Walther's Roundhouses

[rogertra]

You mentioned the center track not going anywhere, wouldn't that make a good RIP track (Repair in place), for cars that need minor repairs?

Bob

RIP tracks are rarely accessed from the turntable Bob.  They're usually but not always double ended and have a large concrete or blacktop working space around the tracks.

[Yampa Bob]

Well, I did say I know nothing about turnhouses or roundtables.

I always thought a roundhouse was round, with the turntable inside, like pictures I once saw of  G.C.S. in Chicago.  Of course a roundhouse in Pinochle is Kings and Queens around IIRC.

By the way, do you know what day it is?  LOL. 

Bob

[rogertra]

Bob.

In the UK, roundhouse, as we know them were quite rare.  However, there were a few that had up to four turntables inside and all four under cover.  Mind you, they'd only be 60 to 65 foot tables, not the big 90 to 120 footers common in North America.

[SteamGene]

Bob,
Most roundhouses in the US were/are semi-circular or less.  The turntable was outside the building in most instances - but that was shear size.  Consider the disaster in Baltimore several years ago when the weight of the snow collapsed the roof of the roundhouse at the B&O Museum.
Gene

[Yampa Bob]

I can see where exterior turntables would be troublesome in this area, where we are accustomed to snow from 10 to 30 feet.  I read that turntables were used where there was insufficient land for reverse loops and wye turnarounds.  Out here we have plenty of land where the latter are used.  Interesting, as I've said many times, so much to learn and so little time.

Bob

[SteamGene]

My understanding is that the Atlas turntable is patterned on a Canadian prototype, built that way to prevent snow build-up and that in several states with high snow fall the same pattern was used.  Interestingly enough, Newport News, Virginia, which is where the big coal piers of the C&O were located, had no turntable or roundhouse.  The locomotives turned on the Hampton wye.  There was one at Phoebus for awhile, but that got replaced by a wye, too. 
Gene

[japasha]

Out in the west the outdoor tracks were referred to as garden tracks for the hostlers to fire up or keep hot locomotives that had been serviced or required very little service. I would use you outdoor track for a hostler track. Most shops would not have a hot engine in if any work was to be done, mostly for safety reasons.

The SP had a large roundhouse and turntable at Sparks and Roseville specifically o service cab forwards being used in the Sierras.  They also had a turntable at Norden to turn helpers. This was entirely under a snowshed.

[rogertra]

SteamGene
Many UK turntables were similar to the Atlas table, with a deck over the pit so that staff could not fall into the pit.  It was particularly common on turntables that were completely inside the roundhouse.


japasha
"Garden Track(s)" is a common term for the tracks radiating from the turntable that are outside and not inside the roundhouse.  That's what they're called on my GER as it happens. 

[Yampa Bob]

Some thoughts have been rattling around in my brain all day, so I'd like to throw them out for comment. 

"Rip tracks are rarely accessed from the turntable".

I seldom ask why or why not, my father broke me from asking those questions, and they are taboo in the military. While I know little about roundhouses and turntables, I do know about maintenance.  We operate a large fleet of tractors, equipment, trailers and support vehicles.  When something needs repair that can't be fixed in the field, the unit is towed, trailered or driven  to the shop, the shop is not taken to the equipment.

Ok, I'm President of a small private railroad, and my maintenance chief might advise me thusly:

To save money and make the most efficient use of personnel and resources,  we need to concentrate facilities and equipment  in a central area, rather than being scattered all over the yards, or sliding around in vehicles, subject to damage or neglect.   He would also list a hundred  reasons why the most logical place for repair of any stock, including freight cars, is in close proximity to storage and maintenance sheds or tracks.  The reasons;  TOOLS, of every conceivable type and function.  Utilities, water, ladders, compressors, welders and torches, jacks, hoses and air tools of every type.  Being able to turn a car around for sand blasting, painting or many other tasks would also be convenient, without the need for dangerous hoists and cables. 

Based on this advice I would then direct him to install the RIP track by the sheds, either as a separate spur from the rear or side , or as an exit track from the turntable.  Provide drainage, concrete, scaffolds  or whatever is needed. 

Logistics?  A 110 foot turntable, 40 to 50 foot cars in need of refurbishing, and a compact 40 foot goat.   If the RIP track aligned with the turntable lead track, as Gene has considered, then several cars could be moved into and out of the RIP.    I can't imagine a turntable with a sign "For loco use only".   

I can accept "rarely" as the status quo, but always struggle to keep "Can't" and "Impossible" out of my vocabulary.    They do have a habit of popping up now and then in my life, that's my cue to try harder.   The only box I think inside of is my lunch box. 

Of course, when all else fails,there is always "Rule Number One"   

Bob

[SteamGene]

If I build the round house as two units with a track going between them, it will be just a piece of track going somewhere.  It might lead to a RIP track, it might lead to another turntable, it might lead to something else.  Who knows?  In actual fact, it will lead to the back wall.   
Gene

[Yampa Bob]

Might that back wall be a good place for a painting of a building, or one of those silhouette thingies?

Bob

[r.cprmier]

Gene;
If you are looking for "expansion", a mirror might  do well there.  One time, I placed a mirror across a wall about 3 feet and about 6 inchesd high.  I installed a highway overpass  over the yard, and it looked like the yard went on forever.  I got the idea from S. Broadway in Boston, Mass.

[SteamGene]

I'm thinking a background building would be a possibility - though the one round house goes all the way to the walls and the other is tight, at least on one side.  I've done some thinking about mirrors, too.
Gene. 

[TonyD]

Gene, don't worry, lots of roundhouses were butted up against steep hills, CV in New London AND White River Jct. come to mind. I wouldn't sweat about two buildings either, I've learned not to come unprepared for this class, but I just can't find pics of the RH's I've seen that were just additions to additions, I would think like city buildings, an archetect or some code would decide if there was an alley, firebreak or a shared wall with an older building.. And you say this RH is about 5-6 feet from the visitors? You can leave it till later, much later... unless they bring field glasses. Gosh, I can't see details I know are there when 3 feet away, I get a good look when there's a wreck and I have to lurch right in the scene.... as for Yamba, RIP is just short for 'repair in place', inotherwords, it doesn't have to limp back to a proper car shop, just dropped off at a hard surfaced later 'paved' area around a section of track so the repairmen could jack up, crawl under and otherwise get the car going again. For the sake of time, it would be a loop siding rather than a spur, so the train crew didn't have to kill even more time switching it around. And as it was ready to go, a couple guys with an 'armstrong locomotive' would move cars in and out of the operating room. Yes, a small machine shop building and sheds, and tons of parts, extra wheelsets, trucks, bearing dodads, brake and coupler stuff, cars that were really wrecked had to get carried to the shops, or the wooden ones, emptied, burnt, and the metal bits used again as spare parts. There was a big wreck on the Rutland in my mom's hometown, in the depession. People had kindling for years afterwards. Years ago, I would say a long road would have a rip track every 40 or 50 miles or so, that way a cripple didn't have to endure more than 20-25 miles of 'risk'. And dead slow at that. For a really cool rip track, I have the 'slim rails thru the sand' a hardbound, but look for the SP narrow guage - Laws or Bishop, Cal? Everything, all the tools, were just layed out on this paved area. Hey. No rain for 200 miles, no thieves for 200 miles..... but the oxy acetelene cylinders just sittin' there in the Death Valley sun.... no OSHA back then...     

[Yampa Bob]

I said "if it couldn't be fixed in the field"  LOL

RIP also stands for "Rest in Peace"  or "Really in p...s poor shape"   

Bob