Just curious- Does any manufacturer offer a turntable with a bridge about 5 inches in length? Hopefully not some complex kit...
Least fiddly is probably the Kato turntable. Bridge length is a bit over six inches. MSRP is about $300. https://www.katousa.com/N/Unitrack/Turntable.html
Thinking more along the lines of an end of branch line setting. Where a doodlebug or small diesel might be turned.
Thoughts on the Bachmann TT? It has a five and one half inch bridge. Close enough to my desired length.
No experience with the Bachmann turntable and not a fan of their products, either. Might be OK if you can buy it from a dealer with a good return policy. Presumably you're trying to recreate a scene along the lines of this one:
Peco makes an N-Scale turntable with a 5-15/16" table. https://peco-uk.com/products/turntable-kit?_pos=2&_sid=670323b00&_ss=r
I'm sitting here picking my brain. I remember some early turntables. Someone did put out a small, open pit turntable. It wasn't automated you had to hand turn it. Nothing coming up. Knowing you I'm guessing you've already done this. An oogle google search revealed the following: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=N+Scale+Turntables I hope this helps.
Arnold Rapido offered a turntable long ago, self-indexing and all, but I think its bridge was a bit over 6". This is mine.
Seriously? I have convinced myself I don't want one and now you go and start this thread! Sheesh! It happens I will not be able to have a loop at the far end, (behind the TV), of the GandG. With the FEF-3, a TT would be a good thing. Hmmm, no, No, NO! ☻ Well, maybe.
Hmmm. Well, it is looking as though Peco may be the direction of travel. Just checking their site, I see they are showing a motorizing kit. Anyone here tried it? Also, I am guessing the bridge is Code 80?
The approach tracks mate with both Peco C80 and C55. Peco C55 is actually C80 cross-section but with two feet. So mating with someone else's C55 might require imaginative head scratching. If you file 1/4" off below the C55 foot, then you should be able to mate with most other C55's.
I have read where others mate ME code55 with Peco by filing off the part of the rail that id buried in the ties, then using a standard code 55 joiner. Never tried it myself as I don't like the looks of the Peco.
Actually, Today I wasted the whole day researching N and Z turntables, trying to find a small pit type to use for my Lester WA modeling. I ended up ordering a Rokuhan Z Scale turntable from Japan, which looks horrible, but functions beautifully, and am going to use it for it's drive mechanism and electronics, But I am seriously thinking of mounting the PECO N manual turntable pit over it, and building the bridge custom. Anyways, I watched videos of all the operations of all the turntables out there. For what you describe Ken, I think the PECO would suit best. They used to offer a motorizing kit for them, and I have a built up PECO turntable that I converted to Z using their motorizing kit. It uses a Hankscraft store display motor, so it moves slow, but is notorious for overshoot. Here is what my Peco NB55 TT looks like after conversion to Z Scale: The other turntable I considered was the Bachmann. It's also a very small pit type, but has a big shed concealing the motor, and a fairly large operators shack, which was not usually seen on a small turntable. What is clever is their indexing scheme. It must use a gear that has no teeth on half of it, because it rotates to a track position, then stops there for as long as it took to get from the previous index position yet you can hear the motor is still spinning, then it continues to the next stop. These are priced around $100. All the turntables I looked at need to be modified to look good, but the PECO is the cleanest and simplest at around $30 unmotorized. I also looked at Republic Locomotive Works Nn3 TT, and they look promising, however I do not think they ever actually made it to the production phase. The Kato TT is another nice TT, maybe a bit larger but nowhere as large as the Walthers. It is designed to look like a pit TT but no hole in the layout board is required, and they boast a very proud price. For myself, it's all about purchasing a solid mechanism, since I have to build the turntable to match a prototype rather than plug and play.
Fifer presently has two of the PECO turntables in stock. Following are two videos about the PECO model - one shows the assembly, while the second covers powering it. Note that the rails are removable, so theoretically you could install the rails of your choice.