I think I’m back. I haven’t posted since 2013 when my wife made me tear out my layout so she could have more room for her art studio. She is a professional artist and felt that her income coming in is more important than my income going out. Anyway, hi to everyone who remembers me (and nicetomecha to those I haven’t met yet.)
So I moved to Arizona 3 years ago and I’m reviving the old Rock Ridge Railroad–my wife gave up some space and is letting me have about a 3rd of the garage. Only probelm is I don’t see as well as I used to and my hands aren’t as steady.
So here’s the deal. One of you guys sent me an Atlas turntable back then and Gary sent me a really nicely geared 7V motor and gear assembly that could easily attach directly to a bridge. (I don’t know if I thanked you Gary. It arrived after my wife killed my layout.) Anyway, I pulled out the Atlas Turntable and it didn’t work. So I pulled it apart and looked at things. The gears work. If I had a crank it would index perfectly. The motor runs but the belt slips. If I apply pressure it does turn the worm drive but the turntable doesn’t turn. I figure I could replace the belt and see what happens, but the idea that the worm turns but not the TT is unsettling.
I’ve heard that the turntable is reliable and the 9 inch size fits my biggest engine, but I’ve also heard that they are ungodly noisy. So I’m thinking of scratching one out. Unfortunately, most people I’ve read online who have either built or attempted to build one have said they should have just bought one. Still, this motor makes it mighty tempting.
Anyway, what you you think?
Chip
PS I should add that I am only going to use it to turn my engines around.
I built several scratch built turntables and all of them worked very nice with the five finger drive system. The motor drive was always a problem so I finally broke down and bought a CMR kit eighteen years ago and it came with a Dayton ½ RPM gear motor. That motor would have worked on all of my scratch builts.
I model HO and you must be going with N to have a 9” locomotive for your longest. I’m a SP Cab Forward/AC-9 freak so my CMR turntable is 135’ scale 19” HO.
I do think building a turntable from scratch is doable with the right motor drive. I’d give it a shot.
What a pleasant Sunday morning surprise! Good to see you around again[:D]
Well, you’ve joined the old geezer club then. Beats the alternative, feeding the scenery.
I’ve got an Atlas TT converted to HOn3 with the old school motor, sounds like someone shaking a coffee can full of rocks. The new school drive motor is rubber belt equipped, ao perhaps an obvious source for that assuming it’s suitable for truning the wheels in the drive. I’ve thought about getting one of the new drives to see if it could be adapted, but at ~$30+ there’s always been something more pressing to spend the funds on.
Sounds like the current configuation needs an idler arm. With a proper sized “pulley” for the ned of the arm, a spi]ring could then be set to apply pressure on the belt so that it would turn everything properly.
Homemade is an option, as I’ve built two using 1/4" phono plugs and sockets. One is written up about halfway down the second page in my Cascade Branch build thread (IIRC, the other is further along in the same thread, but at Tefft), along with a reference link to MC Fujiwara’s helpful notes on building his.
I always thought this was a brilliant idea, Mike. Right now I can’t imagine adding this to the motor set-up.
I should mention that I am on a very meager budget–$30 per month. No kidding. Luckily I have all the engines and rolling stock I need plus enough kits to build a few small cities. Track is another story. I do have a Fastrack jig, but flex I’m going to have to buy.
This a strictly a finger-drive only TT. The drive is silent, so long as you resist the temptation of making motor noises[(-D]
Some budget and a well-stocked roster beats the situation for a lot of folks. In fact, sounds a lot like my budget recently, but I can be grateful that I’m over the hump of having a reasonably compete layout. The stock of kits and supplies has dwindled considerably, but I’ve learned a lot about scratchbuilding things my way.
Welcome back! I have missed your humor and good work.
There was an MR article years ago about using a phono jack as a base to a hand pushed turntable. Maybe someone with the database disk can find it. The table bridge was made from a plate girder bridge. Basically scratch built
Hi there. Congrats for getting the space back for your model railroad (that is quite the story). It’s probably easier to get another used Atlas table than trying to build one. But if you want to use it to turn around your engines, you will need to be super patient with the Atlas, because it takes a while to get that 180 degree turn completed. A loop or wye is much more effective, if you have the space. You might be able to do it on 15’ radius with your small engines.
I don’t have the space for a loop or a wye (Although I do have an AR1 though). The 7V motor rig is really beefy. It would support the bridge without having the half rail for support. The challenge would be powering the track.
Hey, Chip! You popped in for a week, and then you were gone again! Was it really all the way back to 2013? [:|]
Could you build a tensioner for the belt? Spring and idler on an arm of some kind? The bridge and gear not moving as one is a bit of a bother, but you may recall my trials with the kit Walthers 90’ turntable I had years ago. I had to bash it quite a bit, and never did get it to work a full 180 degrees. It would bind, as other users reported shortly afterwards.
If the turntable is otherwise quite sound and doable, I would slide off the gear, assuming that can be done non-destructively, and use a Dremel fine burr tip to gouge a key groove. One groove in the spindle and one just at the lip of the gear’s hub. Then insert and glue a piece of metal or styrene to act as the key.
I’m picturing the Walthers style, but haven’t seen the Atlas one…probably the disk-type bridge?
Anyway, it’s good to have you back. We missed you. In fact I thought of you just a couple of weeks back and wondered how you were getting on. Meanwhile, just since the summer, we seem to have dropped a couple of members, notably Chuck Beckman (tomikawaTT) and Grampys Trains (DJ) whom you may not remember.
Ha ha, that’s my photo of my Atlas TT on the pink prarie. Welcome back!
I have the Atlas motor driving my turntable. I can’t see how your turntable doesn’t work if the worm gear turns. How do you know it would work “if you had a crank?” Doesn’t the crank turn the same mechanism?
Yes, the motor drive does make a lot of noise. I power mine with an old DC power pack, which I’ve adjusted to slow down the turntable rotation, which also quiets the drive a lot. Since I turned my turntable into a pit model, I was able to put the motor drive below the surface, surrounded by pink foam, which helped a lot.
that’s funny. I just google images Atlas TT abd yours was the first to pop up. If I remember correctly you were just about to start building a monster mayout. How’s that going?
When I yank the gear and motor cover screws, one of the gears has a square shaft like a crank would connect to. If I turn that gear the bridge turns. But when I close it back up, the worm gear should contact that gear. When I give it power, the motor spins but the belt slipps… I can increase the pressure so the belt turns the worm, but the bridge doesn’t move.
Hey, the Mouse is back! Awesome. Good to see you again.
I think the idea like Beasley’s of using the Atlas turntable as a hidden drive for the type of turntable you really want is a good one.
As for the drive, if it works with the hand crank it ought to work witht he motor, but if you’re using a different motor than the actual Atlas one, getting the right tension on the belt may be a problem. A tensioner with a spring is probbaly a good way to go about it, then the physical mounting of the motor relative to the driven pulley isn’t as critical.
Me too. The more I think about powering the bridge, the more sense to makes go with what is working. (ANd I don’t have to scratch out a better shed.)
Yeah, I just tried a better power supply and it did work this time. For about 4 click stops–then the belt broke. The rubber/plastic was old and fatigued. A new belt is only $6 on eBay.
I saw your post on Byron’s article and I’m thinking, he still hasn’t started that yet?
I had a layout before, that got mostly built but for scenery. I’ve been in this house for just under 4 years now, still working on having the basement redone. The old layout, while sectional and I did bring it along, a few months ago went entirely to the junk man. I only salvaged the electronics, tracka nd all went - I’m using Peco track on the new one.
I hear you. I’m trying to decide between Peco and ME. I figure they are just as good, but Peco is cheaper. Then again, I’m building my turnouts with ME (Yeah, Fastracks). All I need is some micro difference to cause weird derails all over the layout. And I already have 14 turnouts.
