# Turntable compatibility with engine sheds



## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

I just finished a 3-stall engine shed with a 3 shed add-on kit. It's essentially a 6-bay kit..... Next I need a turntable to go with it. I had planned on the Bachmann ez-crap dcc table, but want to make sure the tracks are indexed correctly. The shed kit is made by walthers cornerstone, and they recommend their own kit, obviously, but it's around $300 compared to $86. I'm not trying to cheap out, but that's a considerable difference. 

Any ideas?





















Also, anyone have one of these sheds? What do I need to do about track? Strip the rails from other track and glue in?


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

There really is a $299.00 difference in the two turn tables!
The Walthers turn table is smooth, better detailing and works very well!
The Bachmann...Well it's Bachmann...Enough said.


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

I completely agree.......


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Nice job on the roundhouse, John ... looks ready to receive some locos!

TJ


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

Thanks tj! Still trying to figure out what to do about track inside it.


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

*Walthers DCC turntable*

I have seen the Walthers DCC 130' turntable available for preorder for $251.99


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## Von Stetina (Aug 29, 2011)

Roundhouse tracks are layed out in specific degrees. The stops of the turntable need to match. If you can find a center line for each stall and draw lines out until they converge at a point you will be able to see your degree. A protractor will measure this. Next take the radius measurement of your table. Center to end. Use a large compass set to this to swing an arc across the lines. You might tape a nail and pencil to a yard stick. The stops need to match. You can probably find the number of stops for your table. Take the number of stops the table table makes. Divide this by 360 degrees. I think you will get the degrees. I stink at math but it might work. If not the manufacturer might have the degree.
Just laying the stuff out like this in pencil you can probably figure what you need looking at the lines. If you move your engine house in or out from the pit rim you will see where you need to position it both as the lines match up. Anything that is off will be apparent. You will see a mismatch for sure. Anyways, it works for me.

Von Stetina


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

Thanks for the info, I've decided to wait for the 130' turntable from Walthers to be released at the end of this month. It should go perfectly with the Walthers sheds.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I believe the cornerstone kit is a 10 degree indexing table whereas the Atlas is a 15 degree index between positions


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

The great thing about a circle is all circles are the same. That being said, any turntable is going to work for you, you just need to figure out what one you need. The biggest factor for your turntable is going to be your largest engine. You need a turntable that will accomidate the largest engine you are going to use on it and after that it is just a matter of how far from the roundhouse the turntable is going to be placed. I bought a Heljin table for about $60 a while back and if memory serves me it is a 130' table which will accomidate almost everything i have for it. My N&W J is the largest I can turn on it and I have to be careful where I park the J. I cant turn my 2-8-8-2 Y6B it is too long. The diameter of the turntable is going to be a large factor in where you place it in relation to the roundhouse so dont go cutting any holes in any thing quite yet.

Massey


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## Von Stetina (Aug 29, 2011)

Hi Massey, It sounds like you like turntables as much as I do. The length of table is really something to think about. A lot of modelers need to consider what the actual road had and need to match it up. But, You never know when you might find a good buy for a locomotive you admire for your collection. That said, room for additional stalls might be considered too.

Back to setting one up. The degrees must match, or the track coming up to the table will have a kink.
I would be interested to hear what you and other folks are powering tables with. If they are powered that is. I've been drooling over the PTCIII. 
My table, now passed away was powered by a gear reduction motor that I bought from a Graingers store. It had no indexing. I got very used to lining up the tracks visually. It was close enough to get an eye on. Some folks are more remote and need the indexing. I've heard that not many index systems work so well. The latest ones that are driven by a stepping motor should be great. Computer printers use them, so you can imagine.

Von Stetina


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

I like turn tables all right but I dont have one on my layout at the moment. I have future plans for a steam museum for my layout so I can run steam when I want even tho I model modern day!! as for indexing you can use many different methods, it all depends on your control system. Stepping motors will prolly be the best bet for getting everything set just right and to have them stop in the proper place. Some type of tuning circuit or method would be a good idea here too. 

As for the degrees if you use a flat turn table you can choose when to stop it and where the indexing will be. A table like the little Atlas one has pre-determined indexing because of the little channels for the tracks to fit in. This will limit you on how you lay track to it.

Massey


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## Von Stetina (Aug 29, 2011)

Here's something interesting. I found an article a while back about modifying the Atlas turntable.
It's about building a really good indexing table using the Atlas one for indexing and increasing the stops by putting gears between the Atlas one and the one you are building. The Atlas unit is hidden under the bench work driving a nice scratch built turntable. It could also be hooked up to any commercial table. This reduces the degrees and adds more stops.This guys doubled the stops. It's really pretty cool. I'm thinking of doing this as it is a very inexpensive way to get reliable indexing. The only drawback is that the table hesitates at each stop. This may not be prototypical but this doesn't bother me. I like the idea of building my own powered indexing table for little money. There are many clear instruction pages of how to do this. 
The Atlas table has in it what is called a Geneva movement. Some people refer to this as a clockwork mechanism. It's a very clever set up.
I e-mailed the guy who did this. He said is was very reliable. I'm very sorry, Ive lost the e-mail and web site addresses. If you dig deep with a computer search it will probably turn up. I found it by searching for turntable indexing.

Von Stetina

Massey, I like your quote about veterans. I'm ex-AF


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