Hi there
Wondering if any of you have this turntable installed and how you find operation.
How do you get power to the bridge and ring rail for locos to be turned ?
Many thanks in advance for your replies
Bagman
This is a nice looking kit when erected and painted up, but it works poorly in my experience. I motorized mine, and could only ever get it to rotate the bridge in a 90 deg arc because the pit is not truly round.
My advice is to avoid this kit. Others will echo my remarks, while a few have managed to get one to work.
Power should come off the DC terminals of an unused DC power supply that can regulate voltage. That way, you can turn the bridge at prototypical speeds under control. The instructions are straightforward, I’ll give them that. It is the resultant model that leaves much to be desired.
Ive tired my hand at 3 of these little buggers with NO success. In fact, I would call it NEGITIVE success. No matter how well you build the kit or how how much time you give to making it rotate freely…you will find that the next day there will be a bind. [banghead]
I would avoid it and save up your pennies for the built up motorized version. It is a different kit and is superior in many ways.[:D]
David B
Just curious if the Heljin is as bad. I’m not too keen on spending $300.
I believe it is the same mold.
The issue is the fact that the pit is warped from the factory and the walls are very thin. It would require bracing on the underside of the pit to exacting standards…
David B
Thanks guys for your reply.
That has certainly made the decision easier for me.
What about Diamond Scale Products ??? Any opinions ??
I too would try to avoid spending $300
cheers
these are nice too:
I had a similiar experience with the Walthers turntable. It looked good but never did work right after I motorized it. I redid my layout and put in the motorized 130’ turntable which looks and works just great but it is pricey. 1st Place Hobbies (www.firstplacehobbies.com) has it for $230.
Yes, by all means shop around. Let me tell you guys, when I develop an acute hankering for something related to MRR, which happens often, I will purposefully spend an entire evening doing various google searches, wording each one a bit differently, looking for hobby shops that will ship stuff and that offer the object of my desires. Invariably I find a really good price…which from a psychological standpoint is positive reinforcement to adopt this approach the next time! [:D]
Yes, by all means, take 30 minutes over two or three evenings and track down Joe’s Hobby Buddy in Lower Chapped Butt, AK, who sells the item for 30% or more off MSRP. You’ll be glad you did, and Joe will probably not feel too badly about it either.
At least one modeler claims to have successfully built and motorized the Walthers 90 foot turntable. He is offering it for sale on ebay. Current bidding level is in the $30 dollar range. Bidding ends in 4 days.
Mark
steemtrayn…have you or anyone else had any experienbce with the turntable from CMR ??
They sure look nice…very similar to the Walthers ??
cheers
I wouldnt touch that with a 10 foot rail…
David B
Don’t use the motorization stuff supplied with the kit. I substituted an orbital gear box set available from MicroMark - attached directly to the spindle with flexible tubing. My power supply is the direct DC throttle - just insert a toggle circuit to switch from track to table. The combination of the gear ratio (adjustable) available with the orbital gear box, and the variable current from the throttle, creates a v-e-r-y s-l-o-w- rotation and easy indexing…as long as you can see the rails as they allign. Film at eleven!
We wasted many hours trying to get the Heljin to function properly, and ended up buying the RTR 130’ Walthers which meant adding onto the benchwork for the larger TT. It was worth the money. We have never had to reset it. We paid about $250. Shop around.
Sue
From experience and Wasted $$$
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Walthers 90ft Kit JUNK $39.95
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Heljan 98 ft Kit JUNK $39.95
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Motor Kit for above $35.00 (Wasted Money)
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130 ft TT from Walthers Money well spent at $275.00 each we put in two.
I am using the Kits as parts and the Motor kit is going to the next train show in the area.
Thanks again guys
Your comments are greatly apprecited.
Looks like the Walthers (motorized ) turntables are the go.
I note that Walthers also does a 90ft motorized version. Can I safely assume the 90ft will perform as well as the 130 ft ???
Many thanks again for sharing your experiences with the various turntable models available.
Bagman
You undestand the meaning of that word, correct. Only the assemblier at the factory can answer tha question. I got the two 130ft, On e was perfect the other took some tweaking to work as good.
Lets just say you are WAY AHEAD going that route.
I have the 90’ built-up and it is a nice addition to my railway. Much better’n the motorized kit.
Im trying to cheat by building a wye instead, but will be getting the RTR 130’ table eventually.
The October MR has a short article about an Atlas turntable “pit-bash” similar to the one I did a while back. (Yeah, but my pit floor doesn’t rotate…[:D]) If you want to go this route, which is less expensive but takes a lot of time, you could build out the bridge to get close to 90 feet. The turntable as delivered is a 9-inch deck turntable, which comes out to 65 feet. Be aware that the Atlas indexes at 15 degrees, so you’ll want a roundhouse that has 15 degree stalls. The Atlas roundhouse (surprise?) is 15 degrees, but it’s also not very deep, basically supporting the short 65-foot turntable.
This is how mine came out:
