One of the major construction projects in preparation for the Discover Live Steam Convention is the addition of a turntable/lift and 12 steaming bays just north of the covered steaming bays. The diagram shows the addition in red. (Click thumbnails to view large photos.) Note that the track diagram on the Track page has been updated but is already out of date as tracks are being added daily. Over the past week the major effort was to dig holes and install the posts for the steaming bays --- 12 bays at 3 posts per bay means 36 holes, 36 posts, etc. Underground wiring and receptacles have also be installed on most the bays. Each post also requires a piece of angle and flat plate welded together to form a mounting bracket. That has also been completed ---- stacks of brackets are visible in the photos. The turntable is 16 foot long and there will be five 12 foot bays, one 14 foot bay, four 16 foot bays and two 20 foot bays. The major remaining task is to secure the 3" channels, cut them to length, weld them to the brackets and secure the brackets.
The lower photo shows the hydraulics mounted under the first steaming bay. The system runs on low pressure (less than 100 lbs) and must transfer about 15 gallons of fluid to raise or lower the turntable. The two tanks hold the ~ 20 gallons of fluid. The current time to raise or lower the turntable is about 3 minutes. If our patience wears thin we can replace the motor with one than runs twice as fast to cut the time in half.