First Motorcar Run of the New Year - Jan 1, 2009 or How to Turn A Motorcar Using a Portable Turntable

If the rest of the young year 2009 will go as well as day one, then it should be a good year, motorcarically speaking.

As a reliable weather forecast became clear, I decided to contact my local shortline to seek permission to operate on this road on Jan 1, New Years Day. Early in the week president of the railroad was warm to the idea, but I had to wait until 5:00pm New Year's Eve to get final track clearance. Due to operational constraints of the railroad, we could not travel as far as our original plan, but we had plenty of running room. Round trip total was about 40 miles. Overnight temperatures were in the mid 30's, quickly warming into the low 60's as the day progressed. The sky was clear, but the wind was stiff out of the south. However, much of this line is bordered by trees, so most of the wind chill encountered was just from our movement.  Overall a very pleasant run.

As plans took shape, our local crew of motocar operators jumped at the opportunity. Four motorcars and one hy-rail pickup were able to make the trip on this day.

One new and pleasant experience on this trip was our first use of a portable motorcar turntable. My understanding is the device is based on a Fairmont original design. We towed the device pre-assembled in two pieces on our lightweight motorcar trailer (a former M-9 frame, now wood-decked). At our turn-around point, we used this turntable.

The turntable can be used "in the open" and does not have to be at a grade crossing. It took some trial to use it, but with one person at each corner of the motorcar, the turn around was very quick and much less physically taxing than using lift handles at a grade crossing. Everyone in our group was pleased as to how quick the turn around was made. I believe we turned in 1/4 the time it would normally take to turn our cars, and with much less physical effort.

Presented here are photographs of our use of the portable motorcar turntable.

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