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Turntable pit

Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 7:05 pm
by nberrington
Greetings all

I was in Swanage a few weeks back and took some photos of the turntable. The pit itself is now concrete (and in not too bad a state.)

Does anyone here know what the surface of a turntable would have been back in the 20's and 30's? All the old photos I can find don't really show the detail of the pit too well and are B&W. I've seen some pictures of brick paving, but mostly they look like a smooth surface like tarmac or concrete. Once they deteriorated they were of course overrun by plant life, but when brand new?

There are a couple here in North America that seem to be gravel and weeds, but mostly they seem to have been concrete from the outset. (We of course have to deal with the spring thaw, so it would otherwise be mud and ice.)

Re: Turntable pit

Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 7:12 pm
by nberrington
Pictures of the turntable at Swanage - April 2018.

Re: Turntable pit

Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 11:17 pm
by Bulwell Hall
The turntable that is currently at Swanage is not an original LSWR/SR turntable and the table that survived until the end of steam was removed by BR shortly afterwards. The table currently at Swanage - as shown in your photos - was installed by the preservation society and is, I believe, an ex London Transport turntable. Branch Lines of the Southern Railway, Volume 1, published by Wild Swan Publications but long out of print has a number of photos showing the turntable that was there in late SR and BR days. It shows that the pit had stone walls to the pit and has what looks like a concrete floor to the pit - the girders look different than the present turntable. Hope this helps.

Gerry

Re: Turntable pit

Posted: Sat May 05, 2018 2:30 am
by nberrington
Thanks Gerry ,yes. I have the book in question and a few others. Noticeable is the rail it turned on and the orientation of the timbers being quite different. I just wasn’t sure about the floor....

Re: Turntable pit

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:05 pm
by nberrington
Progress to date: