Author Topic: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread  (Read 260691 times)

Joe Fox

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #405 on: October 13, 2016, 12:54:18 AM »
The purpose of not having a pit was to help make it simple and not as dangerous for guests walking through the yard.  by building a retaining wall all the way around the table, that would mean we would have to build a fence of some sort to prevent people from falling into the pit.

Jason M Lamontagne

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #406 on: October 13, 2016, 05:25:36 AM »
We actually wanted to allow driving into the pit area for mowing and snow removal.

As was the case originally, we may go some time and change our mind. For now, its brand new and functioning.  Let's enjoy it and see what details can be improved based on experience.  We may well eventually decide we need a full ring retaining wall of timber or otherwise.

Our arrangement is very similar to that in Albion.

See ya
Jason

Benjamin Campbell

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #407 on: October 13, 2016, 08:20:02 AM »
Looks great! -- we need a healthy 'ballasting' of coal ash and cinders for the full Albion affect.

Benjamin Campbell

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #408 on: October 13, 2016, 08:27:20 AM »
Mindblowing!

On an interesting side note – I was looking through a 1970’s railfan photo album of Maine and found several shots of a standard gauge turntable very much like ours abandoned in the woods but intact (no rails).  A small hand drawn map accompanying the photo gave the location as “Austin Pond” which appears to have been at the end of a short spur off the east side of Maine Central’s Moosehead lake branch – the old Somerset Railroad. The branch left the mainline at Austin Junction which was just below Bingham. My MCRR map shows Austin Jc but not the branch to Austin pond.

If anyone lives in the area it would be interesting to see what if anything remains today. 



Chuck Watford

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #409 on: October 13, 2016, 08:53:25 AM »
Quote
We actually wanted to allow driving into the pit area for mowing and snow removal.
I think it looks great the way it is, unique without a pit. A little cleanup and some landscaping and it's going to look great next summer.
Congratulations to all for a job well done!

Bob Springs

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #410 on: October 13, 2016, 09:57:54 AM »
I think it looks great too.  As pointed out, access into the pit for mowing and snow removal has to be a major plus and the current scheme does provide greater safety, both for visitors and volunteers. So important.   All good points for sure  but also it has that element of simplicity so common in narrow gauge railroading. It has just the right "look" about it. Great job!

Wayne Laepple

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #411 on: October 13, 2016, 11:36:02 AM »
Here's something I'm curious about: in every photograph I've seen of the original WW&F roundhouse in Wiscasset, the engines are facing the turntable. But most other roundhouse photos, the tenders are facing the table. It's always been my understanding that locomotives were placed head in since there was more space to work around the machinery of the locomotive. My question is why the WW&F seems to have done just the opposite.

Philip Marshall

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #412 on: October 13, 2016, 12:26:44 PM »
That's an interesting question, Wayne.

Most photos of the SR&RL roundhouse in Phillips show the engines facing the turntable as well, so the WW&F wasn't alone in this practice, whatever the reason (or non-reason) for it may have been.

Paul Uhland

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #413 on: October 13, 2016, 12:34:37 PM »
I take it any kind of low curb, NOT a wall, even if the 'pit' surround fill is even with the curb top, is not welcome.
Oh well, life lurches on.  ;D
Paul Uhland

Joe Fox

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #414 on: October 13, 2016, 12:36:50 PM »
Many railroads had the engines face the doors so there is a minimum chance of sparks or hot ashes catching the roof on fire. Not sure what the reasons might be for the continued practice into the coal burning stage, but it might be that the engineers felt more comfortable going ahead onto the table rather than backing up. From experience it is easier to balance the engine going forward rather than trying to back up.

Philip Marshall

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #415 on: October 13, 2016, 12:46:23 PM »
Another reason may be simply architectural -- where the smoke jacks are located is where the stack has to go.

Wayne Laepple

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #416 on: October 13, 2016, 12:50:31 PM »
The smoke jacks can go wherever the front end of the engine is going to be. And I doubt the engineers had any say in how the roundhouse and turntable were laid out. They had to run the engine in reverse one way or the other!

Carl G. Soderstrom

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #417 on: October 14, 2016, 02:12:30 AM »
It could be the engines were facing that way because it is more photogenic.
The front end looks better than the back end.

Joe Fox

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #418 on: October 14, 2016, 06:17:46 AM »
As Wayne said, engineers preference had nothing to do with it and from a professional stand point railroads do not care about photogenic.

It may have something to do with which direction the engines are likely to go. For example the North Conway engines would head South, so the engines face south. The MEC house in Bartlett would have engines face towards Crawfords so thats how the smoke jacks went in. This would reduce turning. At Wiscasset the engines may have faced North for the same reason. But I do know in the wood burning days they wanted the engines as close to the doors as possible to prevent embers from going into the roof and starting a fire as well as reduced smoke inside the building.

Stephen Piwowarski

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Re: Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread
« Reply #419 on: October 14, 2016, 01:25:28 PM »
I had a hunch which, when followed by a quick image search, was confirmed. Early roundhouses seemed to be set up with smokeboxes facing the turntable. By the 1910's the practice seems to have changed to tenders facing the turntable. I suspect this was not a hard and fast rule, but rather one that developed over time by infrastructure changes.

While the smokejacks above the locomotive were certainly a concern, they could be easily moved in comparison to pits. In the days of Stephenson valve gear and indeed, in general, access under the locomotives machinery was essential. Early pits were seldom the entire length of a roundhouse. Thus, if a pit was towards the turntable end of a roundhouse, it would likely be unlikely for it to change until the next renovation.
I cannot guess, however, why they were set up that way in the first place. Perhaps it had to do with rooflines or access to natural light. More research might turn something up. I think Joe's idea based on the. MEC Mountain Division makes sense.

Steve