Millhouse River Studio turntable finally installed!!...pics...

 Wow Alan, I could just stare at your engine yard alone and never leave!! Very nice.

VERY Nice.  

 

BUT the pit is WAY too CLEAN! 

 

Keep up the outstanding work.

Alan,

 

I just noticed this thread, wow that looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Alan here's a few photo's of mine to help you with some Idea's, I used dark cinders mixed with a gray cinders inside the pit.

Thanks Joe....the tracks the lead to the pit are just setting there and are not spaced or installed correctly yet...

 

Cliff...thank you.  I agree...this is why I am looking for some suggestions.

 

Alex...boy does your turntable look sharp.  What did you use for the cinders??

 

Thanks,

Alan

Alan check this link out, this is one color but they have a lot more

 

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/...fo.asp?number=SE0863

 

Thanks, Alex

Thanks Alex...I will check it out.

 

Alan

For the pit, maybe you could start with a pencil and put some seams in the concrete.  Then some weeds along the seams.  Then there will be some water leaking from the walls in places with a few cat tails.  Then there is the spilled oil and grease.  It came mostly from the turntable drive mechanism and was concentrated where the bridge usually parked.  That how I remember the turntable at the roundhouse I use to hang around.

Very nice. Are they hard to install & get running?

 

Alex; love the weathering.

Great suggestions and ideas David...thanks.

 

Spence....the installation was very easy.  Al's turntable is world class and built like a tank.  The installation is as simple as cutting a circle and sliding it into place.  One thing...while I did it all myself as I think most folks do, the 34" table is heavy enough that it would have gone quicker with a helper.  Since I didn't have another set of hands, I just stacked up some supports to hold the table until I bolted it into place.

 

Alan

Great job Alan,

I don't know when you have time to sleep. I know about your other projects that you are working on and had no idea that you were installing your turntable this past week. It really looks good, and I think you did a great job. Just another reason to go to Mountain Home, AR soon.

 

Looking forward to seeing you and all of the gang next weekend at the train meet.

Thank you

Awesome.

The setting really brings back memories the iron horse era.

Great set of photos.

 

Like the engine tsaking a spin,also

Really nice but....

 

With all that PRR power, you didn't spring for the unusual PRR Turntable that millhouse makes?

Thanks Charlie!!

 

Curve...yep, I understand what you are saying.  I purchased the turntable before Al came out with the neat PRR unit.  To retrofit was going to cost more so I decided to go ahead with what you see.  I am a Pennsy fan so I know what you are saying....but I am very happy with how the table turned out and I highly recommend Al's product.

 

Thanks,

Alan

Some great Ross engineering!!!

prrlionel.....this is a Millhouse River turntable...

 

Alan

Alan, what he was saying was that Al got his idea and design from Ross.

Roger....oh, I wasn't aware so that is why I was confused by his statement....uhmmm..

 

Anyway, I love the turntable!!  Now I am hoping more of you will give me additional ideas on the detailing of the area and the table itself...

 

Thanks so much,

Alan

Looks great!

PCRR/Dave

Ross may be the first to go into production with a belt drive turntable for model railroading but the use of a belt drive for a turntable was used in record players (remember those?) long before Ross used the same concept.

 

How many autos use a geared belt drive for timing belts?  The point is geared belt drives have been around for years and employed in many applications. It is not new engineering

Dennis, don't get me started. You are on my short list anyway.

 

I had my Ross installed while Al was was basically stealing Steve's ideas. There was a long thread on this when Al came out with his. I only wish that Steve would have patented his turntable. Take a long look under each of the two turntables from Ross and Steve and you will see what I mean. By the way, they do not look like record players underneath.

Alan, I apologize, I did not mean to high jack your thread. You have a GREAT LOOKING turntable and also the area around it. Please keep up your great work and keep all of us posted with your development in this area of your layout.

No problem Roger.....I have no idea of the design history of either Ross or Millhouse.  When I decided to upgrade from the Atlas turntable to a pit design, I got good reports on each of these two guys....price was the deciding factor only because they both got high quality remarks.

 

I like some of the suggestions and ideas above about how to detail the pit area and bridge....anybody else have some pictures of their work??

 

Thanks to all!!

Alan

Roger, there is no reason to adopt an attitude. But we'll just have to agree to disagree about whether it constitutes theft. In fact, I had a long conversation with Steve about this at the time.

 

You are absolutely right; they do look the same underneath. To be sure, Alan got the idea from Steve. However, using a belt with teeth and a similarly geared platter to accept the belt is not new technology. Al used an off-the-shelf belt and had to have a platter custom designed to accept the proper pitch of the teeth. He also used a DC motor to power the drive.

 

And again you're correct, a record player belt driven turntable doesn't look like a model railroad turntable underneath, but it is exactly the same concept--a belt with teeth driving a platter designed to accept the teeth using a DC motor.

 

Alan, I was only trying to present a counterpoint to the original sarcastic comment.  There is certainly enough room in our hobby for more than 1 manufacturer of turntables. Both Ross and Millhouse have many satisfied customers as attested to by you. That's all that matters.

 

Now to answer your original question:

 

As far as weathering the pit, I would use some chalks to represent dirt and grime washing down towards the center of the pit. The concrete pits that I've seen had a grate for water drainage near the center. One pit had a small circle of standing greenish water at the center. I imagine the drain was clogged.

Congratulations, very nice set up Alan. Nothing like a turntable to raise a layout to the top of the line for realistic railroading. I never had adequate space and used wyes which is akin to kissing one's Aunt.

Dennis....as I said above, I am not privy to the similarities or history of who copied who as far as the two named manufacturers....  There is no doubt that Ross makes a nice turntable and so does Al. 

 

I like the drain idea...I will have to see if I can find pictures of what it looked like...

 

Dewey....Thank you so much.  I spent the day rearranging the tracks around the turntable making sure that they line up and have completely redesigned the entire area so the pictures above are already old news!!

 

Thanks,

Alan

I used chalks and than some fine black ballast to weather my new Ross turntable this past week. 

 

 

 

 

Cbojanower, Can you please explain how the Millhouse is superior over the Ross turntable? Now please don't get me wrong, the Millhouse is gorgeous BUT I went with the Ross as it has indexing as lining up by sight is not an option for me where my TT sits on my layout. I need the ability to dial in a track from about 20' away from it. I know that Millhouse is going to be releasing an indexing system in the future but I'm talking about what is available today. Obviously price was not the issue to me as the Ross was the more expensive option. The Millhouse would have been cheaper but I have no idea how much the retro fit index kit will cost or how hard it will be to install. So we are not even comparing apples to apples as the Millhouse currently can't even do what I need it to do. So again, I'm not trying to knock the Millhouse turntable, I'm really just trying to figure out what in your mind makes you say that it is the "better" unit?

Alan, here's some turntable pictures I've taken.  Maybe they'll give you some ideas.

At Frostburg, MD. on the Western Maryland Scenic Railway:









At the Norfolk Southern (former PRR) Juniata Shops in Altoona Pa.:

 

 

 

Alan,

I agree with Joe. I really like your roundhouse. It looks great.

Alan Graziano

Cbojanower, Like I thought, it's just your personal opinion that one is "superior" to the other as your reason are subjective. The wooden framed square topped construction of the Ross was actually a plus to me as cutting and framing for it's square opening and being able to just lay it in from the top of my table was a bonus to me. Very easy a few counter sunk screws into my framing from the top and done. Slow speed adjustment is only a plus if you are not indexing, again not a selling point to me as indexing was a necessity. Shipping to Long Island was the same from both manufacturers. I have spoken to Steve of RCS on multiple occasions and have to say RCS's customer support is outstanding, both before and after purchase. I would recommend a Ross TT any day. Again, not knocking either manufacturer, I just don't like when people make snap judgements and voice opinions as facts. Both companies make outstanding turntables and we should be glad to have options. We should be showing the good features of both units and helping the manufacturers work out any issues should we find any. I just think that coming to a forum and cheer leading for a company to destroy the competition when your reasons are just personal opinions does no one any good.

Alan, For the turntable pit you could use a black wash on it to give it a dirty look or as Alex and others have done add some cinders in the base. I really like Dennis Brennan's Superior sand blend,which is what I did in my own pit.

Chris, thank you for your replies. 

Originally Posted by Roger Watson:

Alan, what he was saying was that Al got his idea and design from Ross.

Really Roger, I'm sorry but that is simply not the case. we us a different motor than the Ross units as well as a different size gearing to give a much slower low speed operation and as others have said makes it very very easy to line up by eye. 

 

Gromet,  Enjoy your Ross unit. Regarding our indexing, it will be out in about a month and will really be incredible and it is able to be installed on any of our units we have made from day one. Plus you will be able to place your whisker tracks anywhere you wish around the turntable pit at what ever spacing works for your layout, not just at set degrees apart. 

 

One last item I want to mention is as Chris pointed out, the transfer tables will be coming out soon also. I am trying to get them done for April York and they will also use the same indexing system as our tables will use. A lot of time has gone into development and testing to be the very best you can get.

 

Thanks again guys, see you at York!

Awesome Al, Looking forward to checking out the indexing and the new transfer tables. They both sound awesome.

I think here is the point we Talk about how to weather a Turntable in the northeast.  This is about the look not the functionality or who built it.  If it spins and looks good so be it.  Now, I am with Brian, and I think the best representation still in working existance is the Juniata Shops.  Anyone else who starts this Lionel Vs MTH crap again doesn't get anymore hotdogs or Knishes at York!  Capishe??

This is an interesting thread about something I just don't have room for on my layout, but really would like to have. 

 

Gromet - the weathering you've done is great, and the photo you provided before and after sides of the turntalble is fantastic.

 

Traindiesel - leaves!  The one thing you photos remind me is that, come fall, leaves get everywhere.  I gotta remember that.  They stick around for months afterwards unless cleaned up, and what's the chance of that in a trainyard/

Atah Mevine?

Farshtay?

 

OK guys....this has turned into a debate that I did not anticipate.  I posted the pictures hoping that I would get a host of suggestions on how to do some detail and weathering on the turntable and area around it.  I even asked as much.  Thanks to those that did make some suggestions.....but I think it is clear that this thread has taken a different direction than I had hoped. It was not my intention to start a turntable war......

 

Alan