120' Turntable

[Opie]

Does anyone know if the 120' foot Turntable made by Walthers Cornerstone is usable with the Modern Roundhouse made by the same company?

[SquirrelHollow]

They're designed to be used together.  Yes, it's usable..

[wm3798]

Well, hold on there, Bobba Louie...
The 120' turntable is the old Heljan kit.  The new built up is 130'.  It's designed for use with the modern roundhouse.  The old one is designed for use with the old Heljan roundhouse.

The diameters are different, the stall spacing is different, and the indexing is different.  That's not to say that with some adjustments you couldn't make it work, but I just wanted to make that clarification.

Lee

[Mark5]

They're designed to be used together.  Yes, it's usable..

Walthers recently released and indexing 130' turntable, which I believe is designed to be mated to the new "modern" roundhouse.

Not sure if the old Heljan 120' mates to the newer roundhouse, although since the older is not indexed perhaps it will.

[Chulvis]

They're designed to be used together.  Yes, it's usable..

You sure about that? I thought the 120' version was meant to be used with the old Union City Roundhouse.

[John]

I know one thing .. It won't work with the Atlas roundhouse ...

[Mark5]

I know one thing .. It won't work with the Atlas roundhouse ...

I'm using the Walthers/Heljan 120' with the Atlas roundhouse. I'm using the Atlas "indexing" turntable under it to control it. Let's say there is very little distance between the roundhouse doors and the edge of the turntable.

[SquirrelHollow]

Heya, ya.  Brain farted that one. 

I should have known better, since I have the Heljan Roundhouse.  Searching for the Heljan TT with no missing parts, and unassembled was a fruitless endeavor.  The second the 130' TT was released, every 120'er on the planet seemed to go into hiding.

Hopefully Opie reads the other replies before buying.  :-[

[inkaneer]

Okay someone explain this to me.  The new 130 ' TT is indexed.  The old 120' TT was not indexed nor was it powered unless you bought the power unit which no one would even suggest that one do.  I have the 120' TT powered by a Berkshire junction 1/4 rpm motor.  There is no indexing and really none is required.  You line up the rails by eye.  How's that for prototypical operation, Huh?  Anyway the  Walther's modern roundhouse was designed for the 130' TT but can be used for the 120' TT the only difference is that you will have 5' more between the roundhouse and the TT. 

[John Burkush]

OK, Can I use the Walthers 130' turntable with the Heljan roundhouse ?

[inkaneer]

OK, Can I use the Walthers 130' turntable with the Heljan roundhouse ?

All the tracks in a roundhouse are designed to converge on a single point.  That one point becomes the centerpoint of the turntable. Therefore the radius of the turntable is only limited by the distance from the front of the roundhouse to the centerpoint of the turntable.   However, an indexed turntable needs to have a roundhouse with stalls spaced so that they match the TT's indexing.  So if a turntable is indexed at every ten degrees the Roundhouse stalls have to be ten degrees apart also [if the track is to remain straight].  One of the reasons I went with the Berkshire Junction motor to operate the TT is because it did not have indexing and therefore did not limit me to any specific track spacing. 

[pnolan48]

Both 120 and 130 will work with the Heljan roundhouse. I know, because I substituted the 130 for an existing 120. I had to shorten the feeder tracks.

The Walthers TT is indexed, but not at any specific interval such as 7.5 degrees. I believe it counts the number of motor revolutions between stops, so the angles can be just about anything you want them to be. Mine certainly are not consistently 7.5 degrees. Some might be 7.15; others 7.827; etc.