HOn3 52ft gallows

HOn3/HO 52ft gallows turntable

Next batch: Maybe 2025 - depends if there is enough interest to justify making a batch 

KIT price is £75.

THE KIT HAS NO MOTOR.

THIS KIT IS REDESIGNED FOR "DIRECT DRIVE" FROM A GW370 STYLE 0.6RPM GEARED MOTOR.

MOTOR READILY AVAILABLE ON EBAY FOR AROUND £10 to £15, usually with free shipping. (Also sometimes Amazon). KIT INCLUDES A SHAFT COUPLER, and MOTOR SCREWS,  BUT NOT THE MOTOR. You will have to buy that yourself.

This is 52ft gallows turntable kit is available in H or A frame configuration. It is wide and tall enough for HO logging locos too, and deck is available in HO and HOn3 options.

The H frame design takes some its cues from the Monarch turntable on the DRGW. Please understand that while this kit looks "Monarchy", the Monarch flavour is from what I can see in photos found on the net - ie the top H frame part, and the double layer stretchers.

The A frame type is like the 65ft gallows kit, and based on the style of the one at Laws California

The bridge deck is made up on an integral frame using laser cut wooden parts that slot into each other for ease of assembly. Unlike other "kits" it is not simply a bag of sticks!

The gallows framework is similarly made from laser cut bass parts and assembled on a jig.

There is no bridge track included. Rather use your own track. There is a very simple effective jig that allows you to align the track on the centre line.

The turntable has a ring rail (code 75 included) - as that overcomes the stability issues when turning and when driving on/off the bridge and it uses same small wheels as the proven Durango HOn3 kit. The ring rail also uses a simple jig to hold the rail in place while the rail is soldered to copper clad ties. Its easy! Honest! Even novice solderers have done it. Someone is going to email me that Monarch (like other gallows TTs) had ramps at the exit tracks, not a ring rail. Feel free to not fit the ring rail and fashion your own supporting ramps at the entry tracks. But don't complain to me if its a bit wobbly when you turn or when you drive on/off the bridge. been there. done that. Which is why the kit has a ring rail :)

All jigs for the above are included in the kit.

Spider design:  The kit uses the "pseudo spider" design method used in my On30 gallows kits. The spider is suggested by fixed beams and rings with a cavity in the centre, into which the proven KHM turning plate sits. The turning plate provides the reliable rotation and power connections that are already proven in the On30 and HOn3 Durango turntable kits. An actual operating spider with rotating wheels is complex to create and assemble - and far too likely to be a source of functional problems. And once the bridge deck is in place you can hardly see it anyway.

Stays and cabling: This is 0.6mm piano wire. I use this because it is robust and holds its shape. 

NBW assemblies: the kit has none - you will have to source your own. There are 3 reasons for this: a) 85% of customers are in US/Canada and its easier for you to get them than me! b) the cost is lower if you source your own. I would have to import to UK, pay extra taxes, add to kit and send back. That's madness. c) I don't like adding casting suppliers into my supply chain due to long and variable lead times. The On30 kits have NBW assemblies built up from laser cut parts but that isn't feasible in HO.