Railroad Turntables

Comrade Misfit posted a video of the Texas State Railroad. Alas, it has vanished, but now we have a dedicated turntable video.


TEXAS STATE RAILROAD #28 in Maydelle on the turntable
Aaron McCreight
I remember being enthralled by railroad turntables at an early age. They used to be fairly common, not as common as kitchen stoves or even locomotives, but every major railway depot had one. They are very simple in concept, but massive in construction. There are not too many of them around now, which I suspect is why this one caught my eye. Here it is on Google Maps:


Texas State Railroad Turntable in Maydelle, Texas
There is one is Sioux City, Iowa.


Turntable at Sioux City Railroad Museum, Sioux City, Iowa

1961 Central RR Of New Jersey Round table and Locomotive Yard - Communipaw NJ

Turntables were necessary for steam engines because steam engines were only happy going forward. Turntables started fading away with the advent of diesel-electric locomotives, which didn't care which way they were pointed.

Update March 2021 replaced missing video dedicated one.