I am building a model of an indutriel branchline stub-terminal and would like to know if steamers and doodlebugs. I would be willing to live without steamers and doodlebugs[:0][:0] and make my modeling era the late 50’s but that is a last resort. My main attraction is the coulerful early deisels but i enjoy nice model steamers ( not the cost though !!! ). anyway I am pressed for space and am wondering if a turntable is nesecary . I geuss I could have a track that runs of the table simmulating a track to a turntable and turn the trains by hand but one of the main goals of this layout is realistic operation. I geuss this is the overall question: would it be unprototypical to not have a turntable and just run the steamers and doodlebugs backwards ? This is a short branchline supposedly running from a large yard in Oklhoma City into the suburbs. Thanks for any input ![:)][:)][:)][:)]
On lines such as you’re wanting to model, there was usually a turn-around loop or wye instead of a turntable, so you might want to consider this possibility if you have room for it. A doodlebug running backwards would look really out of place, but a steamer running backwards would not be too unprototypical if it was pulling (or pushing) only one or two coaches. The Missouri Pacific doodlebug that ran through my home town when I was growing up never ran backwards because there were turntables at both ends of its route. When passenger traffic was heavier than normal, it pulled an extra heavyweight coach.
Alex, have you considered putting a “Y” at the end to turn your locomotives?
You’d need three turnouts and rig a reversing switch or module.
Turntables are usually found at maintainance facilities. A “Y” is more commonly found out in the rural areas, one is still in use north of Hannibal, Mo.
The locomotive pulls into one leg of the “Y”, a turnout is thrown and the locomotive reverses to the other leg. Another turnout is throw, the track voltage reversed and the locomotive pulls forward through the third turnout back onto the mainline.
I hope this has given you another choice.
I have a turn table and a Wye, Why? because my upper level couldn’t handle a turntable to swing my Allegheny.
Turntables were found all over the mainline during the steam era. Basically, anywhere roads needed to have steamers facing the other way, especially on isolated grainger branches in the midwest, and in any city where space was a premium.
Okie, what steam do you want to run on your layout? If you’re running something short like the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 (or smaller) I’d suggest getting the Atlas turntable. It may not look the best, but it operates flawlessly and sells for very little money. Yes, there were wyes everywhere on railroads (but sometmes a wye isn’t really a wye in RR lingo), but they eat space on a layout, making turntables a much more attractive alternative.
As noted above, wyes will take even more room than a turntable. You might consider using the 0-5-0 (i.e. your hand) “off-layout” approach. In industrial areas the locos would run backwards and forwards though, and would not be turned around unless travelling a long distance. So it would be prototypical to run backwards some of the time. Prototypes even had “clear vision” tenders on the swtichers to make backing a little easier.
Andrew
if you’re “pressed for space” as you say, Turntables are the only viable option.
Jay
Do what the prototype did in many instances. Mount a pilot and a headlight on the tender and run in reverse on the way back. Many commuter engines ran this way particularly in the east on the PRR, CNJ, RDG and I believe the DL&W.
The Strasburg RR tourist line runs their steamers ‘backwards.’ They don’t have a turntable. At the end of the run, the engine “runs around” to the other end of the train.
will an Athearn Mikado ( the biggest thing I plan to run ) fit on the atlas turntable ?
Probably not. The Athearn turntable is 9" long, and I think the Athearn Mike is 10.5" long.
However, you can fudge it. If you only need a simple TT, you can modify the Atlas version to accept longer engines. The simplest way to do this is to cut two of the Atlas deck girder bridges to the length you want your TT to be, glue them OVER the existing Atlas TT deck, and run feeder wires from the TT rails to the bridge rails. You’ll have to bury the TT into the scenery a bit so your tracks will meet up with the new TT bridge rails, but it’s the cheapest and easiest way to get an affordable and bulletproof turntable. Your next option would be to buy the Bowser 14" TT at $185 (as a kit!)
Some people use a table to create a portable staging area. You could make a table layout height with a single track. You run the engine onto to track, turn the table around and viola. If you are concerned about the appearance of the table, you could add scenery.
Just a thought…Ken