0903 D&RGW Turntable

Check back periodically as we add new side girders and decks to model other railroad prototypes and scales!

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D&RGW Durango Standard Deck #2 (1:20.3) with code 250 Al rail and stained

Deck options available OR build your own!

Need a different style prototype deck or different material, stained or unstained??? Give us a call to discuss your requirements OR build your own and attach it to our Base Unit!

Top: Rivet detail. Bottom: Welded angles

Side Girder options available OR build your own!

Need a different style prototype girder or different material / color??? Give us a call to discuss your requirements OR build your own a attach it to our Base Unit!

Bottom: Styrene girder painted primer gray without rivet detail

Top: Styrene girder painted silver with rivets

A key feature of the Base Unit is the incorporation of the "fixed or floating" pivot! Discussions with our customers indicated that a few had difficulties getting all their entrance and exit tracks to lie in the same horizontal plane as that of the turntable deck and pit rail. This results in the turntable being too high or low at the track interface. To solve this issue, we designed the model 0903 to be allowed to slightly teeter from end to end with center higher than the ends to help minimize these issues, while allowing the rotating bearing to have no side to side play! For those individuals that have better trackwork, the pivot can remain locked in the fixed mode to rotate in a fixed horizontal plane about the center bearing.

Although the 65 ft 1:20.3 scale turntable is the standard model length (38.42"), we cleverly designed our assembly tooling to make custom length turntables possible for customers without having to redesign the tooling. This allows our customers to have custom length turntables without having to retrofit a turntable into an existing garden railroad! Thus, length from 12" to 55+" are possible at a price that is pro-rated from the standard bridge, girder, and deck length. (Certain lengths do require different shiping charges though). Contact us today for a quote about the length that you are interested in using!

All turntables are configured with the standard code 250 aluminum rail secured with nickel silver, brass, or stainless steel from various manufactures are also available at additional cost. Or you may drop ship your favorite rail, tie plates, etc to us during the construction phase of your turntable! As with our other structures, you may obtain your turntable in raw redwood form and stain it yourself to your needs!

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Base Unit: base, column, bearing, pivot, bridge, & end rollers

38.42 inch length

We have built many wooden gallows turntables (model 20007B) of various lengths over the years for our customers willing to build their own pits! As more modern locomotives have been introduced to the market, customers requested a more modern "steel" turntable to use with these locomotives. But after discussing requirements with them, few agreed on whether it should be narrow or standard gauge, or even a certain prototype or standard length!!

So PCGRS decided to build a base unit that would serve all the functions mechanically required in a turntable to which side girders and a deck could be added to configure it to any prototype railroad that one wished to model! Much like a theater stage is configured for different performances! And it can be done with only the level of detail required by the customer!

The resulting combination of the base unit with optional side girders and deck makes a narrow or standard gauge Armstrong turntable possible that requires the owner to only build the pit for it to set in!

The turntable can be purchased with only the components needed by the user to meet their needs. The Base Unit, built from aluminum, is composed of the base, column, bearing, pivot, bridge, and end rollers. This mechanical package allows the user to perform all the functions that are required in a turntable. To this package, one can build their own side girders and decking with rail to represent any possible narrow or standard gauge turntable prototype, since we can cut the bridge to any length required. If the user prefers, we can build all those components in either raw or finished form, with or without rivet detail, and to any girder style required. Thus, we call this ala carte pricing!

For those that operate with electrical track power, one can add the optional power pickups to electrify the rails on the turntable deck. For those using battery powered or steam fired locos, this option is not required.

Close up of side girder and deck detail

Side view of Model 0903 Turntable with optional rivet detail side girders

As configured, D&RGW 65ft Durango Turntable 1:20.3 scale

All that you have to do is dig the turntable pit, build a pit wall, and lay the outside ring of rail to support the roller ends of the turntable! This eliminates the "big dollar" shipping bill and size limitations that a pre-built pit will cost you, which can be more than the cost of the turntable.