Howdy,
I was wondering Wether i should go and get The Wathers 90', or 130' or something else. As for round houses I would like some direction on where to buy and what to buy, it doesn't help that i am new on the subject of Model Rialroading. Any help will be apreciated.
Thanks,
UP Railroader
What I forgot to mention is that i want to be able to turn a 4-8-4
Thanks,
UP Railroader
I have the Walthers 130' turntable. It requires a footprint of about 21" diameter. It has an 18" bridge which will fit an HO scale BigBoy. The indexing system is easy to wire and operate. You can either program preset stops or align the track by eye. I originally bought it to use on my On30 layout as I needed something big and strong enough to turn my MMI diecast K-28's (about 6lbs). Its on my HO layout now and will be used to handle my Pennsy J1's and T1's. Pricewise, I've seen it go for about $250.00.
Walthers makes a 3 stall roundhouse to complement the turntable. They make a kit to add-on additional stalls. The depth of each stall is about 17".
They include an extenstion kit for one of the stalls to increase the stall to about 20".
Hope this helps.
Tom
My 90ft Walthers 'table, which is excellent BTW, will just fit a kitbashed 2-10-2 or heavy 4-8-2.
See: -
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/rogertra/Great_Eastern/Turntable9.jpg)
In the Walther's catalog page 596, there is a listing for "Scale Structures Limited". They have a 110'-130' (apparently adjustable) #650-1124 for $71.95.
I know nothing about the turntable or it's quality. Just another option.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/650-1124
I imagine the Walthers is better quality, they show list at $299, don't know what the street price is, or the best source.
If a 90' will work for you, Walther's has an "economy" model 933-3171 for $44.98. Currently out of stock, ETA July. (catalog shows $39, they must have raised the price)
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3171
Good luck
Bob
UP - I have both an old 90' table with motor and the kit Bob showed you. It comes without a turntable pit and is mostly wood.
I have a feeling that if Roger's USRA heavy Mountain just fits the 90' turntable, a 4-8-4 (which one?) will not. Roger uses ex VT&P USRA medium tenders and the VT&P uses ex GE USRA large tenders.
BTW, Roger, do you have any more USRA large you don't need that you'd like to swap for Connie tenders?
Gene
Quote from: Yampa Bob on April 14, 2008, 01:54:40 PM
In the Walther's catalog page 596, there is a listing for "Scale Structures Limited". They have a 110'-130' (apparently adjustable) #650-1124 for $71.95.
I know nothing about the turntable or it's quality. Just another option.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/650-1124
I imagine the Walthers is better quality, they show list at $299, don't know what the street price is, or the best source.
If a 90' will work for you, Walther's has an "economy" model 933-3171 for $44.98. Currently out of stock, ETA July. (catalog shows $39, they must have raised the price)
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3171
Good luck
Bob
Be aware that there is some negative comments on the old Walthers turntable kit as to quality.
Note that while the old kit is a lot less than the new RTR it may be problematic.
http://cs.trains.com/forums/964590/ShowPost.aspx
Quote from: SteamGene on April 14, 2008, 02:32:17 PM
BTW, Roger, do you have any more USRA large you don't need that you'd like to swap for Connie tenders?
Gene
Gene.
I'll need to recheck the tender inventory. There's still a couple of still boxed and wrapped locos on the shelves under the layout in the railway room.
Just so you guys are aware.....
The Scale Structures turntable kit is in the "Craftsman Kit" category....a far cry from the injection molded, styrene dream, of Walthers.
The 71.95 actually isn't a bad price......I paid 65 here for an old Campbell A Frame turn table kit.....also a craftsman style.
Sid
Roger - understood. It was just a thought I had and if we can be helpful, that's good. Of course I have a couple of 16V tenders which would be good.
Gene
I really have to thank you guys not only for the quick response but the quality of the responses. I think i will spend the money on A Walthers 130' turntable, like Tom sugested. this will acomidate my future plans for a Big Boy Engine.
Any further sudgestions on anything will be highly accepted.
Thanks,
UP Railroader
I always say buy the best you can afford. Sometimes "saved" money ends up being "wasted" money. Of course the most expensive isn't always the best.
Bob
Bob,
What you say is absolutly true, i'd rather spend the money and buy the best stuff, because in the long run it is the best. thanks again for all of the help.
Thanks,
UP Railroader
Another available Craftman Kit is from Diamond Scale. You may want to check their wesite. http://www.diamond-scale.com/products__turntables.htm (http://www.diamond-scale.com/products__turntables.htm) It takes a while to navigate their site and determine all the parts needed for the TT that you want.
This is my Diamond Scale OT 105 Turntable.
(http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w141/mikedian/IMG_5560.jpg)
Bowser also manufactures a turntable
A link to their site. http://bowser-trains.com/hoother/ttables/ttables.htm (http://bowser-trains.com/hoother/ttables/ttables.htm)
This is a Bowser deck detail kit on my scratch built for TCA Fort Pitt High-railers show Turntable.
(http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w141/mikedian/IMG_5950.jpg)
Dear all,
I love all of the pictures and i was wondering if i should buy a complete set for a turntable and buy a seperate indexing system. The other option would be to buy a Craftman set for a turntable. My other question was on the purpose of DCC, since MR. Banner sudgested that i use it on my 10x6 layout. Should i move this to another "new topic"?
Thanks,
UP Railroader
Just to add a little more to what everyone has already said. I installed the Walthers 90' turntable and it was easy to index and a great addition to my engine faciity. I have no problem recommending their TT. You can see mine at http://www.larrystrain.org and look at the engine facility. Larry
Hi all,
My plan is to model A mix of fictional places with real railroads. somewhere in the desert with minimal scenery. Having railroads modeled like Bertlington Northern, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe{ATSF} and Frisco. the largest engine that i will shoot for is a 4-6-6-4 Challenger. thats the reason for the 130' Walthers TT, As for round houses i am still wondering what to buy. I will advise that i should spend a year to think about what my track plan will look like and what and where i would like to model these trains.
Any further sudgestions are welcome at any point.
Thanks,
UP Railroader
I have the Walthers RTR 130' to turn my Big Boy and my whole fleet of 4-8-4 Class J's. (I think I'm up to like 6 of them) The indesing control is fantastic. You can pretty much program it to stop anywhere. (Just remember to program both ends of the bridge - sometimes one way won't line up quite right from the other) and I have the Walthers roundhouse kit with a total of 9 stalls. The only caution I advise, if you don't have a lot of room, plan the troundhouses carefully. Just my engine yard is almost 4x6, but it catches you attention right away.
stay away from the above mentioned "economey Walther's 90' kit" it's worth just about what it costs. The Bowser is more work to build but when you're done you will have something that works, I have never seen the Walther's rtr turntables so can offer no opinion on them but as one previous poster points out, there must be a reason for the big price difference between the price for the 90' kit and the rtr one.
If your turntable is somewhere that you can see it well and you have good eye sight you don't need an indexing system, just power it with one of your old power packs left over from before you switched to DCC and you should have no problem stoping it where you need to
Munchkin;
You say there is a large price difference between the 90' and the 120' table. I thought they were both RTR; that pretty much keeping the prices fairly close.
I read a really neat narrative a while back concerning building a turntable from scratch. While humourous, it also gave me pause to consider "scratching a table". I am looking at all three RTR-Walthers, Bowser, and Diamond. Building a working mechanism sounds like it may be inviting disaster; also that I have enough to do without messing around with the intricacies of such an exacting mechanism. I will buy one, do as they say, and it should work.
The Old Reprobate