Turntable Wheel Plan

It was a bit of a late start this evening, and all I had time for was some thinking about the turntable wheels. These are N-scale freight wheels with the flanges turned off. I had been thinking of using the needle bearings for one side, but couldn’t think how I would get the axles in […]

Ring Rail Do-Over

I finally pulled the trigger. The first attempt at laying the ring rail wandered too far from the middle of the ties, and so, this evening I pulled it all off for a redo. Despite several encouraging comments that the prototype probably wasn’t perfect either, and it would probably look fine once the ballast was […]

Ring Rail Installed

I’m reading a wonderful book, Pirate’s Passage by William Gilkerson to the kids right now. One of the characters obviously has a taste for rum. So inspired, I poured myself a glass and tackled the ring rail this evening. The gauge on the turntable worked perfectly. It took hardly any time to chase it around […]

Getting Started on the Ring Rail

Well, despite the funk, I’m pressing on. A handful of supportive words from Mike Chandler at Scott Calvert’s operating session last night encouraged me. When I told him of my concern that the pit is not round enough, he opined, “a lot of them weren’t very round.” Well, okay, let’s go for it then. The […]

Pit Progress

I seem to be in a bit of a funk over the turntable pit. At the core, this probably means that I don’t like how it’s shaping up. There are just too many inaccuracies, and they’re probably going to come back to bite me. Even so, I’ve managed to push ahead all the same. The […]

Turntable Pit Curb

I’m finally back from my course, and sufficiently recovered from jet lag that I have some energy left over at the end of the day to do a little bit of modelling. So, I tackled the curb around the top of the turntable pit. I think most turntables must have these, otherwise ballast and stuff […]

Hotel Modelling – Turntable Sides

I’m attending training in Kingston for a few weeks, and because I checked my bag, I could bring some tools and glues on a business trip for the first time I can remember. The goal for the three weeks is to find enough time to complete the cosmetic parts for the turntable, and while I […]

Turntable Do-Over

Sometimes it’s hard to concede that perhaps one of your best ideas ever didn’t work. I had been fooling myself for about a week, and finally had to accept the fact that the turntable ends were not aligning perfectly. I believe the error crept in when I didn’t clamp the little tongues down to the […]

Tie Length

I picked up a package of bridge ties from Central Hobbies a little while back, thinking that they would be right for the turntable. When I got them home, I started wondering if they might be too short to allow for the crew to jump down and get to the ends of the turntable to […]

Turntable Bridge Core

If you’re thinking of following along and using my method to build your own turntable, may I recommend that you make friends with someone with a lathe instead. I’m sure the whole thing is much easier if you have decent tools. Making the bridge itself is probably a doddle if you have a lathe. I […]