I thought Guilford/PanAm scrapped that turntable about 5-8 years ago.

You forgot the one in Sanbornville, NH. (re) installed for use by the Wolfeboro Railroad, now not used and is disconnected from the New Hampshire Northcoast (former B&M Conway Branch.)


For the record:
At the WW&F we have a steel turntable bridge that is not being used. I think it was repurposed as a road bridge at one time, then ended up at the WW&F before I was involved. I don't think we have any plans for it - as we are going to be building a replica wooden A-frame turntable in the next 12-24 months.

Would you be able to measure and possibly take a photo of this turntable for us? Any further info you can get about where it came from and when would also be appreciated. If it has any kind of builder's plate on it to say who built it and when that would also be good to know.

Doing a bit of surfing this morning I found the 101st moved turntable. This one has moved more than most. Here is the info on it: 2000 - The Galt Railway Historic Park near Stirling, Alberta, Canada, has a former Canadian Pacific 100’ turntable built by the Dominion Bridge Company, Ltd., and installed in Medicine Hat, Alberta, about 1904 and used into the 1970s when it was removed. It was sold to the Pat Dwyer Construction Company which used it as a bridge for trucks during the construction of the Oldman River Dam in southwest Alberta. After this was done it was moved to their gravel pit near Lundbreck, Alberta, and stored. In 2000 it was donated to the Galt Railway Historic Park and moved there that fall. Future plans call for it to be installed in a pit and made operational. It is listed in stats as being moved three times and stored.

If you Google with the search term "abandoned turntable" you will find a lot of them. But my interest is only in those moved for use by museums or tourist lines, or used by them after the railroad gave them the site.

Ron,
Here is one on the Lake Whatcom railway...
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/79630243
Have no idea what the background is on it...
O. Anderson

This is what I know of the one at the Lake Whatcom Ry: "By 2000 - The Lake Whatcom Ry at Wickersham, WA, near Bellingham and north of Seattle, has a turntable of unknown length in storage. It reportedly came from the Milwaukee Road roundhouse in Bellingham, about 26 miles away. The table was in use when the line to Bellingham was abandoned in 1980." I'd really like to know its length, and if it is still there.

Early history of the Chehalis turntable:
Lassig Bridge & Iron Works 1890?
Installed at Hamilton, WA by Seattle & Northern Ry. 1891
To Seattle & Montana RR 1902
To Great Northern 1907
To Puget Sound & Baker River RR 1907

Lake Whatcomb RR turntable
Unknow builder #334 1907 70’
Removed from the Milwaukee roundhouse in Bellingham, WA late 1970s.

The Northern Pacific museum at Toppenish, WA has a 110' table from Yakima.

Thanks to John T. this is what I'm now listing for the Lake Whatcom turntable: "By 2000 - The Lake Whatcom Ry at Wickersham, WA, near Bellingham and north of Seattle, has a 70’ Milwaukee Road turntable in storage. It was built by an unknown firm in 1907, builder’s number 334. It came from the roundhouse in Bellingham, about 26 miles away. The table was removed from the roundhouse in the late 1970s and the line to Bellingham was abandoned in 1980."

On the one at Chehalis, I was sent photos of its builder's plate yesterday and it was built in 1893 by the Lassig Bridge and Iron Works in Chicago. But I appreciate the names of the line that installed it and others until the GN took over the line.

Please send me your e-mail address by PM and I'll send the photos to you.

I found this interesting listing the other day on Craigslist, of all places, in the Pittsburgh, PA section, even though the actual turntable is in upstate New York.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/hvo/5212743696.html

Hi,

I have not been able to find the table on Google Satelite.

Doug vV

Hi Doug,

Look here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rouses+Point,+NY/@44.99175,-73.3750465,125m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x4cc98802cc912f89:0xad9eaa68dfbebc70

-Philip

Thanks Philip.

Not knowing the area, the address on Craig's list was no where near the table itself.

Doug vV

Is this the remains of the D&H facility at which NKP 759 experienced some "freeze damage" during the winter of 1973? If so, it would be an interesting historical connection between 759 and this 110' turntable.

For those much more knowledgeable than I, what is the approximate scrap value of a turntable this size?

Thank you.

Yes, this is the roundhouse/turntable where 759 spent some time in late 1974/early 1974.

Currently, unprepared scrap (like that turntable) is bringing about .03 (three cents) per pound. When the scrap man buys, a ton is 2250 lbs. When the scrap man sells, a ton is 2000 lbs.

Howard P.

The steel turntable at the WW&F is 40 feet in length, but that's about all I know enough to say about it. The two halves of the bridge are currently lying in the grass along the old ROW south of Sheepscot station in Alna, ME, so it's difficult even to photograph let alone find a builder's plate on it, unfortunately. Like Ed, I know nothing of the turntable's history or what plans there may be for it in the future, but here's a photo at least.

-Philip Marshall

Thanks for the size and photo of the WW&F turntable. Here is what I've got on it in my database for now:

Date needed: The two foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington Railway Museum in Alma, ME, has a 40’ turntable bridge on its site that may have been used as a road bridge at one time before arriving. Where it originally came from is not known. The two halves of the bridge are currently lying in the grass along the old ROW south of Sheepscot station in Alma, ME. The museum has plans to build a new 40’ replica, wooden, A-frame turntable at Sheepscot, ME, based on an historic design and in 2015 set aside funds for it.

If anyone has further info about the history of this turntable, where it was originally used, and if it was used as a road bridge later this location, please post it for us.