Paul’s been in touch – he’s added an Atlas turntable to his HO scale layout:
“Hi Al
I think you and your readers might find this interesting since most of us are always looking to add more tour layouts.
I wanted to add a turntable,a roundhouse and RIP( repair in place facility) to my layout but could not see where to put it.
One day I was looking at my mountain and thought you can see the mountain from the primary side of the layout just as it should look –a mountain. Meanwhile the backside of the mountain was just flat as can be seen in the first photo.
All that land under the mountain had no purpose. So I decided to do some mining and exposed the inside of the mountain to be used for the turntable and such.
In the accompanying photos you can see the Atlas turntable I installed and the matching roundhouse which necessitated cutting into my workshop wall so that it would fit in the proper location relative to the turntable.
The RIP facility is also seen in the photos where the crew has jacked up a boxcar and is replacing the wheelset. I also have a Jib crane lifting up a set of wheels for the installation.
I built the Jib crane from scraps after seeing one in a catalog. The jacks under the boxcar happen to be some extra pieces that came with a kit that just looked like jacks.
Thanks Al for all you do for us modellers.
Paul from Northport NY”
A big thanks to Paul for sharing the addition of his Atlas turntable – you may remember him from this post.
And now on to Larry.
He’s sent in some pics. I don’t know what it is about these old cuban trains, but I find them fascinating. So I thought I’d post them.
“Al,
I have several images of trains from Cuba that I took the other year.
I am 83 years old.
Larry”
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing.
Best
Al
All you need now is James Bond and a bunch of deadly ninjas abseiling down from the ceiling! Great fun.
Rod
A train in Cuba with the word; Australia painted on the tender? Now, there’s got to be a story behind that.
cheers, from Graeme in Bendigo, Victoria Australia.
Great utilization of normally unused space! Very creative
Cutting that huge hole in your workshop wall so things will fit properly – now that’s what I call dedication! 😀
Paul…… great work….I love the scene with the box car…….nice scratch building.
Paul, when walls have to give in…: is this the secret / camouflaged passage to a totally different layout in other room(s)? haha…
The key point is you made it work. Great job
Paul, Why cut holes in a perfectly good wall not to mention possible electrocution? At least frame it out, neaten it up.
The Critic
Robert Brady you know not of what you speak. Do you know what the wall looked like from the shop side of that wall and what I was dealing with? No. I was not planning on putting molding around the opening I wanted it to be as minimalistic as possible.
Looks great! I love the close-ups (the photographic artistry)! I also would love to see a broader view of your layout.
Turntables open so many new operating opportunities. I recently added a 6 stall KATO set and enjoy it very much.
A few years back when I was in the Navy I went with s buddy of mine to the “Eadivil railroad (sp) in MA. It is a cranberry bog with narrow gauge steam engines from Cuba, what a hoot. That was 1962 and you could ride on the rail road