August 2007
Part of the layout has been reconfigured to include my Hornby turntable, although that introduces a few problems :
(a) The diameter of the turntable is a meagre eleven inches
(b) The turntable track is for clockwork (mechanical) locos only
(c) The turntable is unpowered
The first photo below shows the turntable with an engine shed behind, and a few other tracks for parking spare locos. The loco on the table is a fairly modestly sized Marx 0-4-0, yet clearly overhangs the ends of the table. A post war Lionel 2020, for example, is twenty inches long , including tender. The second photo shows the same scene, with the loco off the table -The size of the table appears less obvious, without a loco on it.
The two rail problem has been solved by fitting a third rail formed from a length of Marx 027 track. The centre rail is fixed, so the turntable will no longer rotate, but as it is too small to carry most locos, that is not really a problem. A loco will happily cross the table, to the shed behind. Any other loco movements are strictly by the big hand from the sky.
The various tracks leading from the table, except the one opposite the feed road, are therefore for show only. The table is fixed in the east/west position, so being unpowered is irrelevant.
Turntable |
Turntable |
