If I installed the Walthers 130’ turntable and their roundhouse, and put a circle of track around all of it (at a realistic safe distance away from the roundhouse), what would be the radius of that circle?
I’m looking for the minimum radius without having the track so close to the structure that it doesn’t look right, yet not so far away that it wastes space.
Thx
Terry,
The 130’ turntable has a 20" diameter. The stalls on the modern roundhouse are 17 3/4" long, and if you use the extended stall it pushes the length out to 20 1/8". So, the radius to clear them at the minimum would need to be in the 32 - 34" range. How about posting a track plan to show what you’re trying to do by running the track around the roundhouse?
Don Z.
It doesn’t really matter what size your TT is. The roundhouse should be set up so the center lines of each stall should all converge at the center of the TT. There is only one distance where that will happen. You don’t have much wiggle room. If you set the roundhouse too far from the center of the TT, you will have to bend the outter lead tracks inward to line up with the bridge. If you get it too close, the lead tracks will have to be curved outward. Walther’s catalog as well as the kit boxes show you the precise distance the roundhouse should be from the center of the TT. If you don’t get it exactly right, you can fudge your lead tracks slightly and it won’t be noticeable, but if you move the roundhouse up or back several inches, you are going to have a noticeable curve in your lead tracks. With the 130’ TT, the distance from the roundhouse to the TT pit is going to be very short and won’t give you much room to curve your tracks to line up with the bridge. I have the 130’ TT with the Heljan roundhouse which is roughly the same dimension as the Walther’s rounhouse and I have just under 5 inches from the edge of the pit to the front edge of the roundhouse. The Heljan kit shows that the back wall of the roundhouse should be 29 9/16 inches from the center point of the TT. Your Walther’s kit should be about the same.
I am certain that somewhere in the prototype world there was a balloon track around a round house, but for the most part that is a very unrealistic arrangement. From the pictures of layouts I’ve seen that have done this, it always looks Modelish and not “right” at all. Is there some other track arrangment possible that could avoid this situation or are you forced into by space considerations?
The last time I was in Durango, CO, the Silverton had a balloon track that wrapped around their engine facilities. Of course, it was laid on ground that had been a freight yard before the line to Chama was abandoned.
32"-34", thanks; larger than I thought.
I realize a balloon track might look odd, but they did exist and I need a reversing loop at the yard (for turning trains, not just the engines).
I have a double track mainline that runs behind the Walthers roundhouse and the track radius is 34" on the outer track and 32" on the inner track (the one closer to the roundhouse). Cannot get away with much less than that. To line up the roundhouse with the 130’ turntable, I had to place the roundhouse about 3-4 " from the turntable.