Model Railroading > Turntable Construction

I found a brief story in a magazine article about the construction of the 1/2-inch scale turntable my grandfather constructed for his live steam basement railroad...Details of Turntable The turntable is quite a piece of work in itself. It is built true to scale and contains nearly 2,000 rivets in the steel girder structure. It has a planked deck and pipe hand rails which necessitated the making of 32 small pipe hangers, 32 crosses and 30 tees, the pipe being stock brass tubing. The power for the motor which is geared to drive wheels is brought in by overhead wires through a distributor in much the same manner as is done for the full-size table. The motor is reversible and permits the table to be turned in any direction. It took several months of spare-time work to build but was a necessary gadget and gave very little trouble in the 30 years it had been in use.
The motor was from an old Ives model train.  The transformer for power was also an old Ives unit.

KRK

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That's really cool Ken. Thanks for sharing.  Any idea what happened to it?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Boy, that was real modeling!

I'll tell you.  If I wore a coat and tie to do my work...I would be caught in a drill or saber saw.

It's amazing how folks dressed back in those days.  Anywhere you went, the men were in suits, ties and a hat.  Women in dresses and most likely a hat.  Even at baseball games and sporting events.  It is kind of unusual that he would wear that in his own house.
I remember going to the airport and everyone was all dressed up.
In today's world, any airport looks like an urban bus depot.  Says something about America, but I'm not sure just what.

Frisco 1522 said:
Says something about America, but I'm not sure just what.
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"Slovenly" comes to mind. "Tasteless" might, as well.


KRK, your grandpa was an amazing guy, as were his creations.  Wish he were still around so I could meet him.
Thanks for posting...

-Tom

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/15 14:15 by Sasquatch.

Ken what ever happened to all the equipment ? I sure hope that turntable is still around someplace it's a work of art.

Warren

Sasquatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Frisco 1522 said:
> Says something about America, but I'm not sure
> just what.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> "Slovenly" comes to mind. "Tasteless" might, as
> well.
>
>
> KRK, your grandpa was an amazing guy, as were his
> creations.  Wish he were still around so I could
> meet him.
> Thanks for posting...
>
> -Tom
>
>  
Great work ...

It reminds me of the picture I saw of a few students taking a picture with president Bush and one of them had flip flops on....truly different times...

Wearing a coat and tie in those days was standard fare. I can recall back in the forties when my dad and mom would set up the train and tree for Christmas and my dad would wear his vest and tie just like when he came home from work. Those were the days and I miss them very much.

Jim
hatboro, PA​

That is the most beautiful turntable I've ever seen.  

The more casual style of dress that we currently have is not limited to just the U.S.; it is worldwide.  Maybe styles will change back to a more formal look at some point.  I think all agree that the more formal look was much nicer and in some way showed more respect for society in general.

Warren



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/15 08:25 by warrenpweiss.

Years go by, and I still can't get past "live steam in the basement". I love it!!