Garden Railway Forum

Great idea with the turntable so it drains water

Again, the pit and steam up area all fit in very well into your garden so well done - proper job!

Great job! Clever idea to make the base concave for drainage.

Rik

Love your turntable, nice work.

After all these years I should be used to it by now, but I still get surprised how many tools it takes to complete a job. It's only when it is time to put everything away it becomes obvious.
Nice work there, the turntable and pit are a great addition to your line.

Hi guys next step completed during a sunny if a bit windy spell, thank for your interest. I am winging it a bit here never built a turntable before, however its become very obvious to me if a bit late that this really needs to be far more accurately made than i first visualized, but hit on the idea of making a roller guide with two flanges on the wheel with centre pin it worked a treat.
I turned 16 small brass buttons each exactly 5mm high with a 3mm spigot to drop into the holes drilled on the circumference of the track line. I bent the track sections by hand until they just sprung slightly outside the circle then used the roller guide to pull the track over the buttons then soldered them one by one to the track the result is all but perfectly true circle its under tension but the track can be just popped out if need be for cleaning or any future service work Result delighted but if i were to make another one i would have finished this all in the workshop before fitting it outside.


Next job the bridge itself this will be interesting
Steph and Gloria

Looking forward to the bridge build...in the process of doing one myself...

A very ingenious technique, I am particularly interested in this as I am planning a turntable for my line's extension.
One question, what are you proposing to do about water drainage from the turntable pit? I have thought about putting a slight fall on mine and a drain hole but then that will throw out the table balance unless some awkward packing under the ring rail is introduced. Being naturally lazy I'm always looking for an easy way out.