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Reply to "My Bowser Turntable - a chronology of one of the centerpieces on my train layout"

Here's an update:  With the friction wheel, the Bowser worked quite well, and then it seemed to slow down more and more.  The Bowser motor had a very poor setup for the brushes..  Hard to describe.  The brushes were on long copper bands that pivoted on insulated screws.  Opposite the pivot points a single spring held the two brushes apart.  The spring slid on a fiber(?) strip that had a lip to keep the spring from touching one brush.  The spring lost tension and had trouble keeping the brushes against the commutator.  Then the fiber strip failed.  I took the gearbox apart and found an MTH loco motor would fit, but couldn't get the worm gear off.

I gave up and ordered a Ross conversion kit, with a gearbox, decent motor, ribbed belt, and ribbed large wooden drive gear.  The gear went on the shaft with no trouble, and has a decently sized set screw.  Works great.  Seems to be excellent quality. Rather than using the power supply that comes with the kit and requires 120-volt access that is not available, I'm using my existing 18-volt feed for the Bowser motor, with rectifier & DPDT monetary switch, to which I'm adding a PWM control.

I'd have bought the entire turntable but it has a larger frame than the Bowser did and I can't spare the few inches.  I also reworked the turntable track so it's slightly longer than the turntable, as someone did above.  Not noticeable unless you look very closely, and now a few more of my large steamers can be turned.

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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