walthers 130' HO TURNTABLE

[thomas81z]

ok , i have noticed that they seemed to be permently backordered and also i havent seen many on ebay:( man i want one for my layout .... but 300 bucks owwwwch:mad:
does anybody here have one???? if so are they as good as advertised??? and any leads on finding one would be appreciated, thanks:D

[jbaakko]

They're awesome, I dunno if $300 is "worth it" but yeah. I've been looking for the smaller one for my dad's layout.

[Cjcrescent]

... any leads on finding one would be appreciated, thanks:D

Tom;

This is our LHS here in B'ham. He had one as of 3 days ago.

http://www.oakmountainhobbies.com/

[Trucula]

I think I saw one at Mainline Hobby in Blue Ridge Summit ,Pa last time I was there. www.mainlinehobby.com

[RexHea]

Look on the Walthers site and see what Hobby shops bought them and the date. Sometimes they order them for a potential customer that doesn't come through or just for stock. Check the list and give'um a call.

[modelbob]

They're out of production and hard to find.

I finally got mine at a hobby shop in Portland, OR, last one he had. I paid nearly list price for it. I'd been waiting for them to go on sale, but never saw them marked down anywhere.

It's a nice turntable, and it has the built in indexing system. That's what makes it worth the $300 price tag. It's pretty decent looking too, with moderately good details and everything looks pretty close to scale.

I don't know why they stopped making them, they seemed to sell pretty well.

[jbaakko]

I don't know why they stopped making them, they seemed to sell pretty well.
Heck thats Walthers for you, they don't seem to have much of a grasp on supply & demand, though they claim to...

Perfect example, the steel mills!

[RexHea]

...Perfect example, the steel mills!

Yeah, I was really surprised at that. I don't know of any other (full) steel mill kit out there. I know it is big, fairly expensive, but they did sell. I guess it didn't meet Sonny's or the bean counters new profit margin.

[jbaakko]

well I can imagine it cost a bit to make, but when they sell upwards of $500 on eBay!

[RexHea]

$500? Yikes!
About the turntable, it is a shame because when I was building my CMR turntable at $158, it was going to cost an additional $379 for a motor with indexing controls. You can see that the Walthers was a bargain.
(no, I just went with a Dayton gear motor and a loco decoder for mine at an additional $60.;) :D )

[thomas81z]

yeah i built cmr turntable and i didnt like it , its just taking up space till i can get the walthers

[RexHea]

Hmmm! Well, if it works, you shouldn't have any problem selling it to buy a Walthers.

[Espeefan]

Our club has the big turntable, and it is sweet. The indexing system is easy to set up, and the operation in pretty much flawless. They are sold out and I don't know if/when Walthers will do them again. BTW guys, it isn't Walthers fault that they're hard to find. They sold out very quickly. With any project in our little hobby most manufacturers make what they think will sell immediately, because that's where they make their profits...on the initial run. Leftovers that sit on the shelves suck up the profits on the item, and no profits equals no business to make us more neat toys. Economics 101. Brass importers figured this out years ago, and so did the folks at Life Like before the Walthers buyout. If you see something you really want or need these days, it's best to go for it right away. Waiting for it do be marked down is a dangerous business, and you'll probably end up dissapointed!

[CSX_road_slug]

... If you see something you really want or need these days, it's best to go for it right away. Waiting for it do be marked down is a dangerous business, and you'll probably end up dissapointed!

Amen to that, Alan! That's exactly why I bought the last Valley Cement kit that M.B. Klein had on their shelf, even though I don't currently have space for it on my layout. I learned that lesson with another discontinued kit that I was forced to scratchbuild.

[RexHea]

Fellows, since we are on the subject of turntables and indexing, unless you want the gadgetry and you don't mind paying out a bunch of cash, there is another way if you're DCC.

This is not unique by any means, but I hooked a cheap mobile decoder in the power feed to the motor of my turntable. It has a programmed number that any hand throttle can call up. The speed of the turntable is controlled by you via the throttle and as you near the track you want, just slow it down to a snails pace and easily stop at the track alignment. No more toggling and jumping past the track.

I have used this method for about two years now and I am very pleased with the performance. It's a cheap way to accurately align your TT track without any hassle. The only drawback is that you must be able to see the track. Thank you "Teffy" (another forum) for talking me into using this method.:)

[Myowngod]

I have the Walthers 90' index turntable, but have yet to install it. Soon I hope. The yard is getting very close to being started. Unfortunately, the yard is the highest part of the layout and I don't want to cover up the lower levels until they are running perfect.

It's just aching to get out of that box and be installed... just look at it.
5907

I think everyone wants at least one turntable in their life...right? this will be my first. I'll be devirginized soon.:D

[Play-Doh]

IM in a similiar boat. Im on a budget, and ive been killing myself trying to find a turntable, manual OR powered for under $100. Now, I know about the Atlas cheapy, but my HO 2-10-2 is 13 & 1/2 inches long. I would need a 14" minimum. The atlas only measures 9". Im in a real pickle and yard construction starts in July.

So if you guys see or know of something let me know PLEASE!!

TJ

[CIOR]

I bought the thing when it first came out. It set on the upper deck of the layout in the box until I had to move it to finish the trackwork up there.

I now have the 130' table installed and really like it. The indexing though can get a little off, but its a small tweak to get it back.
I almost went Rex's route and bought the other table, use a decoder with a motor.
But then Walthers released theirs.

[Play-Doh]

Question:

How neccesary is an indexing system? Can a manual turntable usually line up by "eyeballing" it and not caus a derail? Is an indexing system exclusive to the DCC or can it be used on DC?

Any help would be great!!

TJ

[RexHea]

TJ, sure you can line-up by eyeballing. The only locos that I have experienced that the alignment is critical are the Steamers and particularly the pilots on them. My diesels will usually pull the rail in a tad without any problem, but you should be able to get it near perfect anyhow... for all of them.;) :)

[CIOR]

I agree with Rex, alot of times I will manually fit a rail up on the TT. The TT rails should be filed slightly, and if you do the same to the approach rails, then you won't have any issues. I also agree, we had some steam over this weekend for a RUN IT ALL session, and found that the pilots on steamers are PICKY.

[brubakes]

Is this the turntable you are asking about?

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2829

[Red Oak & Western]

brubakes: Yes.

Bet the reason it's out of stock is that it was on sale for $229 in Walther's October flyer. I almost ordered one, but 130' is too large. I've been waiting for them to put the 90' on sale.

[sinebar]

ok , i have noticed that they seemed to be permently backordered and also i havent seen many on ebay:( man i want one for my layout .... but 300 bucks owwwwch:mad:
does anybody here have one???? if so are they as good as advertised??? and any leads on finding one would be appreciated, thanks:D

I got mine friday. Paid about $235 for it. I got it in place but haven't hooked it up yet. It nice but will be a little bit of a challenge getting it lined up with the round house.