Turntable's edge


Z

zoegraf

Craftsman at heart
How close can a track be prototypically to the edge of a turntable; i.e. mainline or branch line track.
 
It would be at least a hundred scale feet away, unless geography or economics demand otherwise. Generally, the turntable and roundhouse were set back some ways, after water and coaling facilities, ash pit, and some other facilities. They were usually associated with a yard, so the yard tracks would force the turntable away from the main.
 
Example of turntable distance :

http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=prr;id=1;url=http://crestlineprr.com/

I don't believe that there is a specific "prototype distance" between the edge of a turntable and a main or secondary track. It depends on the locale, and the physical characteristics of the location and/or the railroad's operating practices.

At Wilmington Delaware, the closest running track was a road width from the circle (wisker - outside storage etc) track. At Stoney Creek Yard in Chester, PA, the turntable pit was a road width (16' + or -) from the Southbound Running track. At Darby Creek yard, the turntable was adjacent to the North side yard ladder, with perhaps 16' - 20' of separation by a dirt road which may have been a track at one time.

Railroads frequently built facilities with what they had available, where it was most feasible to build, and then amended their rules and practices to conform to the reality, rather than following a set of rules and policies.

Given the "limited" space available, from a model railroad standpoint, this means it has to be practical, and look right from the eyes of the builder.

Joe
 
Rarely did a protocol or policy get in the way of need when that need meant damage to the bottom line unless that need were met. If a major right of way for main line running had to run 10' away from an engine house or an interchange or a turntable, even to the extent of having large coaling towers straddling the mains, it was done. The only absolutes were the restrictions of gauge loading to ensure safe clearances.

With that said, our layouts are highly compressed representations of real railroads or notionalized ones, fanciful ones. We should do what is plausible and effective in order to keep our curves wide, or tight, to maintain clearances and ease of operations, and to be able to close loops of main track if that type of running is an important component of what each of us terms 'fun'.
 
Well the best I could do after tweaking my track plan was to give a clearance of 17 feet between edge of track and the pits' wall.

Also about 2/14" inches from the module's edges factoring in the 3/4 inch fascia.

Also I managed of have 16 ft of clearance for corner of engine shed to edge of tracks on both sides of it.

Minimum radius on this module(s) is 36 and max 47. Good for my largest steam loco, which is a 2-8-2.
 
zoegraf said:
Well the best I could do after tweaking my track plan was to give a clearance of 17 feet between edge of track and the pits' wall.

Also about 2/14" inches from the module's edges factoring in the 3/4 inch fascia.

Also I managed of have 16 ft of clearance for corner of engine shed to edge of tracks on both sides of it.

Minimum radius on this module(s) is 36 and max 47. Good for my largest steam loco, which is a 2-8-2.
Click to expand...

The diagram looks good - everything appears to fit. 16' - 17' is a reasonable distance. Same with the distance to the edge. Now to apply the plan to the foam........
 
WJLI26 said:
The diagram looks good - everything appears to fit. 16' - 17' is a reasonable distance. Same with the distance to the edge. Now to apply the plan to the foam........
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if I should paint the foam with a white or light neutral colour then start drawing my plan on it?

I 'm putting on the ends soon and will cut the foam to fit tonight...
 
zoegraf said:
I'm wondering if I should paint the foam with a white or light neutral colour then start drawing my plan on it?

I 'm putting on the ends soon and will cut the foam to fit tonight...
Click to expand...

What I did was paint the foam a light "earthy" brown color. Not dark enough to obscure outlining the track plan, but earth color enough that it looks decent until scenery is applied.

Joe
 
I just finished laying mine out. It's close to the mains but not to close ;)

turntable_17.jpg
 
I have never heard of any standards. I guess you put it where it will work the best. I have looked on google earth at numerous turntables and it appears that almost nothing looks similar, even on the same railroad.
 
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