When I put my turntable in, I made a big mistake! I cut (or tried to
cut) a hole in my deck. It was 1/2 plywood plus 1/2 Homesote. The idea
was to drill a hole at the edge and use a trammel from a center hole to
a sabre saw positioned in that edge hole. I experimented with a little
cheepie saw and discovered that the blade would drift to one side, so
the pit wall wouldn't be vertically plumb. So with credit card in hand,
I purchased a bright new shiney Makita version. Much improved but after
cutting the hole it had also drifted somewhat. It took me a long time
to fudge it correctly. Indeed to this day it's not perfect.
So I recommend cutting a larger rough hole first and then use a overlay
with a smaller percise hole for the final deal. I think a shop that
makes 3D signs and similar things might be an excellent shop to make
this cut!
Another thing to be concerned about is the depth of the pit itself. I
have some photos of some that were only a couple feet deep. Remember
in many areas these pits fill with snow.
Our local master modeler, Jack Troxell but a very nice model. His pit
floor isn't flat but has a shallow irregular V shape that was used to
drain water (after the snow melts) into a middle area. And yes it does
have grates to cover the underground pipes. I think he used an old open
frame Pittman type motor to power it.
Bob Werre
FWIW,
Atlas makes an O scale turntable without a pit that MIGHT be useful,
24", was mentioned on page 147 of the 2007/2008 Scenery Unlimited
catalog (lastest I have seen). Dave Annerud wrote a short write-up on
it included in the cat of how he changed it for S operation. No hole
needed on layout table. It is similar to their HO version
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:24:18 -0800
Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Turntable Recommendation
Hi John:
Peco makes an On30 turntable 12 inches diameter for about 100
dollars. It would convert to a 65 foot turntable in S.
Helgan makes a 14 inch diameter HO turntable that can be converted to
a 75 footer in S for, I think, about 60 bucks.
Both of the above are plastic and unpowered in their base form. I
think they might offer optional motorizing kits. Others on this list
will know.
Moving up in price and quality, check out Custom Model Railroads
(custommodelrailroads.com)
They make laser-cut acrylic turntable kits in HO lengths of 90, 105,
120 and 135 feet for prices in the 200 dollar range. I've seen an
unassembled kit at Trevor Marshall's place and it looks to be very
well engineered. A motorizing kit will add about another 135 dollars
to the price. Check out pages 5 and 6 in their HO kits section.
Jim Martin
*From:* jshannon148 <[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected]
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 15, 2012 2:06:20 PM
*Subject:* {S-Scale List} Turntable Recommendation
I have searched the archives but did not find a recent discussion of
S-scale turntables. I am expanding my layout and would like to include
a turntable, has anyone bought one recently with a good experience?
Thanks, John
Pittsburgh, PA
