Big Train Tours: Round & Round - The Colorado Railroad Museum's Turntable
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2020
- Join Colorado Railroad Museum Executive Director Paul Hammond for a Virtual Tour! Part of the Museum’s new “Still Working On The Railroad” initiative. Each tour will focus on a different piece of historic equipment in the Colorado Railroad Museum’s collection: this week we're going for a spin on the Museum's Turntable!
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Filmed & edited by Danielle Riebau, script by Paul Hammond.
The museum's video crew, Paul, the volunteers, and everyone - has been spectacular during this. Thank you so much for keeping these stories moving along!
Thanks Hyce!
As someone who worked in the shop of one of two remaining turntables in the State of NH, I'd like to add my two cents worth on turntables.
The first thing I would like to point out about dual gauge turntables is that the MAIN reason for not using a three-rail setup is not really due to end misalignment. Truthfully, if a three-rail was used, the angular misalignment is not sufficient to pose any problems with going on and off the table the locomotives are flexible enough to handle this. Of course, directly straight is still preferred. The real reason is that you don't want the narrow-gauge locomotive to be offset to one side. While end to end balancing can be achieved, side to side is equally important and you would not be able to hand turn a locomotive that is off to the side by just that few inches.
The next item is rail creep. Yes, indeed it is a tiny issue, but we did use a few rail anchors in the center. The only place we had objectionable creep was with the movement of the rails at the rail joints closest to the ends of the table, and then only on one annoying rail. A few whacks with a sledgehammer close the joint back together and all was good.
Our location also got a good deal of snow and with this, the original owner elected to install TWO electric outrigger tractors on the table to help it plow through the snow. It also had a pipe arrangement that steam locomotives could hook to that shot steam through nozzles near the ring rail to thaw that out during the winter if it got severe. This actually got used quite late because the shop and table were also the original home of Steamtown, USA.
I've long known what a turntable is and what it is used for, but this provided some nice detail about their construction and safety features which I think are probably not well-known today.
Paul has been finding all sorts of interesting tid-bits for these episodes....his research process is superb.
The western Minnesota steam threshers reunion in Rollag Minnesota has a ex Soo line hand powered turntable that is in regular service turning our ex Soo line 0-6-0 and Dresser traprock quary 0-4-0
Thank you for making all these videos of the museum's exhibits. I enjoy them very much.
That is what we like to hear! More to come in 2023 and beyond!
Thank you for this great video. I visited the Museum a few years ago, and wondered how the heck a guy or two could rotate it with an engine on it. Now I know. I just added a turntable to my model railroad....I will be sure to tell the crews to play teeter-totter. :)
thanks for giving it a watch!
The Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan has a manually operated turntable at their roundhouse that they use for their trains
We had a motor for ours but traded it to Durango for parts as we can manually turn anything on the Museum's property.
I never knew it as the Fulton County Narrow Gage. My family and the old heads called it the Peavine. Short for the Spoon River Peavine. Had to Google it. In 1897 my grandmother rode in a caboose with her physician uncle from Cuba to Lewiston to attend a patient and back to Galesburg in a coach. She spoke fondly it was the height of luxury. (Girst train ride for a 7 year old hardscrabble farm girl.) Even though my family all worked for the ATSF, talk often floated to the mystical "Peavine". Thanks for the lesson. The next time I visit Golden, the turntable will have special meaning.
Thanks for watching - and for sharing a bit of your own family history! That is awesome!
lone it Tell Paul that he did good Matt Tomon