Turntable

Turntable. Laws Railroad Museum. , This turntable is what is known as an "Armstrong" turntable. In other words, the turning power is the strong arms of a few people. If the locomotive or car to be turned is balanced properly on the table, four men can easily turn a 40 ton locomotive. , , When the Laws station was originally built, a smaller turntable was built in this approximate location with an engine house. That turntable and engine house quickly disappeared. The engine house was never replaced, but this larger turntable was built here by the Southern Pacific Railroad after that company took over the old Carson and Colorado Railroad. This turntable is believed to have been built here about 1911, and may have been built using parts from the original turntable that had been moved to Hamill for turning snowplows that cleared snow over Montgomery Pass. , , This turntable was in use right up to the end of the Southern Pacific narrow gauge operations in 1960. It was used to turn the steam locomotives for their return trip to the south end of the line. It has been repaired and stabilized, but is not used to turn equipment anymore because of the age of the timbers along the sides of the table.