Are these a thing of the past??? How do modern era yards turn diesels if needed???
I am in the final steps of finalizing the track plan on the yard portion of the layout and this question came up. I have the room but is it needed?It almost seems that it would look out of place.
Any thoughts…
Guy
Some modern facilities still use turntables. Transfer tables are also common.
If you look at real trains, you’ll see that they often run multi-engine consists where the front and rear engines face opposite directions. That’s so they don’t have to reverse them. The crew just strolls down to the other end and goes back the other way.
I sure do like turntables, though. I’m modelling the 1960’s, and even then I suspect the turntable was an anachronism. But, it’s my railroad, and if I want a turntable, I’m going to have a turntable. A roundhouse, too.
Though the Roundhouse in Halifax is gone one of two TT’s are still operational.
More pics available in my Railimages link below
Fergie
Somebody had a pic of a manually powered turntable the other day on here.
Pardon my ignorance but I have never heard that term before…what is a transfer table??
It basically looks like a bridge in the middle of a pit. The locmotives are moved on the table to the stalls of the engine shop doors.
Did the one under the tourist-tower in Toronto go away? I thought that was a great thing to watch from up there.
There’s a man-powered turntable in San Francisco for the cable cars. Or maybe it’s the trolleys? The whole system is a museum, though, so I’m not surprised they’d use a turntable. It’s great when a rail system considers something other than the dollars.
Should have figured that out!!!
Thanks for the filling in the details
Guy
What is the purpose of the arch in the middle of the turntable bridge. I have seen this on both models and prototypes and never have figured out what purpose they served.
I’m pretty sure Norfolk Southern is still using the turntable and round house at their Conway Yard outside of Pittsburgh on a daily basis.
Tom
This thread may interest you.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22098
The arch at the center of a turntable bridge carries the power cables for the motor that turns the table. The other end of the cable is attached to a nearby power pole. That funny-looking thing at the top of the arch is a housing for the slip rings that allow the table to turn while the power cables remain still.
An ‘armstrong’ (human powered) turntable would not have a power arch, but would have long, stout wooden handles projecting out from each end of the bridge so that the ‘two-legged motors’ wouldn’t have to balance on the rim of the pit.
I belive there are still turntable around, if not they would use a wye. Yes they do run locomotives back to back. But in the real world locomotives will be cut out (removed) for service for various required maint and unschelduled repairs such as wheel flat spots and thin flanges, electrical and air problems. In my openion a turntable would be justified especially of the CEO or Master Mechanic refused to remove it as the new facilitys were installed
Here’s a shot of an Armstrong Turntable in action;
it seems the pit is still there , but the bridge has been removed
the 11 stalls in the lower right section of the roundhouse have been converted to a brewery http://www.steamwhistle.ca/ , you can see one of their delivery trucks at one of the stalls converted to a loading dock . there are plans to make some or all of the rest of the roundhouse into a railroad museum , assuming government permission and funding work out
For what it is worth, the BNSF yard here in Phoenix, AZ still has a turntable that get used quite often. Sometimes even daily. They use to turn the engines if needed and also use to allow the engines to access a repair area.
Thanks for the info. Now I need to add a cable to the arch on my Walthers TT. Sometimes, it’s better not to know these things. Ignorance is bliss.
Use embroidery thread and a dab of glue. Make them reasonably taut so that they do not tangle with the arch shoulders as the TT bridge turns. It’s the only place on my layout where I used ‘wire’.
The last time I was there, the turntable and roundhouse were still a functioning railroad facility. It’s too bad that’s gone. However, if it has to go out of service, I can’t think of a better use than a brewery and a railroad museum.