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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Serendipity at Wakefield

I’m in Ontario attending some training right now, and had a little free time to pop up to Ottawa on the weekend to visit my mum.  Being naturally adventurous and used to going on research field trips, she quickly agreed to join me for a trip to the end of the line at Wakefield QC […]

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The Models of our Youth

I’m in Ottawa this weekend, on my way to an educational program at Queens for the next three weeks.  My mum has changed around the house in the past few months, and came across a couple of boxes of models.  “What,” she asked, “should I do with them?  They can’t take up room on my shelves forever.” […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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