01-26-2010, 11:50 AM
Galen, I've never heard of a turn table on a pier. In most cases, the question was whether the pier would be strong enough to support a locomotive, let alon a locomotive and turntable, plus I suspect that the pit would be problematic. Even a turn table with a deck like Atlas, still needs a pit underneath for the turning mechanism. It probably has no prototype, but a turntable on the lead to the pier would probably be more practical. How big do you need the turntable to be? If you are talking about something no bigger than an Atlas turntable, a wye with one leg short enough to just fit the locomotive and tender, if steam, would probably suffice. Of course, a pier might be a great excuse to have a docksider.