Has anyone purchased this turntable and what is their experience with it? Reliable, easy, difficult to install ?
I just installed it on Sunday. My advice is to build your round house first so you know exactly were the table will fit. My biggest problem was with the tracks coming from the roundhouse meeting the turntable track at the proper height. Be sure that you file the inside of the track leads at an angle, this helps the engine transition from the lead to the bridge. Once istalled correctly it works like a dream. Indexing is very easy to set up and the bridge does line up consistently with the leads. I will try to take some pictures and post them.
If, like me, you used EZ-track, you are quite limited in where you can place anything that has to meet a spur of that construction. So, contrary to my colleague above, I placed the turntable first, and then found the optimal radiative path for the tracks that emerge from the roundhouse bays. That way, the important turntable is situated first, and then you move the house around it until you have it oriented so that the house rails meet the bridge rails at a reasonable location and angle. I used the Walthers’ 90’ model, and the Atlas three-stall roundhouse. They don’t quite see eye-to-eye, or rail-to-rail, rather, so I used segments of flex-track in the house bays and cut down the ties on one side, at the front where it meets the bridge. Then I chocked the rail toward the shaved ties so that the resultant curve meets the bridge rails more prototypically. As jlheiz says, you will have to do some filing to get the bridge and house rails to meet well enough for the locos to get inside without stalling, falling, or bucking.
In order to get clearance around the lip at the edge of the pit, I actaully pried up the two rail ends at each end of the bridge so that they cleared the pit lip and don’t drag or snag. Smooths out the turning, and helps to meet the house rails…in my case. I’m talking about three degrees of rise, that’s all.
I believe the question refered to the new 130 ft fully indexed $299.95 turntable, not the 90 ft $31.98 turntable. My installation used all the correct walthers structures. I hope the information I supplied to tonyd453 was helpful and to the point. This will be my last post in this forum, I’m tired of the people who pick at everything and give useless responses to legitimate questions.
I understand his anger. However, I believe I added to the information that jlheiz provided by pointing out that if you mix model makes, you may end up in difficulty when you situate the roundhouse of Brand A first, and then try to mate its stall or bay approaches to Brand B’s turntable…once again, particularly if you are constrained to using pre-ballasted track of the EZ-track type. Since Tony did not allude to these matters in his original post, I felt that adding my post might save him some grief. I was trying to be helpful. That Mr. Heiz did not realize this should not have been Tony’s misfortune.
And, it is Tony who should decide if a post is useless to him.
No post is useless if it provides an idea, an opinion or thought. As long as there is no flaming (and selector I’ve never seen any post by you even come close to flaming anyone) every post is useful.
Thanks to all who replied. The information was helpful. I am using the 130’ table and the corresponding modern roundhouse. I will hopefully begin installation soon and let all know how it goes.
I replied last evening to Dave’s kind affirmation, but it seems to have disappeared.
Dave, thank-you for your support. I must admit what when I read jlheiz’s rebuke, I got a little hot under the collar. Fortunately, my good sense prevailed, and the result is that you were able to say what you did about me.
Thanks, again![:D]
-Crandell