Turntable

Atlas O Turntable can not fit most O scale sized steam locomotives. At 24" it is perfect for diesels. 

I'm not fond of the Atlas mechanism. It's kinda flimsy for O scale. The turntable doesn't appear to be designed for particularly heavy locomotives, so I wouldn't use it for medium-sized steam.

 

That said, to use it with track other than Atlas, you might have to shim the track or shave out the recesses to get the rails vertically aligned. You'll have that issue with any turntable.

 

There are two other turntables out there -- Ross and Millhouse River. Both are well constructed and expensive, but are serious turntables (realistic appearance, operate smoothly, support the equipment well, and don't have cheap components.) They have real pits (requires a big hole in your layout) which you can weather or "fill" with dirt and ground cover (just don't get the stuff on the pit rails.) which the Atlas doesn't feature.

If you are going to run steam I would get at least a 28" turntable, or 30" if you can fit it in.

The layout 'FOOTPRINT" of a turntable is much larger than most realize.  Cut out a round piece of cardboard and then place it on your layout and then START to figure out the rest of the real estate it will take to put in even a small 24 inch turntable.  Just my 2 cents.  Have fun!  Russ

Very good point, Russ.

 

Given the hoops we went through setting up our roundhouse, I should have mentioned it. For a 7.5-degree step, the total track length has to be about 31" from the center of the turntable; about 16" for a 15-degree step. That gets you the 4" center-line separation. From there you have to add the roundhouse stall lengh of the track.

 

I agree with the others that the atlas is small. Given you are planing you may want to look at the free planing guide download on our website under the services and links page. A turntable and roundhouse can take a bit of space.

You can do a lot on a turntable a few inches bigger. This Diamond Scale TT  bridge length is 26 1/2"










This was done in about 5' X 7'

The Atlas may be small, but it still fits my scale Hudson and my Railking Challenger. As to it's  "flimsiness": when it first came out, Atlas told me that it could handle up to 20 lbs. It's still a good deal in my book.

Mike, great looking roundhouse and TT.

I picked up a  32" bowser with a millhouse drive upgrade.  You can get both for around $600-$700.   But you cannot go wrong with bowser, millhouse, or Ross.  I remember the review in one of the magazines of the atlas turntable.  First comment was taing it out of the box, it fell apart abearings all bearings scattered all over the place.

Mike CT,

 

Nice scene.  Your turntable scales to 110 feet.  That would meet the needs for most mainline steam.  Is that a Korber roundhouse?  Pat B.

If funds are available, pass on Atlas and go with the others mentioned.  My Atlas is back in the box.  I had problems from the start and I do not have any of the larger sized engines.  I liked the Atlas for both the price and not having to cut a hole in the layout, but like with any other purchase you might make, the ease of installation or the low costs do not always go hand in hand with reliability and functionality.   

Not that i have a layout, but when i do finally get around to bldg my layout, i wanted to use an atlas tt just for a special Thomas section that i was going to build. Has anyone out there done something like this? Pics? I think the Atlas is perfect for the Thomas line of engines. Just my 2¢

 You may want to note the Rich Redman (Korber Models) has tentatively set next month as the return date for the Korber 304 House. I spent some time with Rich on this project, greatly improving the instructions and adding Optional instructions for projects like the floor and roof upgrades.   Rich worked with other OGR participants on other Optional instructions.   A lot of good pictures.   One of the most noted changes is that Rich is using laser cut windows.   

Mike CT,

I hope to be the benificiary of your input to Rich and the resulting improvement to this kit.  I look forward to the renewed availabity the Korber 304 House.  I am considering buying one, but I have not finished my plans.  I would like to have a 6 to 8 stall house.  Thanks, Pat B.

>>>I have always thought about a turntable and wanted to know the pros and cons and difficulty involved with installation of a turntable. THis is a 24" Atlas #6910. The store where I inquired about the Atlas said he was not sure exactly the difficulty and how exactly track ( scaletrax ) would work.<<