what brand of roundhouse will work with the bachmann's EZ track turntable straight from the box? Is bachmann going to make a roundhouse for the turntable? I know you have one for the thomas the tank sets but I need one for regular HO scale trains... Please let me know.. thanks
Sadly for you, probably none.
The Bachmann TT is a rather toy like model and has the run off tracks spaced too far apart to fit into a realistic roundhouse.
I also have a Bachmann TT. I'm thinking of getting some brick patterned styrene sheets and scratchbuilding my own roundhouse.
I also have a Bachmann TT. I am trying to find out if the roundhouse that comes in the Bachmann 45236 kit.( which is for Thomas the Train, HO ) will fit the Bachmann TT. ???
Thanks,
Mike
YM54- yes the tidmouth shed will work on the HO turntable. The only difference in the two are that HO version is motorized and the Thomas version is manual.
Garden & MP - This is my version of a Heljan round house I modified for the Bachmann turntable. It is actually going thru surgery right now for expansion. ;D
(http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l499/jeborne/DSCN0168.jpg)
Jerry
Thanks for the info Jerry. Just in time to make a bid. LOL
Thanks,
Mike
YM
I forgot to add the pic.
Jerry
Looks GREAT!!! :o
Mike
Great idea Jerry. That may be a better way for me to go. Nice job.
I looked at a number of roundhouse configurations. I wanted the DCC feature in the turntable and have been pleased with the Bachmann performance. I agree that some other brands have a more prototypical pit and some a larger diameter. I noticed that turntable has notches and then looked at the Tidmouth Sheds turntable...almost identical. After inspecting the roundhouse structure I was OK that there was sufficient detail that some paint, soot and scenery could transform it... What I really liked was it all fit together without major kit-bashing of the Roundhouse. Crowded by the 4 story Railway Express building, and the coaling tower it will blend n nicely. anyone want the manual turntable? Enjoy
Just curious, what's the length of the rails on the Bachmann turntable, are they any bigger than the Atlas one, which is 9"?
Bill in FtL
Bill the turntable bridge is 10".
Jerry
The Bachmann TT bridge is 10" long about 70 scale feet. The largest loco I can turn is the Bachmann 2-8-0.
Thanks! That makes it a wee bit longer than the Atlas, but not significantly so. Rather than buying another turntable, too bad the DCC power unit can't be added to the Bachmann TT. Without good support from Bachmann with parts, I'll stick with my old Atlas one. They have been able to supply me with all the parts I needed to keep my old turntable working.
Bill in FtL
I think Bachmann needs to release the thomas the tank roundhouse building as a kit in different colors for people to purchase for the powered turntable, because it sound like there is no roundhouse that will work with it unless you make your own or kitbash another brands kit, I don't want to do that! So Bachmann please think about this as a new item and you already have the roundhouse made it just needs to be released not as a thomas the tank engines roundhouse and in different colors, mabe red or brown brick with black or dark blue doors..
I agree, a different colored version would be nice..and jeez I looked up the new walthers 90' DCC one and it's aaaaakkkk 350.00...surely it can't cost that much to make one of these things...
If you are going to buy a Walthers Turntable you might as well get the larger one they are both the same price. And yes they don't cost anywhere near $ 350.00 to manufacture . Checkout where they are built . J2.
The problem with the walthers turntable is it takes up so much space, I need a small like the bachmann, but not as small as a atlas turntable, that 1" more on the bachmann one does make a big difference when it comes to small steam and diesels locomotives. I like the look of a pit on the bachmann one also, the atlas one looks like the type you would see inside of a enclosed roundhouse with a solid wood top. But still need a roundhouse that will line up with the degree of the legs that come off the turntable, without a kitbash job.. Bachmann please help with this!!!! ;D
Quote from: Balrog21 on February 21, 2013, 01:11:52 AM
I agree, a different colored version would be nice..and jeez I looked up the new walthers 90' DCC one and it's aaaaakkkk 350.00...surely it can't cost that much to make one of these things...
I just purchased another one. Sadly, my older pre-DCC Walthers TT burnt a proprietary chip and they don't make them anymore. Result? Shell out $350.00 for a new turntable. :-(
But of course, you get what you pay for.
Walthers? A realistic, self-indexing, programable, DCC ready turntable.
Cheaper ones? Well, you get what you pay for.
you get what you pay for? yep that sure is true.......
my atlas tt may be ugly, but it's never failed in all the year i had it. no proprietary chip involved, so no need to pay for another one.
if i had a to replace a $350 piece of equipment because of a chip, it's be a long cold day before i ever bought another one of that type. one wonders why a turntable needs a proprietary chip to begin with. the drive control circuit doesn't need to be complicated.....
Quote from: rogertra on February 22, 2013, 03:43:38 AM
I just purchased another one. Sadly, my older pre-DCC Walthers TT burnt a proprietary chip and they don't make them anymore. Result? Shell out $350.00 for a new turntable. :-(
But of course, you get what you pay for.
Walthers? A realistic, self-indexing, programable, DCC ready turntable.
Cheaper ones? Well, you get what you pay for.
you still have the old one? I might be able to use it!
Quote from: ryeguyisme on February 22, 2013, 06:41:32 PM
Quote from: rogertra on February 22, 2013, 03:43:38 AM
I just purchased another one. Sadly, my older pre-DCC Walthers TT burnt a proprietary chip and they don't make them anymore. Result? Shell out $350.00 for a new turntable. :-(
But of course, you get what you pay for.
Walthers? A realistic, self-indexing, programable, DCC ready turntable.
Cheaper ones? Well, you get what you pay for.
you still have the old one? I might be able to use it!
Sorry, I'm going to use it as a hand powered or kitbashed and powered at the end of an as yet un-built branch terminal. Otherwise it would have been free for the postage.
I have an unpowered walther's 120' that I put together from a bridge that a member here gave to me and I ordered a pit from walthers and yanked the electronics out of the bridge and made it manual and I love it. Saved me a boatload of money and I got what I needed. The unpowered 90 footer I have was known for bad pits, and mine was annoying me, so I'm thinking of making it a hillside turntable where part of it is in ground and part of it is hanging of a trestle.
Quote from: ryeguyisme on February 23, 2013, 10:05:52 AM
I have an unpowered walther's 120' that I put together from a bridge that a member here gave to me and I ordered a pit from walthers and yanked the electronics out of the bridge and made it manual and I love it. Saved me a boatload of money and I got what I needed. The unpowered 90 footer I have was known for bad pits, and mine was annoying me, so I'm thinking of making it a hillside turntable where part of it is in ground and part of it is hanging of a trestle.
That's because you purchased or used that cheap and nasty kit that Walthers offered. So bad, that none of the hobby magazines ever reviewed the kit because they probably couldn't put a positive spin (pun intended) on a major advertiser's product.
You know never to fully trust any review in the model railroad press that reviews a major advertiser's product, don't you?
I stick to trial and error, but I will say at least i have a bridge for the hillside turntable, gotta start somewhere, I might just cut half the pit out and start from there, that way I can still use the rail
have you ever considered mounting the turntable bridge on an atlas turntable? you'd have to do some mods on the turntable drive, like finding a way to move the motor unit back out of the way. but it would at least give you a reliable mechanism that is self indexing every 15 degrees.
rye-
You can "submerge" the Atlas turntable into your layout, motor and all, to use it with the bridge you have. You can also use a single gear the size of the one which contacts the turntable's gear to move the motor farther away for more clearance. That would reverse the direction of movement when you use the controller but you can correct for that by reversing the leads to the turntable motor.
-- D
When I was doing my layout, I started scratch building a roundhouse to use with the Atlas turntable. Part of it had to do available space. I just used longer tracks with slight curves coming off the turntable into the roundhouse. That way I cold make the stalls parallel and keep the size smaller.
(http://www.sarget.com/751522-R1-25.jpg)
A couple more shots
(http://www.sarget.com/751522-R1-24.jpg)
(http://www.sarget.com/751522-R1-13.jpg)
(http://www.sarget.com/751522-R1-11.jpg)
(http://www.sarget.com/751522-R1-18.jpg)