Sheepscot Turntable - Official Work Thread

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

It's actually three rails per set so six total.  Last week four had been bent, more were done today.

[Paul Uhland]

Per the last photo of the turntable central support and recent official posts , two laid-out rail  segments will get a third curved piece  to complete the lower support circle,  to be bolted together with  curved  rail joiners/"fish plates", and presumably  secured into  the concrete via "red head" or wedjit-type bolts.

A matching, inverted circle rail, secured to the woodwork above will  rest on  small wheels riding on the lower  circle rail, and held in place by  axles  radiating from the center pivot, called a "spider", to support and turn the 'table.

Curved rail will be mounted on the short ties in front of the ring wall to guide the turntable's end wheels for support and  alignment with feeder tracks.  

The bottom pivot plate bolts will be epoxied into the concrete.
 
Apparently the pivot elements will remain mounted as planned( male upper/female lower).  It's not yet clear how or if they will be lubricated.

If all pivot/wheels installation work is complete,  a donated crane may flip and set the turntable this week.

 

[Bob Holmes]

All ring rails (upper and lower) have been curved to the correct radius using the manual rail bender.  The total length of the three curved rails for each is longer than needed.  The best curves from each rail will be cut, joined and fastened as described by others.

Work today on the blocks holding the outer turntable wheels.  The axles for those wheels were prepared yesterday.

[Chuck Watford]

I wish you had a web cam so we could watch it live!

[Robert Hale]

I wish you had a web cam so we could watch it live!

It will be a lifting experience given the gravity of the situation, but I'm hooked never the less. 

[Ira Schreiber]

And do not forget that the crane business is always picking up.......................

[Robert Hale]

And do not forget that the crane business is always picking up.......................

And booming from what I hear.........

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Youz guyz better watch out or Clancy Ed will lower the boom on you. 

[Brendan Barry]

Turntable update.

Machine work on the female side of the center pin is finished.





Zack has been threading steel rod for the center bearing assembly and truss rods.



Axle ends threaded for the center bearing.



Two thirds of the center bearing ring rail was installed on the bottom of the turntable deck today.

Fred bringing a section of ring rail over to the table. The yellow circle drawn on the table marks the inside of the ring rail.



Phil drilling pilot holes for lag bolts.





The rail on the left still has to cut and fitted.



Overall view. The sets of oak blocks at the end of the turntable are the axle supports for the wheels at the ends of the turntable.

[Robert Hale]

Youz guyz better watch out or Clancy Ed will lower the boom on you. 

Be glad I did not quote Beck: "Two turntables and a microphone". 

OT: Progress looks good.
Suggestion: Would it be useful to add a "mini" retaining wall and short section of outside rail on the opposite side of the turntable to facilitate a tractor trailer offloading visiting equipment?

[John McNamara]

I think the plan is that visiting equipment would be loaded onto the "woods track" that runs west and beside of the car barn. From there it could be brought anywhere, including onto the turntable.
-John M

[Ed Lecuyer]

Moreover, there really isn't much space between the edge of the turntable and the street without running into buildings and (most importantly) providing a safe place for a truck to maneuver and load/unload. Having "interchange" in the parking lot area (via the "woods track") provides a great solution for this.

[Paul Uhland]

AFAIK, turntables are never used to transfer or receive track vehicles on/off  rail. And as mentioned, there's not enough safe maneuvering room here.
C&TS uses the  truncated western end of their former Durango mainline in Chama for handling 315, Geese, other visiting equipment.
Silverton Northern built an EOT "dock" on their newly-built engine house-area rails  for the same purpose.

Eventually building an extra turntable "whisker track" for storage? toward Cross Road has been mentioned.

The coming "woods track" is ideal for transfers next to the parking lot, is away from other busy areas of activity.
 

[Phil McCall]

Be glad I did not quote Beck: "Two turntables and a microphone". 

Why not? The foundation for the Turntable in Albion is still in place, just build a second bridge and drop it in place, easy as pie. I am too far away to do any actual work, but I can provide a microphone.

BTW I am amazed by that perfect circle of rail, using such a basic rail bender. I can't even draw a circle without using a nickel as a pattern.

[Bob Holmes]

Yes, the rail bending crew (Randy, Phil, Phil, and others) did an amazing job of getting nearly perfect circles.  Kudos to them.

The last time I was at the C&TS in 2012, they were using the loading track at Chama to put Thomas the Tank Engine on a trailer.  It had been visiting the C&TS and was on its way to Durango.  I"ll try to find a picture to post.