Largest Turntable in the World?

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

While researching why the John Wayne Trail is called the John Wayne trail, rather than say the Hiawatha Trail, I came across this tidbit:

Quote:

At Malden Washington, once home to the largest railroad turntable in the world, the Parks Department is planning a trailhead in the former rail yard.

Anyone have any historical info on that claim? I'd have guessed someplace like Cheyenne?

John T · **Joined:** Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:05 pm **Posts:** 1270

Here is the quote that statement is based on: "Many of the residents worked at the CM & St. P roundhouse, which in 1909 boasted "the largest turntable in the world."

Here is a photo of the table in 1911:
http://morphotoarchive.org/rvndb/rvnjpe ... o=RVN25843

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

I saw that, but only in one or two places. I suppose the turntable could have been the longest built to date, but one of the references also mentioned "largest roundhouse" and I'm finding that difficult to believe. By 1911 surely there were larger ones than that?

John T · **Joined:** Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:05 pm **Posts:** 1270

If you look up Malden on Google earth you can clearly see the site of the turntable and the eight or nine stall roundhouse. It is interesting to see a story grow organicly. If it was the biggest turntable then logicaly it must have been at the biggest roundhouse.

Dennis Storzek · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:46 pm

Aw, geez, little Granger road Soo Line had the largest steam loco in the world... for about two weeks in 1900, until something bigger was completed.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

John T wrote:

If it was the biggest turntable then logicaly it must have been at the biggest roundhouse.

LOL! I guess it depends on how that is defined. I assume that "biggest turntable" means longest bridge span. (What else could you do, build one that's double tracked?).

But for "biggest roundhouse" it's less clear. Number of stall, or total square footage? If it's stalls, then even the B&O covered roundhouses would be larger, though with a smaller turntable.

Obviously, this isn't a pressing historical question, but it does bring up a common problem in preservation. Like baseball, where you have "Has the best batting average in the league against left handed pitchers in grass field stadiums west of the Rockies in games played on Tuesdays before 5:00 PM", you can come up with a "record" for quite a bit of the current railway preservation scene.

The problem is when the qualifying words in the "record" get lost. "Biggest Turntable on the XYZ Railroad" or "Biggest on the Division" simply becomes "Biggest". When the Willamette locomotive debuted at the Mt Rainier Scenic RR debuted, we proudly announced it was the only operational Willamette Geared Locomotive in the world (was and still is). The local paper reported "The only operational geared locomotive". We got a bit of flack about that "Hey, what about Cass?" etc. I replied "Cass? Hell, look at the photo, there's a Heisler (geared loco) on the same train!"

So I don't always take these "records" at face value.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

Dennis Storzek wrote:

Aw, geez, little Granger road Soo Line had the largest steam loco in the world... for about two weeks in 1900, until something bigger was completed.

Yep, and it's quite possible that this small remote town built a turntable a few feet longer than previous ones so they could turn the new larger locos the railroad was anticipating. That's why I'm asking. It's certainly plausible.

scottychaos · **Posted:** Sat Dec 31, 2016 3:21 pm

The D&H roundhouse in Oneonta NY is often said to have been the largest roundhouse in the world:

Quote:

That trend
reached its logical conclusion at Oneonta,
N.Y., in 1906, where the Delaware & Hud-
son completed what it claimed was “the
largest roundhouse in the world.”
The Oneonta house was substantial.
Around a 75-foot turntable, D&H built 52
stalls with three access tracks in a full circle.
The outer diameter was a little over 400
feet, and enough room was inside the circle
to lengthen the turntable to 105 feet as lo-
comotives grew. The original stalls were 80
feet deep, but D&H soon began lengthen-
ing them. At its largest, the Oneonta house
had 17 stalls enlarged to 131 feet, long
enough for the D&H’s biggest articulated

105 foot long turntable.
52 stalls.
428 foot diameter roundhouse.

sources:

https://secure.kalmbach.com/MediaServic ... DHOUSE.pdf

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &start=180

Scot

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

That's why I have a hard time believing the claim for the roundhouse at all, and even question the turntable. There are so many other candidates for that claim.

Dougvv · **Joined:** Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:52 pm **Posts:** 914

Hi,

Pennsy at Harrisburg metro area (including Enola and Marysville yards) had three or four turntables and two-or three 360 degree roundhouses.

A 360 degree roundhouse has several different numbers of stalls depending on the angle spacing between tracks.

What is the most number of tracks in a roundhouse that was actually built?

Doug vV

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

where was this -double turntable- that was sorta interleaved into each other somewhere I think was posted here not too long ago? perhaps not the largest but certainly unique...

Dougvv · **Joined:** Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:52 pm **Posts:** 914

Hi,

IIRC, there were only two - both in Germany. The set up was that the original turntables could align and transfer a loco from one to the other directly.

When new longer power came, the turntables were both lengthened and became interleaved. The need for throughput was the controlling factor - they could not move power through fast enough with one table. The ability to transfer power between tables was an added plus. Sort of like double tracking a mainline.

Doug vV

Lincoln Penn · **Joined:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:40 pm **Posts:** 841

Bobharbison wrote:

While researching why the John Wayne Trail is called the John Wayne trail, rather than say the Hiawatha Trail, I came across this tidbit:

Quote:

At Malden Washington, once home to the largest railroad turntable in the world, the Parks Department is planning a trailhead in the former rail yard.

Anyone have any historical info on that claim? I'd have guessed someplace like Cheyenne?

FWIW:

Cheyenne turntable is 126 feet. Laramie, Green River and Ogden turntables were 135 feet.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

Lincoln Penn wrote:

Bobharbison wrote:

While researching why the John Wayne Trail is called the John Wayne trail, rather than say the Hiawatha Trail, I came across this tidbit:

Quote:

At Malden Washington, once home to the largest railroad turntable in the world, the Parks Department is planning a trailhead in the former rail yard.

Anyone have any historical info on that claim? I'd have guessed someplace like Cheyenne?

FWIW:

Cheyenne turntable is 126 feet. Laramie, Green River and Ogden turntables were 135 feet.

Suspect those were built after 1911 though. They didn't claim "Largest Ever", just "Largest at one time".

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3010

Dougvv wrote:

Hi,

IIRC, there were only two - both in Germany. The set up was that the original turntables could align and transfer a loco from one to the other directly.

I don't know about the two in Germany, but there is one in Prague, Czech Republic. Not only that, it appears to still be in service! In fact, this whole area looks like a model railroad, check it out on Google Maps, it's amazing.

Attachment:

turntable.jpg [ 283.69 KiB | Viewed 13829 times ]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pragu ... 14.4378005