Terminology of roundhouse alternative

[Grotto]

Hi.
I was at the Elgin museum today and I saw a device that the locomotive would ride onto, stop, and then this device would move sideways to the appointed rail where it would stop and the loco would ride into the longhouse.

This alternative to a roundhouse has inspired me and I would like to try and build one, but I need some more information, starting with whatever the damn thing is called.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dragon]

It's called a "Transfer Table".

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

I believe that it's called a "Transfer Table". One of the European manufacturers, Roco or Marklin (or both??) make them.

Gus (LC&P).

 

[doctorwayne]

I think Walthers also offers a transfer table, or did at one time. The first real one that I ever saw was in North Bay.

Wayne

 

[Grotto]

Is this a European and Canadian thing as I never saw one in the 4 years I lived in the US, or was I just in the wrong places?

 

[Ralph]

Transfer tables have been used in the US. There is one still on display at Bandana Square in St. Paul, MN. This former railroad shops complex is now a specialty mall with a model railroad club layout upstairs.
Ralph

 

[zedob]

you just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Not many around anymore. I may be wrong, but most went out of vogue about the same time that turntables did.

 

[MilesWestern]

Yeah, and some major railroad loco construction/rebuilding plants (like in sacremento, I believe...) has transfer tables

 

[MasonJar]

There are roundhouses without turntables too... Some sites in BC had them for some reason. A zillion turnouts leading in to the place instead of one turntable.

Andrew

 

[60103]

We had a thread last year that included aerial photos of a transfer table in the US. Lionel made one back in the 50s.
You might be able to make one by stripping the mechanism out of an old Workmate.
Compared to turntables, they used a lot less space and allowed everything to fit on rectangular lot.

 

[MilesWestern]

...but the only thing is that you can't tirn the lokey 'round! ops:

 

[jetrock]

A transfer table isn't really so much an alternative to a turntable as an alternative to a huge yard lead with a bunch of switches. For repair and construction shops with lots of work bays, a transfer table provides a handy way to move equipment from one bay to another. The Sacramento Locomotive Works had two--currently there is one, reconstructed by the California State Railroad Museum and used to shuffle the Museum's collection between the boiler shop and the erecting shop. They're more something found in a shop complex than something used for locomotive storage.

 

[N Gauger]

Here are a few from my Transfer Table on the 1:20.3 gauge layout: