Which one is better considering my limited space.A tight 130’ or a less tight 90’ turntable?
Depends on what you want to turn:
The 90ft table will turn, for example, a 2-8-0, USRA Light Mike or Pacific, or single diesel units (sorry don’t if will turn some of those monster new units - its not my era) - it won’t turn two road units together (eg: a F3 A & B). The largest loco I can turn on my 90ft table is a USRA 2-6-6-2 with a short tender and we are talking JUST with the tender and pilot half hanging off.
Go for the largest one you can fit in. It’s one hole - whatever it’s dimesion.
You want to tbe able to at least turn an F7AB.
The largest locomotive I can turn with my 90’er is the 4-8-4 Niagara, and that is by cheating the same way its owners, the New York Central, did way back when; by blocking up the rear axle on the centipede-style tender.
Realistically, though, my BLI J1d Hudson 4-6-4 is an easy fit, and I can turn a USRA 2-8-2 Mikado the same way. I would expect that you could also turn a heavy Mountain type with a short tender…but it would be quite tight.
Two things to keep in mind…well, three if you count overall visual appeal on the layout. The approach tracks should be straight for the length of the locomotive…maybe 8". Also, if you are likely to develop a lust for larger engines (and who doesn’t?) you will probably find yourself having to plan a renovation to your layout so that you can insert the 130’er someplace.
Decision, decisions.
Think about it this way; you are not going to be able to turn a Big Boy on a 90’ turntable; on the other hand a 130’ turntable is going to look pretty stupid if all you are ever going to turn on it is a 75’ long Consolidation.
When I started in the hobby in the early-60s and began to pay attention to published track plans I discovered that most of these incorporated 100’ turntables - I also discovered that, to the best of my knowledge, these were not commercially available. Later I read that the reason for the 100’ turntable was because over 90% of all the steam locomotives ever manufactured could be turned on a turntable of that length. These plans were drawn with that 100’ turntable so that, if you deemed it necessary to have a turntable of that length - with an appropriate sized roundhouse, of course - this would be how much space you would have to have on your layout. Modern layout designs are drawn more appropriately around the diesel era and turntables and roundhouses are less in vogue than previously.
Now, if you don’t want to ‘do-it-yourself’ then you’ll probably be able to get by with a 90 footer but you’re going to need to exercise discipline in your purchase of steam locomotives.
HERE IS A TOPIC ABOUT THOSE TURNTABLES. MAYBE THERE IS SOME HELP THERE.
Lets get the facts down first. What era are you modeling? What kind of motive power? How busy will it be?
I am modelling around 1945 and i allready have a big boy.I just though not to use big locomotives on the turntable, if i have to use the 130’ which maybe looks bad on the layout because of the size and some compromise that i have to make to fit it.
Me, I choose the 130’ that way there is no problems turning anything. If I get anything bigger, I will put in a wye somewhere. Probably in the next room LOL.
Diamond Scale offers turntables in various lengths for various scales. In HO it has turntables in about ten different lengths, from 51 to 135 scale feet long. In particular there are 90, 105 and 115 feet lengths, for example.
Mark
Are those turntable working good?
If you are using the turntable for turning your engines, then by all means go with the one that will really fit your engines properly. If, however, you have other ways of turning the engines around (no, I don’t mean the 5-fingered engine crane) and your turntable is mostly to access the roundhouse stalls, you can cheat a bit by putting a stall for a longer engine directly opposite the lead track. That way you won’t have to rotate the engine, but it can still get to the roundhouse.
Interesting discussion. These issues are one of the reasons that I’ve been taking my sweet time (among others) getting my track plan ready. I’m doing transition era Frisco, so big boys won’t be an issue, but will be running E8 AA consists, so would need some room to turn them if I was interested in doing that, but don’t think the Frisco ever turned them (at least not on a turntable). I want to have a turntable anyway for the “coolness” factor, though.
Jim
Here’s something to consider… My layout is a freelanced transition era version… Its an around the walls (13X18) with a hinged bridge and a peninsula… The narrowest part is two feet wide and the widest measures four feet… The 130 foot unit was just too much to deal with visually so I settled on the 90 foot version… I installed four approach/departure tracks on one side (plenty of space for fuel, sand, water, and an ash pit) on the other side I located a six stall roundhouse and three outside service/storage tracks… By lining up the four approach tracks with four of the tracks on the other side (three in the roundhouse and one on the outside) I’m able to run virtually any sized locomotive accross the turntable to the other side for servicing or repair… There are plenty of prototype examples of this practice, too… Turning long locos and consists is accomplished by using a wye located not far from the roundhouse… Pacifics, Mikados, Consolidations, and single F, G, and E units are handled on the turntable… It works for me!
Dave