Walthers turntable

[Matt Probst]

Hi all!!
I'm going to be loking to buy a turntable soon and was wondering if any of you folk have the Walthers HO Cornerstone kit. If so, do you like it? Are there any pros or cons about it? How is the installation process?
I certainly like the pics I've seen of this particular item.
Thanks in advance once again!!
Matt--Hershey, Pa.

 

[NYCentral]

Matt,

I built one.

Cons:
1. motor mechanism (mine is older model) is flimsy at best, I removed it and rebuilt it.
2. sides are flimsy, your hole has to be exact or there will be binding. I reinforced it with plaster cloth.
3. wiper feeds for track power didn't work well, I converted mine to using a phono plug for power.

pros:
1. cost
2. detail is decent

Now saying all that, I will say I got rid of mine because I wanted indexing.

 

[shamus]

Hi Matt,
If I may be so bold as to say "Forget the cornerstone turntable" and really spend a little extra on a Fleischmann "Self indexing" motorized turntable. I know it is not an American type, but I had one and it can be made to look American. They work well, H0 and N-scale versions are to my mind the best on the market. With the exception of the Arnold Rapido N-scale turntable which beats them all. This one is a little noisy perhaps, but thats all the bad news about it.

Shamus

 

[marty w.]

Hi Matt,
Check this out:
http://forum.atlasrr.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10047&ARCHIVE=
Dr. Mike has some neat advice on how to make the turntable work.
Maybe this will help.
Marty

 

[Chessie]

I have one of these and I would not purchase another, I paid $50.00 for it and it is JUNK

 

[marty w.]

Sorry Matt, I had to run yesterday and could not finish my post.
I have a Walthers turntable and it is junk. I will keep it until I decide what to do. It's better than having a hole.
But, if you want to tinker with it or do not have the funds for another brand, Dr Mike's suggestions appear that it would work to fix the problems.
Marty

 

[Gary Pfeil]

I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't post without knowing or checking the prices, but I don't care enough to do so. If the Walthers unit is junk how about using the Atlas one? There was an article on how to install it so that it has a pit in MR some time back. I think it has indexing.

Gary

 

[polyjim]

I needed two turntables, so did some research. The Walthers and Atlas were both in my price range. One of my requirements was the tt had to be large enough to hold my steam engines. That eliminated Atlas. So, I bought the Walthers. My LHS advised that the Walthers motor wasn't very good, and sold me an N gauge tt motor which needed a whole lot of rework. I got it to work, but I'm not happy. Now that it's done, I found out how important indexing is. Being the sucker that I am, I am going to buy the Atlas 9" tt, which has indexing, and attempt to expand it so my steam engines will fit. My LHS says it won't work, but because of the price and comments about some the expensive units, I 'm willing to give it a go. If anyone has tried this, please let me know what happened.
If it doesn't work, which tt is the best for the price.

 

[Matt Probst]

Thanks for the responses so far guys... I was watching a new Walthers one on E-Bay and definately will delete that from my watch list!!! . I'm surprised to hear about the reviews on that brand, but since you're all such knowledgable people I'm definately NOT going to get one!
Anybody have the Atlas one? Any feedback?
Shamus: I checked on Fleischman's website and they're pricing seems a little out of my range.
Marty: I looked at the site you gave me and it seems like a hell of alot of bother for something that should be more user friendly from the start! Even though the procedures mentioned "should" cure it of it's ills if all else fails...


Matt--Hershey, Pa.

 

[Chessie]

Matt I also have the atlas tt that I plan to use for my trolly line.

The tt does have indexing and it works very smooth.

I saw where a person used one of these units to drive a larger tt that he built from scratch.
What he did was mount the Atlas unit under the table and attach the bridge of the scratch built unit on top. I know this is no very clear, if I can find the URL I will post it.

 

[Vic]

I'm sure that as resourceful as everyone here is that the Atlas turntable can be made to work for a given situation but keep in mind one thing....The indexing stops on this turntable are mechancially fixed and can't be changed so the angle of the various tracks leading from it are fixed also.

I'll be using a Diamond Scale turntable on my layout....I've built it but its yet to be installed. It will be turned by the "armstrong" method using a crank handle and shaft attached to a small universal joint to its gear box....won't be any alignment problems between the bridge rails and the approach rails

 

[rich maiorano]

hey vic do you have a link for diamond scale or are they out of busness cant find them rich

 

[TinGoat]

Turntables

I just saw an interesting prototype photograph of an over sized locomotive on a turntable.

The Locomotive and tender were too long for the turntable.

Instead of disconnecting the tender.. And/or building a larger turntable.

They put blocks under the wheels of the tender to raise it above the railhead of the tracks leading to the turntable.

They turned the locomotive with the back 3/4 of the tender suspended in the air!

I'll try to find the picture again to get a specific reference.

I just thought that this was interesting...

Where modellers may be able to turn most of their motive power one a 9" turntable, but find that that brand new Northern or larger loco won't fit, you might want to try duplicate this...

I think that if you weight the tender to be front end heavy, and either fit a matchstick in by hand to raise the rear of the tender OR build some sort of lever device into the turntable, you may have som success.

 

[marty w.]

Rich - I do not think Diamond Scale has a web site.
I think Custom Model Railroads www.custommodelrailroads.com
sells Diamond Scale products or they sell one like it.
Mike - I agree that Dr. Mike's fix is alot more work than I'm will to do.
Marty

 

[rich maiorano]

thanks marty its a same all there other kits are HO they could sell a few in n-scale for sure looks like a winner rich

 

[Vic]

Rich, the address I have is no good. Some one told me that they had moved to Nevada but I don't know for sure. Wish I could help out more.

 

[60103]

Matt:
How big a TT do you need?
I think we have another thread about turntables somewhere.
Peco make a 12" in HO but no mechanism or indexing. I remeber watching the Chattanooga RR museum bouncing their TT back and forth to line it up -- they don't have an indexer either.

 

[rich maiorano]

vic diamond scale was sold to neil somebody? did look at the link marty w posted nice turntable and they had a link for the indexing and at $350.00+ a pop and and the table at $135.00 that makes for one expensive table rich

ps thats for n-scale too

 

[Joepomp]

First turntable

Hi all,

I just installed my first turntable and round house. I wanted one since I was a kid (A long time ago!) Well it was a learning experience. First round houses are made to fit the turntable!. I bought an Atles roudhouse for a 9" turntable. I then bought a 15" Walters turntable. I had to cut about 3 " off the part of the roundhouse that holds the tracks. Now for the indexing, at first I was going to use the "Atles under the table trick", but the 9",15" may have caused more problems. The guy in the train store made this suggestion. See attached figure. This works very well the switch labeled RUN moves the table fast. The one labeled Jog moves the table slowley. I found it works very well, get close with RUN, then 1 or 2 pulses with JOG and your there.

 

[shaygetz]

If you're reeeeeally nice to us guys in discount retail (i.e. WalMart, Target, etc.), you'll find we are often able to get the slow motion motors off of the various wiggly waggly cardboard beer and suntan oil displays. They run on 3 volts, turn at 2-5 rpm and are virtually indestructable. Because they are so slow, if you keep your tt within 12-18" of the edge of your pike, you'll easily be able to eyeball the alignment. Oh, and, sorry, mine are spoken for 'til like...2008 You can animate oil wells, mine heads...even KFC buckets on their masts...too kewl...