A nifty design element for 'Micro' layouts...

[flexible_coupling]

I was doing a bit of a dig through Wikipedia/Google for some interesting ideas for construction of a small end-of-the-line station, as I'm not blessed with age or the correct geographical location to have ever visited the UK - while looking at the railways of the Isle of Wight, I came across a curiousity at Bembridge station;

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bembridge/bembridge_old7.jpg

 

A small turntable used to replace a turnout at the end of the runaround loop at a station... a godsend of a "prototype for everything" for anyone shoehorning something into a small space that wishes to have a bit of genuine operational interest! Not that I particularly need another corruption, but a very compact O-scale layout utilizing a traverser at one end (obscured by a road over-bridge perhaps?) to negate a couple of turnouts, and an operational miniature turntable at the other could be a lot of fun. The photo suggests a goods siding parallel to the station/runaround loop too...

[Gordon A]

From memory turntables were used at the end of loops in some East coast (UK) branch line termini as well.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

[flexible_coupling]

 

Quickly threshed-out O-scale plan with some similarities to Bembridge. The traverser would act as the 'other end' of the runaround loop, as well as obviously offering train storage. A train turntable could be substituted in that position. A rudimentary siding for goods is provided... I could imagine an unorthodox goods shed or coal staithes located on the return curve transitioning into the straight of the siding. The footprint is "six squares" for the purpose of making it a bit of a challenge. Curve radius is 4' as I've drawn it - not much reason why that couldn't be massaged out further if desired... it's intended for 24" of clear length of station and allow a loco to run around - I expect two small branchline coaches would fit in that space. Water tower and a small gangers shed at the end of the platform - either a signal box or another shed or out-building of some kind on the other side. I imagine a road over-bridge providing a visual break at the gap between traverser and scenic area. Just an idea 

[smiths park]

Rothbury in Northumberland had the same, plus the addition of one road on the turntable going to the shed.

[Mike]

My Spinners End layout (0) had this arrangement,

[Saddletank]

Bembridge has been a favourite of layout planners for a long time, it would appear. I believe a representation of the station in shown in the Peco OO planbook, though that plan and its illustration doesn't quite capture the nicely cramped nature shown in your photograph.

 

On similar lines (no pun intended) Noch now produces a sector plate table which does much the same function as the Bembridge turntable. One of the British modelling magazines created a small industrial shunting layout last year utilising one quite effectively.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi all,

Not 0 scale but H0, http://www.noch.com/en/produktkatalog/artikel_detail_neu.php?noch_artikelid=0066250

Oops! Saddletank just beat me with this!

Note the price: €249, OUCH!!!

A better option might be to cut down a Peco table, perhaps?

Cheers,

John E.

[flexible_coupling]

My Spinners End layout (0) had this arrangement,

shepshed6.jpg

Mike, I don't suppose you happen to have any other snaps of this fine looking little layout? That was precisely what I was imagining... mirrored left-to-right!

[Mike]

OK, here's a couple or three photos and the track plan. The engine shed and carriage shed are accessed via the traverser.

 

 

 

 

 

[switcher 1]

More info can be found at these links, a brilliant 0 gauge layout.

 

The thread,

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42524-spinners-end/

& pictures,

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=spinners+end+0+gauge+layout&client=firefox-a&hs=ds&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hPDYU_WfN4rJ0QW4uICIBQ&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=623

[Steam_Julie]

There was a siding to the covered coal wharf, which was situated past the end of the platform, on the platform side of the line too. The access point faced Benbridge.

 

Julie

 

EDIT Extra information added

[47137]

The turntable only needs to be able to move through an arc too, not go right round. This makes home construction a lot easier ... and if you decide to make one, you can make a small turntable, to suit a branch line loco, and not have to put up with the mainline-size ready-made ones.

 

The only downside I have found is if you want to use electric point motors, then you will really want to make the mechanism powered too, and this will take some working out.

 

- Richard.

[Saddletank]

The only downside I have found is if you want to use electric point motors, then you will really want to make the mechanism powered too, and this will take some working out.

That might not be too difficult, if it only has to turn through an arc you can set up the motor to cut out when the table reaches its alignment using accurately sited microswitches, through an arc of about the 20 degrees between track exits.

 

Come to think of it, if you wanted a table that can turn engines as well as moving between tracks, and were prepared to do without it turning the small arc, you could also do this with microswitches through the approx 160 degrees. I can't help but think if the railway had wanted a traverser they'd probably have used one rather than a full turntable, but then I'm not even remotely familiar with the history of the line so can't say with any certainty.

 

It's only really a problem when you want to stop at more than two track positions or turn more than 360 in either direction, i.e. one in a busy location where the table only ever gets turned one way (for whichever reason), that you would have to use some sort of indexed turntable system.

[Turin 60]

The turntable only needs to be able to move through an arc too, not go right round. This makes home construction a lot easier ... and if you decide to make one, you can make a small turntable, to suit a branch line loco, and not have to put up with the mainline-size ready-made ones.

 

The only downside I have found is if you want to use electric point motors, then you will really want to make the mechanism powered too, and this will take some working out.

 

- Richard.

Sounds like a job for suitable for a servo to me.....somehow

 

John.

[Night Train]

quickie six footer.png

 

Quickly threshed-out O-scale plan with some similarities to Bembridge. . Just an idea 

That does offer a lot of possibilities.

[CloggyDog]

In similar vein, there's also Little Binfield, Tony Dean's O gauge Col Stephens light railway terminus:

 

http://www.mmdmrc.org.uk/index.php/members-layouts/little-binfield

 

[shortliner]

...and for anyone fancying Narrow gauge, there was a Belgian layout called "Arue" - I believe the owner/builder has passed on - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=1276&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=arue&start=0  shows some photos in the 4th post down

[colin penfold]

This thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/57454-small-turntable-as-part-of-the-run-round-loop/ was prompted by the availability of an rtr sector plate in HO, but has loads of examples of this arrangement in prototype.

[47137]

Sounds like a job for suitable for a servo to me.....somehow

 

John.

If the turntable works like a sector plate and has only two entry tracks, I would look for a stall motor (like the one in a 'Tortoise' switch machine) and two adjustable end stops. This could be worked by one DPDT switch, easy to build into a lever frame or control panel. Nevertheless ... any links to self-contained servo control boards which are easy to integrate into analogue-controlled railways would be interesting. I picked up a leaflet on one of these at Ally Pally a few years ago and lost it ...

 

- Richard.

[Pacific231G]

I can remember being very struck by one of these when I was about three or four on the miniature railway at Dudley Zoo. I knew about turntables from  seeing them in loco sheds and I knew that they weren't supposed to be at the end of platforms.

 

My favourite in more modern times though I only saw it in use once and from about a hundred or more yards away was the "pont-secteur" at the seaward end of Boulogne Maritime. It was (possibly still is) there for years after the station finally closed  but in its pomp served seven tracks- an indication of how many trains might be lined up to take passengers from a couple of ferries. 

It had a curious arced buffer stop at the opposite end to the tracks which was probably a good idea as it was built right on the end of the quay.

These two photos were taken from the Speed-Ferry Catamaran in 2005.

 

 I don't think that particular arrangement was used anywhere else in France but turntables at the end of run round loops were very common

 

These tended to be right at the end of the line after the final set of points as here at Noyelles, but also at Le Crotoy and Cayeux on the Baie de Somme. It was fairly common though especially in earlier times for the turntable to replace the final set of points.

 

There is a very new example that was installed two years or so ago at St. Valery Port on the Baie de Somme. It's electrically powered and semi-automatic (i.e. it lines up automatically) and is completely inset into the ground as trucks etc do pass over it.

[Guest]

If I remember rightly, I believe the Beer Heights Light Railway at Pecorama use a turntable at one end of their station, due to the fact it's built on a hillside...

[standardblue]

Althought not a turntable, there was a traverser used for running round at Birmingham New St, see top photo here. Again, it was used as it saved space compared to the usual pointwork. I'm sure it's been modelled many times.

Not sure if a light/ ng/ industrial/ rural railway would have used one, but it's still a good prototype for a space saving run round. 

 

Also, I there's (still) a fairly big traverser at York Works, iirc, which serves several lines of the Works building. I've seen an Inglenook on Carl Ardendt's site using traversers like that.

[chaz]

The traverser at Birmingham Moor St was interesting - it had three moving tracks only one of which (the centre one) was ever used. The other two were there to "catch" any errant vehicle that would otherwise fall into the pit.

[standardblue]

I'd have sworn that I typed 'Moor'! d'oh!

 

I did see what looked like additional rails in a photo, and I did wonder what that was about. Thanks for explaining. 

[Pacific231G]

The traverser at Birmingham Moor St was interesting - it had three moving tracks only one of which (the centre one) was ever used. The other two were there to "catch" any errant vehicle that would otherwise fall into the pit.

There were two "traversing tables" of this type at Moor St.for platforms 1/2 and platform 3 and its releasing road (track 4). The layout around the second one was slightly odd as there were three tracks in front of platform three. The far one served  the goods shed and ended in a buffer stop in front of the traverser. From photos it seems that the normal position for the platform three traverser when it wasn't being used was with all three sets of rails exposed. This wouldn't have been its position for actually receiving a loco as Chaz says so presumably it was to protect the mechanism from weather.

 

When it was opened (1909 pass 1914 goods)-Moor St. seems to have been a bit of a showcase by the GWR for modern electric handling equipment. The wagon hoists are well known and nicely modelled in the P4 Moor St. layout but there were also conventional traversers in the lower goods shed and, something I've never come across anywhere else, a "bridge traverser" near the end of the sidings behind platform one. With this the thee tracks were continuous (apart from gaps for the traverser wheels to cross them) and the "bridge"  had a ramp at each end so that wagons could be pulled on or off it with electric capstans- another feature of Moor St.  There were also various electric cranes in the goods department including a travelling crane insdide the upper goods shed

 

There's a mass of data on Moor Street here http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/moorstreet-gwr-article3.htm and this site is well worth exploring as there is a lot more  including the GWR timetable instructions for operating the station including the traversing tables and a lot of the GWR's photos of the various installations. 

 

 

apart from Melbourne where they may have been used at three termini (Princess Bridge/Flinders, St.Kew and St.Kilda) and various rack railways and monorails  I'm only aware of one other passenger station that used traversing tables. This was Bastille in Paris where two of them (Voies II/III & Voies IV/V) were at the end of paired platforms and were of the same type as Moor Street with three tracks on each  table. The third connected the only platform that wasn't paired with its loco release road (Voie I & I bis) and had only two sets of rail so the platform road always had a set of rails but the releasing road didn't when the table was lined up to release a loco. This was necessary because  I bis was next to the solid wall of the train shed. The tables at Moor St. were part of the original station and there were no releasing crossovers. Those at Bastille were a later addition to maximise train lengths and the two sets of paired platform tracks also had releasing crossovers which were probably a bit quicker to operate for shorter trains.

 

Obviously the pont secteur at Boulogne presented an open  pit to every track except the one it was aligned with. I don't know what the rules were but it was a fair way from the platform ends and presumably coud be lined up with whatever track a  train was arriving on.