Saw this O scale transfer setup at the North Platte train show. He said UP had one in western Nebraska they used. He had a RC switcher underneath to move it back and forth, but a simple push setup would be easier, hard to line it up with RC he said. Does the same thing as a turntable, but takes up a lot less space, I thought. It was new to me anyway, which ain’t saying much!
mmm— there is one thing, this transferbridges can’t. they can’t turn around a car or loco.
Transfer tables were used at major railroad shops to move equipment from one shop bay to another for performing various heavy repairs. As stated by Korm they of course could not turn locomotives around. The Santa Fe for example had one at their shops in San Bernardino, California. I don’t know if it’s still there now.
The Terminal Railroad (TRRA) had one in St. Louis right under what is now Interstate 64/40 at about the 14th street viaduct. This allowed it to be the background of many pictures taken from overhead. It sat parallel and north of the main line and just east of Union Station, which is immediately west of 18th Street and its viaduct. They serviced their own equipment and had contracts with many railroads that came into the Station. The building was rectangular and took up very little space compared to a roundhouse and/or turntable. It was used right up to shortly before the federal takeover of passenger service and the building of the two level approach to the new, at that time, Mississippi River Bridge.
Looks good, like Korm says they can’t turn a loco 180 deg. though.
David
going to build one out of steel for the fun of it now… do not know if I will use it… just a fun looking project…
Just seemed a nice way to move from track to track, using little space. I would not use the switcher underneath, just some wheels for it to roll on, just below the track level, so it’s track would line up.
Jerry Barnes said:I agree.
Just seemed a nice way to move from track to track, using little space. I would not use the switcher underneath, just some wheels for it to roll on, just below the track level, so it's track would line up.
Isn’t very useful if you only have 1 track though.
Don’t have enough money to buy more track, I spent all my money on Loco’s.
David
Jerry Barnes said:
Just seemed a nice way to move from track to track, using little space. I would not use the switcher underneath, just some wheels for it to roll on, just below the track level, so it's track would line up.
The goal is a compact storage place for diesels, and often the transfer table is used to bring cars in and out of a shop without using lots of space with a ladder of switches. Where they are used in the prototype, they save valuable space.
I’ve never seen them where there was a “through” track (of course there is always an exception!)
Greg