Union City Roundhouse Dimensions?

[Rossford Yard]

I am considering blending 4 Union City roundhouses with one Walthers Modern roundhouse to more closely match the dual styles at Gibson Yard.  Does anyone know how far the front and back walls come out from the center of the turntable?  The Modern is about 18 inches, and when I had a Union City rh, it seemed like the old TT was 9", and the depth of the RH about 8", with some space in between, almost 6-7".  That would make it perhaps a nice match for the Modern, but I would love to know if anyone has these dimensions.


thanks in advance.
 

[SP-Wolf]

Here's what I found:

"An integral part of any engine terminal, the roundhouse is a must for steam or diesel fleet inspections and repairs. This detailed six-stall building will hold engines up to 6-3/4" long and features movable doors, simulated brick siding, smoke jacks, windows, skylights, clerestory and window "glass." To create a larger complex, several of the kits can be combined to produce a 12-, 18-, or 24-stall roundhouse. 15 x 8-3/8". "

Hope this helps,
Wolf

[Zox]

The Union City roundhouse appears to be identical to the Heljan/Con-Cor roundhouse that prompted this old Atlas thread:

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=51792

According to that discussion, "If built correctly the Walthers Union City roundhouse has stall spacings of 7 1/2 degrees so you should be able to draw lines from the center of the turntable spaced at 7 1/2 degrees each about 1 foot long and set your roundhouse on the track centerlines about 6-7 inches from the turntable edge and everything should line up. If not exact then start at a center stall and the error will be halved on each end."

Also, for the Heljan roundhouse, "...the distance from the outer edge of the pit to the front wall of each stall is 7 1/8 inches."

[Rossford Yard]

Thanks for the free research.

The one thing I haven't been able to find is how far the front and back walls of the UCRH are from the turntable center.

The modern is 7.117" from the center to front wall and 18" give or take to the back wall.  I know the depth of UC is about 7" (if it holds locos up to 6.75") and it appears that the lead tracks are about the same length.  Assuming those pix are with the modern TT, rather than the old one, that would put the back wall over 19" from the center.  If I mix them, it would actually have to be a bit shorter than the modern's 18".

Will also have to check the ATlas, although, most of Gibson RH has a peaked roof, and the SW corner looks like the Watthers Modern, and is longer.   My ideal would be for the front walls of the UC to line up, and have the back walls shorter.

Thanks again.

[Rossford Yard]

Looking closer at the Walthers Ads for the UCRH, I see some S2 (presumably Arnolds) and the lead tracks are just longer than the loco.  The proto was 45.5 ft long, or 3.4 inches in N and with a 120 ft turntable, (9" diam, 4.5" radius) that would put the front wall about 8.5" from the center and the back wall about 15.5".  That might be perfect on the back, although, it will also set back from the 130' TT a bit further, which ain't quite the proto, but not far off.

Short version, I think it will work!

[nkalanaga]

"Also, for the Heljan roundhouse, "...the distance from the outer edge of the pit to the front wall of each stall is 7 1/8 inches." "

But only if your turntable is the same length as theirs.  The distance to the center of the pit will stay the same regardless of table length.

[Zox]

But only if your turntable is the same length as theirs.  The distance to the center of the pit will stay the same regardless of table length.

Well, yes. The Atlas discussion was based around the Walthers turntable. I presumed that since the discussion here was about two different styles of Walthers roundhouses, that it was probably a Walthers turntable as well. That may have been a mistaken presumption.

In any case, the difference in the two distances will be a constant for multiple stalls around the same turntable, given a consistent angular spacing between the tracks, so it's still useful for comparison of different-style stalls.

[Rossford Yard]

Went to the LMRA train show yesterday, and low and behold, somone had a 4 unit, 24 stall Union City Roundhouse beautifully built for $60.  The lowest price on kits I saw was $33 each at Caboose hobbies, so, its basically built for less than half price.  Of course, I took it.  Placed it on the layout and next to the footprint of my modern, and it turns out that the back walls line up about equal, and the modern just has a front wall that sits a few inches closer to the TT (whatever size it might be).

So, it fits the space I had perfectly, cheap and fast.  Sort of.  Because the 130' TT has auto stops at the same 10 degrees as the RH stalls, the 7.5 degree UC RH stalls will have to be modified.  No problem, I think, because the Gibson RH actually has very few stalls in service, and the others converted to offices or shop.  So, I plan to use modulars modified to do the front doors (those existing doors look too German anyway, and I did this on a previous version of this kit) Not exactly sure how I will cut the RH floor to allow tracks in other spaces, but I probably can do it.It looks like it will be easy to modify the roof to a straight peak, without the celestory windows.

And I will need to alter the spacing on the three stalls of the modern, because it will be sitting further from the TT than intended to make it look right.  But, its a more reasonable representation of the Gibson RH than I would have otherwise had.

It might have been easier to start these kits from scratch with all the mods I plan, but time will tell.  At the least, when done, it will be a very unique structure and good representation of an actual RH.