HO Scale DCC Turntable PLEASE HELP!

[tigerthelion]

After much debate, I dismantled my layout and will begin again. I am very interested in the DCC turntable and I would like to know EVERYTHING Before I buy... the good, the bad, and the ugly! So far I have learned it has a 14" diameter, with a 10" bridge and 16 indexed tracks. I also read that the Tidmouth Sheds will adapt as a roundhouse and I'm okay with that. My biggest concern is the indexed tracks... are they powered? It would take a lot of wiring to power all those...

Anything else I should know? All comments are appreciated. Happy Saturday!

[Doneldon]

tiger-

The table will direct power to the storage tracks as it turns.

Think hard about this table. The radial tracks are at 30^o, which means a very broad spread between tracks. You can end up with a huge engine facility which doesn't make good use of the space. That's fine if you have a lot of space but it is an issue if space is significantly restricted. I don't know if that applies to you but here's the warning if you need it.

Good luck with your reborn layout.
                                                       -- D

[Jerrys HO]

Tiger,

I have one and like the operation of it. Although the bridge could be longer but that's OK cause my largest loco is my SD70ACE and it fits perfectly.
As D noted the siding tracks are wide and I use up close to 3 ft. square. No problem for me either.
The Tidmouth shed is not sold separately  so I customized a Heljan? roundhouse to fit. It can be seen in the Show Me Your Layout thread. I am currently redoing it better than the first time,(I hope).
The best part is when the bridge turns away from a siding the siding is then unpowered as not to draw power from the layout.

Enjoy!
Jerry

[electrical whiz kid]

Doneldon;
there is a way to get around that problem and that is to use track-work set up with radii from the turntable to the shed.  The only drawback is that some of this stuff gets so extreme that a system including frogs have to be used because of the restrictive e space.  One that comes to mind is the roundhouse for the New Haven in one of their facilities.  This, I am sure, drove the prototype engineering dept. up the wall-and will send many a not-so-newbie running for the exit...But it can be done...
RIch C.

[Doneldon]

Rich-

Yes, I'm aware it can be worked out but it's quite a hassle. It can also require some pretty precise work to set up.

                                                                                                                                                             -- D

[tigerthelion]

thanks for the input. Lots to think about!

[rogertra]

Thing to keep in mind when discussion turntables is the Bachmann turntable is designed for the toy train market, not the scale model railroad market, hence the very large 30 degrees of track separation.

However, the Heljan, Walthers' etc. roundhouses are designed for the scale model railroad market and therefore have far more realistic degrees of track separation.

Cheers

Roger.