Today I painted the Newburg roundhouse "Module" with a flat black oil base to seal the plywood. The scratchbuilt turntable is done now, except for fitting a crank to it. Roundhouse leads and tracks are laid and wiring dropped from them. After the yards are done, I will marry up the roundhouse module with the main benchwork and join up lead tracks. I'm sure there will be another lead on each side of the turntable also. I cut a piece of solid Oak for the core of the turntable bridge and used two Micro Engineering 85' through girder bridge kits for the sides. I really never liked this style of turntable because it covers up the engine, but it is Frisco, so here goes. I have some large sheets of Evergreen siding coming from Walthers for the roundhouse. The "footings" are in place and the inspection pits cut out and the concrete (drywall compound) floor will be poured. Got a ways to go, but progress is coming along here and there.
The mechanism is the same one I used on my old turntable that I built back in the '60s. It's a worm and gear from an old Lincoln windshield wiper motor. A friend of mine was a Lincoln Mercury mechanic back then and that's what he used on his turntable and got me one for mine. My old TT was built from a series of articles in old MR mags, the Great South Pass. This one is a true 100' table and the center bearing is an aluminum hub that I bored out to fit two ball bearing assemblies for 1/4" shaft with a roller thrust bearing assy on top of the rollers. Spins like a top, except now the wipers drag on the ring rail and slow it down. I'm using a split ring rail for pickup, which worked fine on the old one and DC. I haven't powered this up on DCC yet to see how it will do. May have to put a reversing unit on it.
That looks really nice. You have done a great job on it and I only wish I had half the talent you have. Steve
Looks great, Don. It is a far, far cry from the old Heljan unit I had on my old HO setup. I never could get that to spin real free. Dan
Re: Newburg turntable-Update I've built walls and trusses for the B&B gang to assemble into the 11 stall Newburg roundhouse and have some of them sitting here temporarily to gauge how it's going to look. Everything is made from Evergreen styrene with Grandt Line windows. I've exercised my modeler's license again to not include the blank area at the end of the roundhouse like Newburg had and have shortened the distance from the turntable pit to the front of the house to conserve some space. I've also flipped the house for when it is attached to the main layout benchwork. Prototypically the roundhouse would be "butted" up against the yards but that would put the turntable waaay out away from the benchwork. I guess you gotta cheat sometimes.
Don - Durn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! A superb example of "functional modeling" (I think that's the Richard Napper quote I remember from an old MR GP38 article) where 100% fidelity might need to take a back seat to a functional layout (e.g. easier access to the turntable). Well done...well done. Looking forward to more.
Don - Nice! When was the Newburg roundhouse taken out? I first visited Newburg in the spring of 1961. I don't recall seeing it there, but perhaps it was. My first visit to Newburg was not associated with anything SLSF - we went down there on a Sunday evening to fill our starving MSM Miner appetites with some good Houston House food, including their great biscuits and apple butter. When I first saw the Frisco yard there, I new I'd be back many times! It was a great combination - Houston House meals and the Frisco in Newburg - all on a Miner budget. Spent lots of time there with both. Can't find value like that anywhere today! Ken
that model looks sweet. i would love to get a pic of the whole thing when your done. so i can put it up in blues market (in newburg) for everyone to see what it looked like. my question is are you doing the first round house or the second. because there were 2 in newburg..
I'm doing the second house, which was wood. The first one was brick and I think they salvaged some bricks from it to build the Lyric theatre. I'd love to find more pictures of the wood roundhouse and the big depot before they remodeled it (and ruined it in the process) back in the early '40s. The depot will be the next project when the roundhouse is finished but will look like it did when it was a Harvey House.
Don, great work! I thought all the real modelers were gone but there is still one craftsman in the hobby. You. Thanks for the inspiration. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Naw, they're out there, just gotta flush em out. I've seen some of Brad's work and it's very good also. It just takes patience, determination and a fire in the belly, none of which I have, to make it. I get by on stubborness.
Dang, I forgot about Slone. You are right, there are at least two modelers out there. Today's structures are nice and some are even built for you but I like to see signature structures like yours. More pix, more pix. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
The B&B gang was on site today erecting walls of the Newburg roundhouse. Windows have been glazed, trusses permanently set and now it's time to work on the doors and the "front" wall above the doors as well as more bracing in the rafters. The steel blocks are holding walls plumb until the glue cures.
