Jump to content
 
  • entries
    192
  • comments
    1,001
  • views
    174,367

Bristol Barrow Road - Turntable Pit for 60ft Cowans Sheldon turntable

barrowroad

Entry posted by barrowroad

1,815 views

 Share

I have been at Railex all weekend helping to operate our S4 group layout Brinkley. One of the highlights of my weekend was collecting the Turntable Pit for the 60ft Cowens Sheldon turntable used in the roundhouse.

 

Thanks are due to Morgan Gilbert for all his hard work with the design and the CAD modelling and to Phil Hutfield for producing the turntable pit on a CNC machine out of an acrylic polymer - [brand with-held].

 

I have attached some photgraphs which show the pit in position. Of note are the series of steps in the pit floor which fall from the perimeter and the centre to a drainage channel. Laser cut 10thou card overlays will form the pit floor of circular rings of engineering bricks and another overlay will also form the vertical wall of the perimeter.

 

Also of note is the10mm cut out in the pit wall - on the prototype this is used as an access point to inspect between the plate girders of the turntable bridge. The method adopted involved a member of the shed maintenance staff squatting in this recess and waiting for the bridge to be turned and positioned with end of the bridge girders either side of the recess - he could then climb out and carry out any inspection and maintenance work to the inside of the plate girders.

 

This photo shows the access recess between shed roads 4 and 5.

 

blogentry-6970-0-73592900-1338240252_thumb.jpg

 

Anyway here are the photos;-

 

This is the underside of the turntable pit.

 

blogentry-6970-0-06386900-1338240403_thumb.jpg

 

and the top:-

 

blogentry-6970-0-96172700-1338240503_thumb.jpg

 

and with the inspection pits in position:-

 

blogentry-6970-0-99923400-1338240559_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-6970-0-09980100-1338240612_thumb.jpg

 

blogentry-6970-0-36964000-1338240646_thumb.jpg

  • Like 14
 Share

10 Comments

Recommended Comments

Chris Nevard

It's a pretty good looking piece of engineering, and having seen it for real I think it will still be around several 1000 years from now, definitely a proper job!

Link to comment
-missy-

Hello.

 

As with Chris, I saw this for real at the weekend and there is no denying its well built! It's an interesting choice of material too. I am very tempted to try out a few things using it.

 

Missy :)

Link to comment
JeffP

Superb. I keep forgetting to look at this since it became a blog, but it continues to excel.

Link to comment
  • RMweb Gold
Captain Kernow
  • RMweb Gold

Incredible the advances made in engineering and materials in the last few years! The whole scene is looking amazing, what a layout this is going to be when it's finished!

Link to comment
craigwelsh

Pity about the holes in it, looked like it was going to make a lovely bird bath ;).

 

Its a very nice bit of work by the useful Hutfield though it did weigh a fair bit!

 

Laser cut card sounds a less laborious solution to the brickwork than the individual chits!

Link to comment
45609

Yes indeed it does Craig. I'm still suffering from PTSD after doing all the chads on Brinkley's turntable........wibble!

Link to comment
BAJ

A great job...I remember the turntable well in the 1950's I visited the shed most days over the back wall and into the cab of 41879!!!

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...