I’m likely to have my first layout with a turntable (spendy little items, eh?) in the next few months. And for planning purposes am wondering what is appropriate for the length of the stubs/leads between the turntable and the doors of the roundhouse. I’m not too concerned with tenders sticking out and keeping the doors from being closed but want to leave a reasonable distance behind so that yard workers can at least walk behind a loco without falling into the pit. Is pleasing to the eye sufficient? The longest concievable loco for my pike would have been an SP cab-forward, even though I don’t have one (working with 24" minimum radii).
Most locomotives would be backed into the turntable with the boiler facing outward, but that depends on the railroads preference and where the vents are located to vent the smoke. Major repairs are done elsewhere.
The length of the intermediate tracks is a function of the size of the turntable and the position of the roundhouse…
Draw the location of your turntable, and the size and shape of your roundhouse. The tracks must simply go from here to there.
Fortunately for LION, subways do not use trurntables.
WHile the practice probably varied by railroad, I’d wager boiler out was NOT the most common way for locos to be put into the roundhouse. The roundhouse was for repairs. Most repairs are neeed at the front of the loco. By heading in, boiler to the rear, there was more room alongside the cylinder and valve areas. Those nice photos with every stall filled, boiler out, plus a loco on the turntable were almost all publicity shots.
If you see pictures of SP equipment the tenders are almost always sticking out, I have seen photos and videos of SP geep 7s and 9s and Trainmasters on stub tracks off a turntable, yes they were stored just like steamers on an uncovered roundhouse stall like track, usually with the cab and short hood facing the turntable…
The angle of the roundhouse stalls has to be taken into the length of the track between the doors and the turntable. If your planning on Cab Forwards the longer the turntable the shorter the tracks.
Thanks, Mel. Once I looked at the diagram I had to slap my palm against my forehead. Of course, it’s all a matter of geometry! The width (sorry, Mr. Holdeman, the arc) of the stalls and the distance from the doors to the center of the table are the rigidly governing factors. If you lengthen the table’s diameter, you have to shorten the leads into the roundhouse by half that amount. [EDIT: Unless you move the table’s centerpoint a corresponding distance away from the roundhouse.]
Whether it’s an 85 footer or a 130’ monster, the whole setup takes up an almost inordinate amount of space - and even more if you have to enlarge the house to accomodate l
