heljan traverser

I had a look at Heljan's website tonight. There's no mention of the traverser part number in the "coming soon" list. Given that the turntables listed as 2Q08 are down for November 08, it looks like they're six months behind where they expected to be at the start of the year. On that basis I would say expect the traverser in late Spring / early Summer next year. I'll still keep a look out for a prototype.

I have also done some rough calculations on how big the 21.5 meter turntables will be. Since they're HO scale (1/87) this works out at about 247mm or about 9.5 inches. Great news for people looking for something for secondary lines and shortish locos but too small for most British pacifics I know of. So it looks like I have to get the US style one after all.

David

See this page of Walther's website. As you know, Walther's are a rather large US model railroad supplier.

Now see this page on Howes website for the Heljan.

Sure looks like "twins" to me

The centre hoop is a detachable accessory, so that part of a Britification is not too hard. It's just that the 21.5 meter example was starting off much more European, especially with the shallower well.

David

QUOTE So center hoops were not used on British turntables?

Not in the photos of locomotive depots of the region I model, but my mouse revealed what you had blanked out so as always there's a prototype for everything....

David