Ok I’ve been unable to find a good third party review of Walthers new 130’ Cornerstone Series turntable, so I’m turning to the forum. Has anyone even seen one?? Walthers website lists them as “not currently in stock.” I’ve had my dreams dashed of seeing my new BLI locos run on the “dream” layout, so due to space contraints I’ve settled for modeling a transition era loco facility. I’m an armchair modeler who has just decided to build a layout and I’m afraid that some of the turntable kits advertised in MR will be over my head (AAA Turntables & Custom Model Railroads to just name a few). Not memtion the price difference in these products…so to make a long story longer, does anyone have an opinion??
I have built the 90’ turntable, which was not complicated in it’s design. It loses power to the track in certain positions. I have tried adjusting the wipers: no help. It also seems to have WAY to much side to side and up and down play. I was beginning to think that I assembled something wrong, but after three or four times taking it apart and checking for problems, I can’t find any obvious flaws on my part. The 130’ turntable will be factory assembled, so maybe they know the secret, if there is one. Also the new one will be indexed so maybe this will help. BUT with a $300 list price, I too would like to read a review or two before shelling out the cash. Dave
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Has anyone had an experience with any other manufactures turntable products? I have to model on a fairly limited budget and I don’t want to make many mistakes [;)] My next question is, will the BLI PRR J-1 and C&O T-1 be able to take a turn on a 130’ table?
Thanks for the heads up and taking the time to give it.
I took a look at the Bowser tables. One thing that I wasn’t able to determine from the site was the difficulty in the assembly of the kit. Also what about indexing? Bowser recommends Dallee Electronics indexer…Custom Model Railroads says New York Railway Supply. What should I look for in an indexing system?
I just pulled out my Walthers TT that’s been sitting in my “to do” section and I have to admit that after reading the reviews I’m approaching the assembly with some trepidation. I have the “3135” model so I’m not optomistic.
I can tell you that I finally threw my hands up and said “uncle”. The 90’ TT is a great looking model. And after
I painted it, it looked even better. But it is an operational nightmare. It is still embedded in my second layout and will not make it into my current layout. Dave
I have an HO 14" Heljan turntable and their drive motor. I use it with my S scale layout and the only modification made to is the installation of the S scale track. It works smooth and reliably. There is no indexing but using the Mark I eyeball method works well.
I have heard nothing good about the Walthers 90’ turntabke kit so I’m figuring that 100% negative reports tells me all I ever need to know about it.
From the negative response to that kit I would assume (oh, no!!!) the new 130’ table will have the problems solved. Assuming some more…the high price and fact that it’s already assembled will put it in a different category from their earlier table.
25+ years ago, one of the guys at the club I belong to at Uof Illinois, completely installed a Bowser HO turntable in one afternoon, with no up front prep. He used the Bowser motorizing kit and DC throttle with the famous “Mark I eyeball” system[:D][:D]
We purchased and installed one of the Walthers 90’ turntables on the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club’s HO-scale layout, but had so much trouble with it that we took it out and put in an Atlas. We moved the Walthers turntable to a location near the edge of the makeup yard that is in a separate room, hard-wired the track on the turntable to eliminate the wipers, and left the motor off. We use it now as an “armstrong” hand-operated turntable because the original mechanism was really bad.
I have one of the 90’ Walthers turntables in my “to do” pile. What I have read elsewhere and earlier are two modifications that seem to solve a bunch of the kit’s problems:
Put some lead weigt in the turntable bridge to eliminate, or at least reduce, the erratic motion.
Hard wire you power leads, preferably though a cheapie MRC reversing module, directly to the track on the bridge. Yes, you do have to be aware you cannot make a complete 360 degree turn, otherwise you break the wires.
I plan to drive mine with an inexpensive DCC decoder so I’ll be using the calibrated eye ball to align the bridge with the approach tracks.