Walther's Roundhouses

[wjstix]

Well, I'm more familiar with the shorter earlier Walthers roundhouse kits, but they were designed to be 'modular' so you could put as many together as you wanted to, like three kits together to make a 9-stall roundhouse. I believe they're made to allow you to leave one wall off so they will all work together and all stalls will line up.

Otherwise, it wasn't uncommon because of space restrictions etc. for a turntable to serve two separate roundhouses. I'm sure you could find cases where a RR built a small roundhouse and a few decades later built a larger one separate from the first one for their newer larger engines. IIRC GN's Superior WI roundhouse had a fire or something and several stalls of the roundhouse were torn down, leaving a couple of open tracks between what was in effect two separate roundhouses.

[Pacific Northern]

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

This is the Revelstoke roundhouse, note the Altas like wood deck on turntable.

http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_160/a_09598.gif

[TonyD]

Wow. Look at the size of those domes, is Yamba Bob taking notes? I bet that is a UK import, can anyone focus in on the #? I can't imagine how they ever opperated 'without' this style turntable. 10 feet of snow falls in a hole 5 feet deep...now what? Shovel?

[Yampa Bob]

Yeah, I'm taking notes.  In my younger days we called those, uh never mind you kids wouldn't understand old timer humor. 

Bob

[SteamGene]

wjstx,
Yes, the Walther's round house kit is modular and it's designed to have add ons added to it.  As stated, my problem is that I have two round house kits and not a kit and an add-on.  The instructions for adding on, come with the add-on but the kit has an extra interior brace and it may be the add-on is missing both side walls. 
But I'm liking the idea of the two round houses separated by a garden track going somewhere.  Maybe I'll paint the ties gold and put something green at the end.
Gene

[Tom McDonald]

Gene,

I'm currently building the Walther's modular roundhouse myself.  I have both the roundhouse kit and the add-on kit.  The instructions for the add-on kit is the same as the main roundhouse kit except it doesn't have the sidewall assembly intructions as they are the only parts that don't come with the add-on kit. You can use your second roundhouse as the add-on by not using the the extra sidewalls. If you want, e-mail me offline and I'll scan the add-on kit instructions and send them to you.
Good luck with the kit.

Tom

[r.cprmier]

I have a Korber roundhouse in the box, three-stall with a two-stall bonus.  I also have a SS LTD Sterling, Colo. roundhouse in the box.  That is one of my "retirement kits" when I can bury myself in this shoppe come winter and chortle sardonically at the world...Ah yes; retirement!

Back to serious;  I am not sure if I want to do the Korber kit.  I do like that Heljan kit; and with some modification, it can become really Amerikanerized.

I am still out on the turntable.  Walthers, Diamond scale, or Bowser all look reqlly good.  Am halfway through the coaling tower, so I have time here.

[SteamGene]

Tom - that's what I thought.  Thanks for the offer, but you've told me all I need to know.  I MAY look at the completed kit - the one I bought on eBay and see if I can remove one side wall easily. 
But I'm liking the two sections and the garden track.  What I really ought to do is try to make more dummy stalls. 
Gene

[rogertra]

Gene.

I think I've already mentioned that I purchased another Walthers roundhouse kit, the "old" roundhouse not the "modern" one, with a view to expanding the Granville Junction roundhouse.

As I didn't purchase the expansion kit I am planning on adding "ledgers" to the outside of the existing walls to support the roof and wall additions.  The existing wall will simply be painted white on the "outside" to match the existing insdie wall colours and become a inside firewall, with an extention added to the roof to model the firewall extention above roof level.  Perhaps a bit of overkill having a firewall in a six stall roundhouse but I think this is the easiest way to expand the existing roundhouse.