New Genesee Junction Turntable photo

dj_paige wrote:I had the pleasure of visiting the turntable this morning. Definitely a pleasant trip! I didn't have the courage to climb down into the pit like FarmallBob said. But I took some nice pictures (including the 1910 carved into the walls) and generally had a nice but muddy hike.

But this leads to a question... why build a turntable here in the first place? Would it not be possible to use the NYC/PRR interchange tracks at Genesee Junction as a wye? Why couldn't you turn the engines that way?

Paige,
that was covered in another thread about the turntable pit.
(I will try to locate the thread..its around here somewhere)
basically the turntable was built by NYC to turn locomotives running locals between Syracuse and Genesee Junction Yard..
there was never a roundhouse with the turntable, just the turntable itself, and probably only the one lead-track to the pit..no "radial tracks"..

Scot

dj_paige wrote:But this leads to a question... why build a turntable here in the first place? Would it not be possible to use the NYC/PRR interchange tracks at Genesee Junction as a wye? Why couldn't you turn the engines that way?

Would require permission to occupy / foul someone else's tracks. Remember back in the day the PRR and NYC were competitors.

dj_paige wrote:I had the pleasure of visiting the turntable this morning. Definitely a pleasant trip! I didn't have the courage to climb down into the pit like FarmallBob said. But I took some nice pictures (including the 1910 carved into the walls) and generally had a nice but muddy hike.

Was there in September with a friend. Huge fun. I'd like to go back there with her some day to see it again. It was just as FarmallBob says ... the least sound made at the exact center echoes back to you from all directions. And I found the 1910 molded (not carved) into the wall. We were fantasizing that we were there 100 years after it was finished, to the day! Probably just a fantasy, but a fun fantasy.

scottychaos wrote:Got a cool new photo of the turntable pit emailed to me.
check it out!
its at the bottom of the page:

http://www.geocities.com/scottychaos/turntable.html

Scot

that original geocities page no longer exists..
my Genesee Junction page is now here:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychao ... ction.html


thanks,
Scot

RussNelson wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:40 pm

Was there in September with a friend. Huge fun. I'd like to go back there with her some day to see it again.
[/quote]

By all means, you should.

The links to the maps on Scot's website are not working.

dj_paige wrote: ↑Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:29 amBut this leads to a question... why build a turntable here in the first place? Would it not be possible to use the NYC/PRR interchange tracks at Genesee Junction as a wye? Why couldn't you turn the engines that way?

Using the wye would have required cooperation between 2 railroads that were traditionally rivals. Yes, I am fully aware that NYC and PRR did cooperate in other locations like Canandaigua and Elmira... but those things tended happen in the 1930s when rail traffic declined during the Depression. Both NYC and PRR had a tendency... because they were large Class 1s... to be self-sufficient whenever possible. And in the heyday of RRing (before 1920), each of them had the revenue to support their own facilities.

In a related thought, I'm guessing PRR wanted their own engine servicing facility near Rochester... which would also dictate the need for turntable in the steam era