New to the Guage, and armed with some questions!

[justincase]

Recently, I bought a brand new Walthers roundhouse and fell in love with it. But when I was doing some research on the internet, I noticed that the turntable itself was $300!ops:

Although I'm ok with that, I have also noticed that the thing is 18 inches long! In my garage, I have about an 8 by 16 space for a shelf layout. I wanted to ask you guys if there are any engine service facility (those interest me) trackplans out there that would fit a massive turntable and would be L shaped ? Do you guys know of any L shaped plans in general? (I haven't opened the roundhouse up yet so I could return it and do a more country-like normal plan) Thank you, your help is very appreciated!

I'd also like to introduce myself. My name is Case Wiseman, I live in California near San Francisco, and am 14 years old. This forum seems like a fountain of knowledge and I can't wait to learn new things!

PS. I run mostly ATSF and SP steam/diesel equipment if any of that information would help.

 

[Freelancer]

Do you really need that 18 inches? I got an Atlas roundhouse and realized that the turntable was too small, so I got a 14 inch turn table for $30, unfortunately it isn't powered, but that can be changed. I am a cheapy so I just see $300 for a turntable quite pricey.

I will have to follow your thread closely because I recently lost the space in my house that I was going to put my servicing facility and it looks like I will be having to go with an L shaped plan too. Unfortunately I have been looking for some plans for my facility and can't say that I have seen one in an L shape. I suppose that you could have your sand, and fueling on the approach, then have the turntable in the corner of the L and have the roundhouse off to the side of the turntable to form the L. Does that make sense? It's a thought, but I bet you have probably already come up with that possibility.

Freelancer

BTW welcome to the gauge.

 

[justincase]

What manufacter makes a 14 inch turntable? Is it the old Walthers one? I've heard those are hard to put together.

 

[screwysquirrel]

some ideas

Mike's Small Track Plans page has a 2x4 plan using the Atlas N-scale turntable.

I personally like to combine it with the car cleaning facility:

Both should expand up to HO scale and the larger turntable fairly easily.

 

[Freelancer]

The turntable is manufactured by Heljan kit #804. There are three problems I have had with it so far. 1. the instructions aren't very clear. 2. It isn't indexed, unless the indexing comes in when to motor is installed, but I am not sure. and 3. It doesn't match up exactly with my roundhouse, so I will have to alter the length of the approach on the roundhouse. Other then that, I am quite pleased. Until I get a motor for it, (which will most likely be a long time) I will just hand operate it, which I am more than willing to do, and then I won't have to worry about it being indexed.

Hope this helps. I will post a pic in a minute so you can see what it looks like.

Freelancer

 

[Freelancer]

Here's the picture. Unfortunately this is the picture off of the box and not of my layout. :cry:

Freelancer

 

[justincase]

I'm guessing (screwysquirrel) when you say the turntable could expand, you're saying the Hejan TT, or are you talking about the 130' Walthers TT?

 

[screwysquirrel]

I'm guessing (screwysquirrel) when you say the turntable could expand, you're saying the Hejan TT, or are you talking about the 130' Walthers TT?

Either: just insert some straights in the curve sections (or, for that matter, don't bother with the loop parts at all)

 

[Freelancer]

Um.... Correct me if I am wrong, but I think what screwysquirrel is saying, is that the track plans can be expanded. They are in N scale, so they can be expanded and adapted for HO scale. The actual turntables cannot be expanded, but the layout can be expanded to accomadate either turntable. Am I close? Or did I mess it up even more?

Freelancer

 

[jwmurrayjr]

Hi Case!

Do you have the NEW Walthers roundhouse that goes with their new TT?

I have a friend who fitted a low-rpm motor to a Heljan TT and it works great. Also several folks have gotten the older, smaller Walthers TT to work well with careful assembly (and maybe some re-assembly ). Mine almost works well but I need to take another crack at it to remove the slack.

If you have good slow motion control you won't need indexing (Real TTs are not indexed.) The motor can be controlled by a DC pack with good slow-speed control or by DCC with a decoder like the DH123.

 

[justincase]

Hi Case!

Do you have the NEW Walthers roundhouse that goes with their new TT?

I have a friend who fitted a low-rpm motor to a Heljan TT and it works great. Also several folks have gotten the older, smaller Walthers TT to work well with careful assembly (and maybe some re-assembly ). Mine almost works well but I need to take another crack at it to remove the slack.

If you have good slow motion control you won't need indexing (Real TTs are not indexed.) The motor can be controlled by a DC pack with good slow-speed control or by DCC with a decoder like the DH123.

Yes, I have the new roundhouse. Thank you for the welcome!

 

[screwysquirrel]

What we discussed

Heres the idea I discussed with you in AIM this afternoon, this would continue off to the right. The 4 Atlas Turntables approximate the Walthers turntable size

 

[Railery]

Hi Case. Sounds like you have a point to point shelf plan and want to add a turntable at one end. You will need to have a couple of legs on the front of your shelf unit to support the TT and round house. I like those RHs and I have two atlas turntables, one heljan and the super duper Fleischmann HO turntable that sold for 600 CAD. Now thats pricie. But I fell in love with it and got it. The other turntables are now shelved. If your running any steam you want to go larger then the atlas TTs, like the heljan. You don't have to design a track to loop around the facilities. You can just run straight in to save space.

 

[belg]

Railery have you ever had to service your Fleischmann turn table? I'm asking because I bought one used from one of our members and afterwards found it sticks on a regular basis I tried lubricating it but the problem persists. I called the rep in California and they told me dissasemble the gears and check for damage or contamination but I'm not all that comfortable doing that. Any help would be appreciated as I love the way mine looks as well just not the way it operates.Pat