I need 2 turntables for my layout (approx. 9" long). Is the one made by Atlas the only one available? I am hand laying my rail and am considering building my own turntables, but I am wondering if dealing with the power supply to the rails, etc. is worth the hassle? Also, does anyone know of a supplier of wheels for the turntable pit? I presume that I would be able to bend a rail to fit the pit. Any advice/comments would be appreciated.
S Tyes
A turn table is basically a movable bridge. Power would be picked up from the outer rail or through wires in the center.
Go ahead and try to build one. It’s probably not going to be as difficult as it seems. I’m going to start work on a transfer table sometime soon. It’ll be a little easier to wire…
Bowser makes a 14" turntable and may have parts for sale separately.
Good luck
Paul
Diamond Scale has a number of turntables available in different lengths. They are very nice.
Spike,
Following Tom’s lead, the root URL for Diamond Scale is: http://www.visualmodelrailroadconcepts.com/ which list their turntables, transfer tables, structures and trackside related items such as ash pits. It’s also the root for Micro Engineering track and track products. And, when their Webmaster finishes the coding, will also be the root for Woodland Scenics and for Circuitron’s electronics.
Bob
Walthers has a new one availible soon…looks to be around $300
Thanks for the replies. After I posted, I did an index search for information on turntables in past issues of MR and RMC and am now headed to the library with list in hand.
Spike
Spike:
Peco make a plastic turntable kit (12" bridge) that includes the wiring. It may be a bit short for American locos.
There are two types of wiring. Some turntables just have a pair of contacts like a phone plug and the turntable needs an extra reversing switch. If you use DCC, you can put a reverse module in there.
A more professional way is to split the track or pickup into 2 sections and power one rail from each section. This gives automatic reverse when the bridge rotates.
Spike,
I built a quarter-inch scale turntable last winter and started the way you did – with an index search in RMC and MR. I then designed a 22-inch turntable using AutoCAD design/drafting software and built up a riveted turntable from brass. I got carried away and made the ties of walnut . . .
It was a most enjoyable odyssey.
John Frank
Spike:
Walthers Cataloge has several turntables from different outfits, including the CONERSTONE one by walthers. Diamond Scale products also very good. I scratchbuilt my first turntable last year - a short gallows one with a “audio jack” pivot per articles in MR and their book on engine terminals. (I think Bob Hayden wrote the article - Carabasset & Dead River RR.) I used CADD for design and Layout, built a number of jigs, took the work slowly and carefully, and it came out fine. (I turn woodburning American Standards on it.)
Good luck and have fun.
randy
AROS Electronics make a turntable drive unit. www.aros-electronics.com
New York Railway Supply,Inc [:D] http://www.nyrs.com
Makes A Programmable Turntable Controller.
The Track selector has three choices of control.
key pad, pushbuttons, or a 12 pos. switch.
If interested in good table control. check out the above link.
Merry Christmas to All.
I built Walthers turntable kit 933-3171 (use this number to find it on their web page). I had a feeling from the start that “you get what you pay for”, but this kit looked good and fit my budget. You will notice that most of the other turntables cost a lot more.
The kit includes the bridge and pit. I changed a couple of things on the kit. First I used code 70 rail. Second I changed the two ring rail electical pickup to a split ring. I replaced the long steel shaft used to transmit the motor motion to the turntable with a piece of piano wire of the same diameter. If this shaft bends then the gears bind. I also added as much lead weight to the bridge as possible. When I first built the kit I did not have the pit mounted on my layout, the pit is a large plastic bowl and had a slight warp to it. Nothing that you could see but when the bridge was turned it would bind at one point. I found I could minimize the warp by twisting the pit slightly. The trick would be to mount the pit with the slight twist. As it turned out, I was able to get the pit mounted correctly and it works well. (I think I got lucky) I would not recommend this kit for those that want something to work the first time and do not have skills to figure out how to fix it. (I’m a professional engineer and love to tinker) I will say that the motorizing kit Walthers sells as Part # 933-1050 is completly different from the one that came with my kit. I hope that this is a new improvement, as it looks to eliminate the long steel shaft. Anyone else have experience with this kit?
When I wired the motor, I used a spare power pack and used the speed control to control the bridge speed. It was difficult to stop the bridge so the rails were aligned. I improved the control by using half wave power and a large resistor. The “new” motorized version maybe better.
I’ve been happy with this kit and it has worked well for me. Just remember “You get what you pay for.”
Steve
I have a Diamond Scale truntable 90 feet and I am trying to install a New York Railway supply contoller.
The wires come down the shaft tube attached to the truntable, however I don’t know how arrange the split ring before the NYRS connector.
Does anyone have any hints?
Since you’re handlaying your track you might consider using the Heljan “N” scale turntable and drive. They are relatively cheap and work reliably. I’ve used them before on an HO shortline and in HOn3 with no problems. I believe they are 9" or very close to it.
Roger
I built my turntable from scratch. It depends on your era but small turntables up to the 40s and large turntalbes up to the 20s didn’t really use the pit ring except when locos were going on and off. I model the 20s and my turntable is quite short (~27cm).
This turntalbe doesn’t have a pit ring at all - just heavy wooden blocks under the ends of the tracks leading onto the turntable and blocks on the opposite side to hold the bridge if a loco goes too far.
The last turntable I built did have a pit rail but that was a lot more of a pain to make as the rail needs to be quite precise.
For current collection I used the method that Jim Kelly used in his article in the Oct. 1989 MR article on scratchbuilding an N-scale Santa Fe turntable (pages 98 - 103). This involves cutting the central drive shaft with a staggered step then isolating the top and bottom halves of the turntable shaft with a telescopic piece of styrene tube that fits inside the brass tube. A pair of wipers on opposite sides of the shaft and a wire connecting the bottom part of the drive shaft to one rail and the top half to the other rail means that the polarity is auto reversing and under the tayout to keep the dust off it.
My turntable works spectacularly well and cost all of £10 - just as it should be [:)]
build your own - it is no where near as hard as you’d think [:D]
neil
I scratchbuilt my gallows turntable using the “phone plug” technique. You’r wish list may include the process from the Carabasset & Dead River RR article. The article is repeated in the Kalmbach book on locomotive facilities that is currently in hoby shops. Have Fun!
Randy
I like this approach http://www.simplytrains.com/pages/hints&tips/turntable/turntable.htm using a headphone jack