Big Boy Turntable,roundhouse

[pappywolf]

I know I am a pain, Who sells a turntable and roundhouse that will fit a Big Boy and other large engines. Thanks again

 

[jbaakko]

I know I am a pain, Who sells a turntable and roundhouse that will fit a Big Boy and other large engines. Thanks again

Walthers has a 130' one you can buy, if thats not enough use CMR. There's another company too, but I cannot find the link...

 

[pappywolf]

Thanks Josh for the info, I will check it out. Later

 

[Cjcrescent]

Bowser makes a turntable as well. It can be had up to 135' I believe.

UP had some problems when turning their "big" engines on their standard turntables which were in place before this loco arrived. Rather than to rebuild a turntable, they would empty out the cistern, (tank), of the engine, place the engine on the table, with the overhang on the tender end. They would then jack up the rear end of the tender enough to clear the rails and turn it that way.

 

[pappywolf]

They did all that just to turn the engines around ? Are you saying they also unhooked the tender then just turned the engine ? Thats alot of work ! Thanks for the new info !!!

 

[pappywolf]

Sorry , I miss read your email. Still turning those engines + tenders must have taken a long time. Did they have roundhouses just for those big boys ?

 

[Cjcrescent]

They did all that just to turn the engines around ? Are you saying they also unhooked the tender then just turned the engine ? Thats alot of work ! Thanks for the new info !!!

I am not aware of them unhooking the tender and turning each separately. They just drained all the water from the tenders tank and then jacked the rear up. This was only done rarely as most of the time there were other ways to turn these monsters.

 

[jbaakko]

Such as a fairly BIG wye...

 

[RexHea]

Walthers has a 130' one you can buy, if thats not enough use CMR. There's another company too, but I cannot find the link...

I think Walthers also has a roundhouse that has extensions for added depth.
Here is a link for CMR turntables: http://www.custommodelrailroads.com/turntable.html
I built their 120' TT and it wasn't that hard to do. You just need to be careful and align the sidewalls of the pit perfectly. The kits are made of clear acrylic plastic parts;they're easy to work with, but hard on the eyes. Very friendly people to work with if you have any problems.

 

[GandyDancer]

There's another company too, but I cannot find the link...

The other company would be Diamond Scale. The hobby leader in turntables for many years. http://www.diamond-scale.com/place_order.asp

 

[pappywolf]

If you wanted to build on from scratch, where would you find drawings or blueprints. I like building in wood. Bridges,buildings all kinds of stuff with detail and weathering. thanks all

 

[nobullchitbids]

U.P. turntables big enough to accommodate Big Boys were located at Cheyenne, Green River, Ogden, and Los Angeles, although Big Boys apparently never traveled to the far west.

Turntables on the Eastern Division were long enough to accommodate "little" Challengers and Nines -- why these were equipped with such dinky tenders -- but not the later Challengers. When the larger Challengers ventured east, they would have to be turned by the "jack-'em-up" method previously described, which was possible because of the centipede design of their trailing wheels.

For photos of the Ogden table, see Emil Albrecht's Union Pacific Small Steam Power, which despite the name includes many photos of 4-8-4s and 2-10-2s. Some are depicted riding the table.

 

[HaggisKennedy]

There are not a whole lot of places to turn the largest UP steamers. Most of the time, they turn on a wye, unless they're at a roundhouse.

One of the things that Steve Lee has said that folks don't realize when they clamor for restoring a Big Boy is that there's no turning facilities out there left that one would fit. The only one is at the Cheyenne roundhouse, I think. Remember, they didn't wander outside of this area.

Kennedy

 

[unionpacific4018]

UP Turntable blueprints

If you wanted to build on from scratch, where would you find drawings or blueprints. I like building in wood. Bridges,buildings all kinds of stuff with detail and weathering. thanks all

Join the yahoo group up_modelers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/up_modelers

Then under FILES in a folder called LARAMIE WYO UPRR COALMONT BRANCH there are 4 or 5 drawings of the blueprints for the 135' turntables that were installed at Laramie, Green River and Ogden

I printed mine off on a plotter in 24x36 size pretty cool to have

Sean