I'll show you how I built a homemade HO railroad turntable for my small switching layout. Link to Part 2: • DIY Turntable Part 2 Part 3: • Make your own HO turnt...
Honestly, this is the best video I've ever seen on how to make a turntable. It looks so damn simple and effective that even I am confident enough to try it.
Wow, thanks Mitchell! For me it was necessary to at least try it because the turntable was an afterthought on my small layout, and none of the commercial kits was small enough to fit in the space. Plus I only have small engines. Go for it!
Kevin, thank you... Blessings! I got a chuckle. Have to disagree on the genius thing. I should have planned better from the beginning so I wouldn't have had to do the diy thing. Now, I really need to finish up the details I started!
What a simple and straightforward solution for a small area. Outstanding and you can bet I will use this brilliant idea in my next micro layout. Thank you for sharing this.
UK viewer here trying to get ideas for a DIY turntable as all the off-the-shelf ones are too large. Very simple and effective build. I'd like sound fitted locos to remain live though. Thanks for the video!
Thanks Steve! Yes, the continuous power feeds will complicate the wiring, but perhaps you could look into some small modules that get used for reversing loop polarity changes. I'm currently going in the opposite direction and installing battery power "dead rail" to ease the amount of track cleaning and interruptions I was getting with DCC.
Brilliant craftsmanship. I wanted to build my own but chose to buy an Atlas turntable and plan to add details and weathering with paints. You gave me some creative ideas. Thanks.
Hello, I wanted to add turntable to my layout because I see that not having one, and running pre 1930 steam locomotives makes operations a little tedious if they always run tender first 😂 I'll take inspirations to kitbash my own with some spare wood I have in my attic, just like you did :)
Have fun, and good luck with your project! I could not find anything commercially to fit my space, so DIY was the only option for me. My locos are all small vs steam.
@@StanFerris I wanted to make a turntable that sits on a board, and not one that you cut a whole on your layout to fit a well. Also, turntables are quite pricey, even kits, so making one for cheap is also a nice bonus. I would never get the hornby turntable, its to big and clunky for my layout and it takes forever to spin 180*
well done. I am building a track and adding a turntable. I have been struggling with reverse polarity issues but your elegantly simple contacts eliminate any polarity issues. Nice work.
Hi John! The downside is the interruption of power to a dcc sound card. But I have the sounds turned way down anyway, as it gets annoying on my small layout. Post another comment or link here when you get yours done!
Hi Kevin! Please do, and perhaps you can post any improvements on the design you come up with. I've been busy with a kitchen remodel and some 7.5" gauge train stuff, so I haven't finished adding any more details to my turntable.
you are very good person and very ingenious to my megustan to be the same but I have enough to fix saxophones and it is very expensive in tools and other things thanks from orlando eternal health
So there are two contact points on opposite sides of the turntable and in the base which connect power to the rails on both ends when the table track is aligned with the spur track. Once you start spinning the table, the power is disconnected until the table is realigned with the spur track 180 deg offset. If I needed to intersect more tracks like for a roundhouse or something, I'd have to add additional contacts in the base for power to the table track.
@@StanFerris If you're thinking that you could build a fully animatronic HO-scale robot man to push the turntable around, then your "simple" turntable may have jumped the shark. 😂 By the way, when I said hand-cranked, I should have said "hand-operated" or really even leg-operated. There's a handle at each end of the turntable and two guys push on them to turn the loco. I thought this was restricted to small turntables but, when I searched RU-vid for a video, the first hit was this one of a six-axle diesel being turned in Sri Lanka: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c6iGWWFoNU0.html
Of course. Cut them by hand with a small saw or with a jig saw. Then to get smooth circles, use a drill or a drill press to spin them and with a file or sandpaper block work the edges until perfectly round. Check out my video on cutting circles on a table saw, or one I just put up on jigsaws!
Well, this is a very stupid idea...why not take the locomotive and swap it around manually... i guess the comments are mostly ironical. Not using a motor and control cirìcuits are not an option for most model railroaders.
As I get older it's a bit more of a fiddle to get the locos and cars back on the rails, so the TT helps me out with that. But mostly it was a fun project for me to design and build to my limited space. If you have the room and desire for a larger one then there's no need to diy one. Cheers!
