One day, and hopefully not that far away, whenthe Great Central Railway at Loughborough isconnected to the national railway system, there isgoing to be a need for a turntable. But then wehave needed one for quite a while. Whether it isfor operational reasons, reducing flange wear, orgetting a locomotive facing the other way for aphoto charter or more importantly for the futureturning of a locomotive off an incoming charterfrom the national system, a turntable is a desirablefacility. Whilst it is better that such aresource is located at each end of the line,we just don’t have the space there.However, Quorn & Woodhouse stationyard fits the bill, as it performs the dutyof being the railway’s events area, andthere was the space to accommodate it.

Late in 2009, we enquired of the RibbleSteam Railway as to a sixty-foot table thathad been offered for sale some monthspreviously, thinking that it might have

already gone. “Oh no” came the response, “butwe’ll be looking to cut it up in the New Year” dueto further development of the site at Ribble. Therethus ensued a hectic few days to ascertain if wecould use it and get it to the GCR. Indeed, it hadto be cleared by that Christmas, and swift workended in the table being lifted and transported on23rd December, 2009 in snowy conditions.

The table is an interesting one, being 60 feet longand coming from the York No.2 Queens Streetsteam shed, which is where the North EasternRailway Museum was before the NRM moved toits Leeman Road buildings. On removal in thelate 1960s/early ‘70s, it was craned out, loadedon to a Warwell-type wagon and trip-worked toSteamport at Southport where it was fitted into apit. It resided there until the group left the site,moving to the Ribble Steam Centre at PrestonDocks, and the table went with them, but then laidin storage until we came on the scene.

The table was built by Cowans Sheldon in 1909,numbered 2784, and has a rated capacity of 120tons. It is an unusual type being of a cruciformshape in plan when last used. Most tables are ofeither the under-beam type, or a through-beampattern where the locomotive runs in betweentwo girder structures as at Minehead on the West

The Turntable - at Quorn & WoodhouseTony Sparks describes the completion of this major project

The completed turntable pit on 17th August,2011. IAN ALLISON

The day of the big lift - 9thSeptember, 2011. Theturntable is lowered onto itscentre pin. TONY SPARKS

On 12th September, 2011 the outer bearing wheels are in place and JamesWhincup and Mick Orme discuss adjustments. DENNIS WI COCK

Somerset Railway. The under beam type has amassive central section over the pivot area withtapering ends, and each beam sits under therunning rail that bears the locomotive. Both typesof table have bearing wheels, normally two ateach end. What is unusual here is that there aretwo lattice stabilising beams at 90º to the maingirders, each having a carrying wheel at its outerend. The centre pivot is a substantial castingabout 900mm (3 feet) high drilled for eightmassive holding-down bolts in the basestrengthened by ribs. The top surface has a cupshape and this acts as the bearing to ahemispherical “ball” that is on the underside of

the turntable’s own centralbearing plate. This plate isbolted to a huge casting in thecentre of the table acting as itsspine and giving strength to thecentral pivot area. This guidesthe table as it rotates, and wethink that the “ball and cup”type of bearing needs thestabilising beams, fitted in1932, to afford it lateralstability. However, we are notcertain of this.

When we were refurbishing thecasting evidence of a repair was found as a newcup section had been fitted to the top, engraved

“York OMD Feb 1954”, and in Grade A steel.OMD is the Outside Maintenance Departmentof BR.

One drawback was that there were no drawingsavailable to us, so after the table arrived in asnow-covered Quorn & Woodhouse station yard,we set about measuring it from top to bottom,so that design drawings could be prepared. Allthe parts were logged and listed and restorationstarted in earnest with many parts travelling tothe shed at Loughborough to receive some TLC.Thoughts then turned to the pit to accept the table.This had to be near millimetre-perfect and withfoundations designed to accept the high loadingsimposed by large steam locomotives. A trial holewas excavated, and it was found that below thefew inches of topsoil, there lay about 600mm of

ash laid down by the original GCR when it builtthe yard in the late 1890s – ash was plentiful then!Below this was the most wonderful red clay,perfect in composition and stability. So well-

By 23rd September, 2011 more PWay work wasunderway and the walkway handrails were in place.IAN ALLISON

On 15th September, 2011 the supports for the walkways had beenfitted. IAN ALLISON

By the end of the day on 23rd September,2011 more progress was evident. IANALLISON

drained was the yard that the trial hole remaineddry for a considerable period.

The weight of the table and its load is taken on alarge 5.0 metre diameter concrete base with adepth of nearly 2.0 metres. The top of this baseis 2.0 metres down from ground level, so it canbe seen that the resulting excavation makes for ahuge hole. The circular pit walls are L-shaped insection with the thickest part acting as thefoundation wall, and the step in the wall acting asthe shelf to support the race rails that take the endbearing wheels. The upper pit wall is blue brick

capped with a blue brick bull-nose coping.Keeping these structures in the correctdimensional juxtaposition are eight concretespokes to maintain the geometry betweenthe central base and the circumferential wall.

Excavated spoil from the massive hole wastaken away by train in six Grampus wagonsto another site further down the line adjacent

to the Mountsorrel branch where spoil wasneeded to fill a large hole. Our unique doubletrack was a great help, so that spoil trains couldcontinue running even when service trains werescheduled, these running wrong line whenrequired to maintain continuity of service. Thesetrains ran for about six weeks. As with all ourprojects, we try to use rail for transport whereverpossible to be environmentally-friendly and tokeep the cost down.

The major contractor selected for the civilengineering works was WhitehouseConstruction, whose Chairman is Brell Ewart,

the well-known locomotive owner, and what asuperb job they did. A planned nine-weekcontract for the civil engineering works wasactually finished in just over seven weeks, a greatachievement. With 1,800 tonnes of spoil and 10tonnes of reinforcing steel, there were 180 cubicmetres of concrete making up the heavyfoundations. In order to construct the curved wallsof the base and pit sides, special curved shutterswere used. The finished result of smooth andclean concrete curved walls is there for all to see.With the blue brick facings plus a ballast base tothe pit floor, the completed structure certainly

looks the part. Think about it – layingbricks is (relatively) easy – pull outa string-line and lay your bricks withthe help of a spirit level. But ofcourse, you can’t get a curved string-line, and that is where the skill of thebricklayers came into play. In orderto assist this and other setting-outoperations, we constructed a steelpyramid with a centre pin and plumb-bob, all of which bolted over themain central holding-down bolts.

More adjustments are made on 23rd September,2011. TONY SPARKS

On 4th October, 2011 the walkways, fencing and lampstandards are in place. IAN ALLISON

4th October, 2011 and workcontinues on the walkways andhandrail. IAN ALLISON

From this pin, all measurements from reinforcingsteel to shutters and the bricks were set out toensure complete concentricity.

The actual lifting-in day dawned dry, bright andclear, and mercifully without the high winds thathad been whistling around, and which could haveput paid to the operation. This was preceded bya sleepless night praying that all would fit. Whenyou don’t have original drawings and dimensions,there is the highest risk that you forget the 1, 10or 100 when carrying-over in a simplecalculation! The beast that did the actual liftingwas a Terex-Demag 200-tonne crane which hadto come from Bedford such was its special nature.With its attendant support lorry, it was onlycapable of 20mph on the journey so a 4:30 startwas needed for the two-hour journey, and thenanother hour and a half to get rigged up on site,and which included the 69 tonnes ofcounterweight ballast. This was all achieved by8:00, but so straightforward was the actual liftingoperation the table was in place by about 8:30although, of course, several further packing andlevelling stages took place before the table wasreleased from the lifting chains. All othercomponents including the lamp-posts werethen lifted into proximity for later installation.

All this while, the Permanent Way gang underthe guidance of Nick Tinsley was beaveringaway preparing the access trackwork. A new

point had been laid in the dock sidingand this was followed by a few panelsof plain line leading up to the tablefrom the south. Also laid were 150feet of siding out from the north of theinstallation to add to the operationalflexibility. Future provision has alsobeen made for a second north-facingsiding so that three locomotives couldbe stationed there at big events orgalas. These sidings will be laid flushinto an ash ballast so that all areas areavailable for other events in the yard,such as our War Weekend, bonfirenight or even swapmeets.

Other contractors then came in to complete theworks, with our own David Wright leading thetable restoration. Some components were pasttheir sell-by date and the end box frames were sorusted and delaminated that they had sprung themain beams apart, thus forcing the fabrication ofnew boxes. The deck rails were too far gone andnew 75lb rails were sourced. Completing theinstallation is the perimeter pathway that givesthe locomotive crew a safe and level area fromwhich they can push the locomotive round – nomechanical aids here! The path has been givenbrick “grips” as seen on the paths to canal lockgates to give purchase in slippery conditions.

Other contractors provided fencing and lighting.The cast-iron lamp posts came from Marylebonestation, the original Great Central Londonterminus, and it seemed fitting to re-use them hereto illuminate the walkway around the perimeterfor safe operation. The fencing is placed so as togive visitors an unrivalled view of the turningoperation but from a safe position. We also intendto install an interactive commentary system so

5-10-11 SparksOn 7th October, 2011 children from St Bartholomew’s PrimarySchool in Quorn show how to turn No.63601. JOHNSTEVENSON

On 8th October, 2011 local MP NickyMorgan with her young son, cuts the ribbonto declare the turntable open and ready forbusiness. Bill Ford, left, and Tony Sparks(back to camera) look on. CLIVE HANLEY

that visitors can learn about this rarely-seenmanoeuvre.

With the race rails levelled in, the final anddelicate adjustments and balancing wereunderway, when calamity struck. Having addedthe outriggers, the table became more and moredifficult to turn until it became immovable, anda forklift truck was employed to try and free it.Result? The table came off its bearing andjammed against the pit walls. Having jacked itback to centre, the table’s centre cap with the “ball”attached was removed, whereupon it dawnedupon us! There was a part missing which had notbeen with the original kit of parts, and with nodrawings, there was no inkling up to that pointthat anything was absent. There needed to be abearing ring around the cup, between it and thecentral casting to restrain it and keep it central.The locomotive shed machine shop quicklymanufactured the part and all was reassembled,whereupon all worked fine. It was at this juncturethat we decided to omit the outriggersso that the table would revert to itsoriginal state. Only time will tell ifwe have made the right decision withthis mystery installation.

There then ensued a series of testloadings with firstly a coach, then a

“Jocko” diesel shunter, followed by ahandy Class 25 locomotive, and itwas with some relief that all wentwell. And then two days before thegala, the S&D 2-8-0 No.88 wasdelivered, but was landed the wrong

way round. Solution? Use theadjacent turntable. So No.88 has thehonour of being the first steamlocomotive to be turned, but thepride of place was taken at our PressDay by the GCR 04 No.63601. Thefollowing day was the launch of the

‘table when No.78019 was turned.

What has emerged from the few daysof use is that a certain amount of

“tweaking” is required particularly inthe balance. This is being worked on.

It is important to note that thisproject, as with all other recent

schemes on the Great Central, has been paid forby outside supporters rather than coming from theCompany’s coffers. The GCR is very fortunate inthis respect and grateful thanks should go to ourbenefactors.

Another way to save costs has been the methodof initiating the work without the use of expensiveconsultants. All the design and drawings,specifications and contractor tendering have beenundertaken in-house, and the project managementof contractors has been by our own projects teamof Brian Screaton and Tom Chaplin here. If anyMain Line reader can assist us in explaining theuse of the stabilising beams, we would be verypleased to hear from them.

So now we have a valuable facility, and a popularattraction for our visitors, christened at the launchby our home-based, NRM-owned locomotive, theO4 No.63601. Another GC project in place.

Two days before the Steam Railway Gala, 5thOctober, 2011, SDJR 2-8-0 No.88 became the firstlocomotive to be turned. TONY SPARKS

GCR O4 No.63601 sits perfectly and proudly on the turntableon 7th October, 2011 during the Steam Railway Gala. JOHNSTEVENSON