhouse area.”, and a few posts agreed with that - including mine, but I drifted off (as I usually do) into complaining about large, cool scenes besides roundhouses depicted on the track diagram but not being photographed since… they don’t exist yet.
I have been spending some time lately on RMWeb (a Bbritish Model Railway forum), and they have many layouts photosets (a number due to their layout ‘challenges’) but relatively few seem to have roundhouses of any sort. Engine sheds/depots - plenty of those, but I don’t see many roundhouses, either due to lack of space, lack of interest by the modelers, or lack of prototypes…that’s not to say there aren’t any turntables on layouts though.
Just a bump and a quick reminder…the OP wasn’t asking why more layouts don’t have roundhouses, it was why (it seemed to him) that layouts were being featured in MR that do have a roundhouse and turntable, but no pictures of the RH/TT were included in the article.
You might like to do an internet search for ageofsteam roundhouse. A guy who owned several shortlines has sold them and is building a roundhouse in Ohio to house his steam engine collection. A huge undertakibg and a huge structure. The aerial shot are pretty good.
For a look at a roundhouse, albeit 15"ga., look here. Im sure if you havent seen this before, you will get a kick out of it. This RR is about an hour drive from my home and Ive been fortunete enough to spend a day there. Enjoy. www.arborwayrailroad.com
I haven’t been subscribed to MR for very long. But in the October 2010 City to Countryside article, there was a pic of a turntable somewhere towards the end of the article. Can’t remeber which page but it was that article.
Doooooaw!!! I just got my Feb MR !! Another featured layout with a big 7 stall roundhouse and NO picture. It’s a conspiracy!!! They had pictures all over the rest of the layout , but not the roundhouse area. That really the only part of the layout without any coverage. They even take two pictures that overlap and show some areas TWICE. Im telling you that photographer with MR has something against roundhouses!!
It’s not just roundhouses, we don;t get a lot of stations either. Specifically, the colsest I[ve seen a Thurmond Station was 12feet away from the camera.
Off Topis:On the other topic in here: Not all roundhouses have to be huge suckers though. I’m gonna pull a roundhouse forward from the early 1900s, that was a full-circle enclosed roundhouse. Near as I can gather, the turntable was long enough for a 4-4-0, and pushing it at that. It’ll be a small museum for F units and less, based on the original plan. The entire rpundhouse? Probably less than 2feet across. One track in and out, coal and water met’cha at the door and didn;t require a huge operation, maybe two tracks that narrowed to one as it went into the barn.