LRM 50' Turntable

[Rowsley17D]

The London Road instructions for the kit are modest at best, so I thought I would try and help fellow modellers by writing a thread on my build.

I decided to make the Centre Box first as once folded up it just needs soldering in each corner. The slots in each end needs a few stokes of a file to allow the provided 1/8" brass rod to slide into them. The 5 half-etched holes on each side were drilled 0.5mm

 

The 2 side girders were tackled next. The inner plate-work panels are kept together and the riveted frames put over them using 0.5mm wire to keep them in line with one another. Soldering was done from the middle to the outside

 

 

A test fit to the Centre Box was made to ensure all was well. Don't solder.

 

Next was to solder the base flanges to the side girders. There are two sizes of these and they is a large one bottom left of this photo and 4 on the right.

 

 

These need to be folded in half and soldered along one edge first. One of the small ones goes in the centre. The longer ones need bending slightly to follow the line of the girder. Although I put flanges all the way along the girder you only have to remove the end 9mm later so it's best to leave 9mm at the end of the girder without a flange at this stage rather than remove it later. I've now run out of photo space, so more soon.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

One of the girders with its flange.

 

Both done. As you can see I didn't leave 9mm flange-free. Only discovering I needed to remove it later on. Another test fit to Centre Box.

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

Next was to fabricate the wheel carriers. The holes in them are opened out to 2mm to take the brass rod provided for the axles. This is one next to the diagram of the etch that it comes from with its overlays soldered in place. Be careful to solder them to the correct side. There is a helpful diagram in the instructions.

 

 

After folding up and reinforce soldering of the folds here is what it should look like.

 

 

That's all I had time for this week. More next time.

Edited May 4, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Mikkel]

Thanks for taking the time to document this, very useful.

[Rowsley17D]

The carrier wheels are made as instructed. While on a M2 bolt I put them in my mini drill and rounded them off with a file. The assemblies were screwed to the deck.

 

 

Two sizes of angle irons are included to go on the edges of the deck. I used the larger size for strength. The deck supports were added. These go over the 0.5mm wires sticking out of the deck girders and attach underneath the angel iron. I only soldered them at the angle iron end as the join cannot be seen unlike my first try in with the far right one. The spare wire ends were trimmed back to look like bolts.

 

The push bars were cut from the etch. Here is what you are looking for.

 

 

And trimmed like the right-hand one otherwise they will foul the wheel carriers.

 

 

The push levers mounting plates were sweated to the deck but I put the levers to one side until all was finished as they would only get knocked and bent. The locking lever assembly was made next. The lever strip guides are folded as below.

 

 

The V hangers trimmed as below.

 

 

Then the guide strips attached.

 

 

The support brackets were folded up. The instructions say to make up the assembly and fit it to the deck but this is very fiddley and needs two pairs of hands. To make thing easier I first attached the V hanger to the deck.

 

 

The locking lever was added.

 

 

Then the support bracket soldered to the girder.

 

 

That's all for now.

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

10thou strips of Plastikard were super glued in the half etched section of the table bridge and track laid using C&L bridge chairs which were not provided in the kit. Each rail was bonded by decoder wire to the copper-clad that the wheel carriers are screwed to - one rail bonded to one copper-clad.

 

The last bit of work for this week was on the well of the TT. With the table in position I marked off with a pencil the arcs made the carrier wheels. The rails were laid in 4 isolated sections, two opposite each other being 50mm in length. You can just make out 2 of the plastic fishplates in the bottom section of the well. The table was put in place to make sure the wheels do travel on the rail. Some tweeking was needed to the carriers. A power lead was then attached to each of the longer rail arcs. Power to the bridge track is via the well rail and the carrier wheels, hence the 50mm dead sections to prevent shorts.  Once the chairs had bonded to the well, it was sprayed with Halfords' plastic primer and glued and weighted in place on the layout until next week.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Rowsley17D]

The end of the build is just about in sight. I did not buy handrail stanchions at the time but are now on order and will be fitted before painting.

 

 

 

I bought the motorising kit a 12V motor and a coupling link. Even at 7V it turns too quickly, so I may use an old DC controller. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[Ben Alder]

I use a Gaugemaster panel controller with a brake and find I can get speed down to next to nothing with it.

[Rowsley17D]

I took the bridge part of the turntable back to the work home where the handrail stanchions had arrived from LRM. I got them soldered on and found I had left the wire cutters at our other home. I had taken Halford's grey etch primer and Humbrol tank grey with me so I gave the bridge a spray. I then realised I had not soldered the push bars to the deck! Oh well, I'll glue them on when I take it back to the layout, no glue here either!

 

 

[Michael Edge]

Why not use the loco controller for the turntable? There's one of these tables at Garsdale on the Carlisle layout which has the DCC address 50 (Upperby shed table is 70), on my own Herculaneum Dock the Brunswick shed table has its own section. In all cases the loco controller is used to drive the table round, the 60ft table at Brunswick has to be aligned by eye ( easy because the operator is looking down on it), the others have stops fitted. They only serve one through track and can only rotate through 180 degrees, with DCC they have two fixed wires for the track, no wipers or contacts of any sort.

[polybear]

Incidentally, LRM had a sign on their stand at ExpoEM yesterday, mentioning that a 60ft table was under development

[Rowsley17D]

9 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

Why not use the loco controller for the turntable? There's one of these tables at Garsdale on the Carlisle layout which has the DCC address 50 (Upperby shed table is 70), on my own Herculaneum Dock the Brunswick shed table has its own section. In all cases the loco controller is used to drive the table round, the 60ft table at Brunswick has to be aligned by eye ( easy because the operator is looking down on it), the others have stops fitted. They only serve one through track and can only rotate through 180 degrees, with DCC they have two fixed wires for the track, no wipers or contacts of any sort.

 

There's a thought, Michael, I have a spare non-sound decoder so I might get it fixed up. Thanks.

[Michael Edge]

It works very well - it does need a reversing module as well of course, the Upperby one uses the same one that switches the Maryport & Carlisle return loops on the layout. It's very unlikely that both would be required to operate simultaneously.

[Rowsley17D]

Thanks to a suggestion by Michael Edge the turntable motor has been wired u to a spare non-sound decoder. It works a treat as it can be turned dead slow to enable the deck to be a-lined by eye as it's near the main control panel. The handrail stanchions arrived and have been fitted. I made a ring of Plastikard which I have scribed to represent edging stones and have put sleeper timbers between the approach tracks. Weathering was done with Humbrol powders. It's beginning to look the part now.