Turntable Help

[lwmlwm44]

I am wanting to incorporate a  turntable on my Bachmann DCC layout.   I am interested in the Walthers 160 cornerstone model and my question is are there any special electrical needs required to use it.   I want to be able to run a engine on the table and make a complete turn to return the engine to the original track with the engine resuming operation in the opposite direction.

Are there any special wiring requirements needed after installation or is it all built in the turntable.

From what I have read on the Walthers table here in the chat, it appears to be a popular and well liked item.

Thanks


Larry

[hotrainlover]

Larry,
I do not have experience wiring the table,(I have the Atlas version-and it is too small)   I have wired 20+ tracks that come off one.  It is tedious, but one needs to use a meter to get the polarity correct, (when exiting the table).  The club near me has one.  They said it was easy, just follow the directions...

(Yes, I know that their answer was not helpful either...)

[rustyrails]

Larry,
Do you mean the 130 foot turntable...I can't find a 160 footer in the catalog.
Turntables, reverse loops and wyes all require "special wiring" because you are connecting the + (or A) rail to the - (or B) rail.  With DCC, you can use a reverse loop module to accomplish the swap electronically.
According to the Walthers catalog, the turntable is "fully assembled" and has "programmable indexing for up to 60 positions."  I would assume that means that the wiring is taken care of.  You can download an instruction sheet here:

http://www.walthers.com/instructions/0933/09330000002829.pdf

Now I have a question for you.  Do you have any idea how much room a turntable this size and its associated roundhouse take up?  If you only have stalls on one side, the distance from the pit wall across the pit to the back of the roundhouse is going to be over three feet.  If all you want to do is turn a locomotive, three Atlas wye turnouts and a few pieces of 18" radius snap track will make a compact wye in less space and cost a heck of a lot less than 320 bucks.  Just my .02 worth.  Hope this helps
Rusty

[lwmlwm44]

Yep it is the 130 foot table............sorry about that my fingers hit the wrong keys.    I see in the instruction link you kindly furnished, that the table is completely wired to handle the reverse polarity so any extra wiring on my part will not be required.

I want to use the turntable to be able to move my 8 DCC engines to side tracks to park them when not being ran.......I don't know if I will have engine houses for all of them at this time.  With the option of the turntable I can run a engine clockwise or counterclockwise on my bench.   A few of my engines are over 12 in. lg so I need the 130 table as the 90 version can only handle engines a little under 13 in.   I know the tables require a lot of real estate and the area on my bench I have alloted for the turntable and a small yard is 34 in. wide by 6 ft lg. 

I had heard that the Walthers was completely wired to handle reverse polarity and the instructions confirms it.   

Thanks Rusty and HO Train Lover for you experiences and advice.


Appreciate all the help I can get from you more experienced modelers than myself.

Larry