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A car turntable or driveway turntable is a rotating platform designed for use by a car; they can be motorized or manually rotated and are usually installed in a driveway or in a garage floor. They rotate a motor vehicle to facilitate its easier or safer egress. Sometimes a local zoning prohibition of vehicles backing onto busy roadways prompts the installation of car turntables.
The residential car turntable traces its history to the steam locomotives turntable engine shed, or roundhouse. The first turntable engine shed was the North Midland Railway roundhouse, built in 1839 at Derby, England. The turntable allowed steam locomotives, which could not safety be run in reverse owing to their design, to be rotated to a forward position.
The car turntable has existed nearly as long as the mass-produced automotive. Oldsmobile was the first mass production automobile built on assembly lines in 1902. Henry Ford greatly expanded his production line manufacture with affordable automobiles beginning in 1913, most notably with his Ford Model T. Henry Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan Fair Lane Estate garage (Estate construction began in 1914 and was completed in 1916) included an automobile turntable.
The architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed and implemented several residential vehicle turntables including the 1922 Doheny Ranch Estate in Beverly Hills, California, designed but never built for Edward L. Doheny, a Los Angeles oil tycoon and the Westcott House built in 1908 in Springfield, Ohio, for Burton J. Westcott, designer of the Westcott automobile and founder of the Westcott Motor Car Company.
Car turntables were first prevalent in Europe, as seen in the August 1930 issue of Modern Mechanics , which displays a turntable used in Paris’ narrow streets “so that cars and autos don’t have to go miles out of their way to find turning places”. [1] Possibly due to the dense urban planning in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia (among others) an earnest adoption of turntables began in the 1950s.
Escalating urban density in the United States, and increased awareness of back-over and reversing accidents primarily involving children has helped in popularity of vehicle turntables.
Two primary types of vehicle turntables are available: the above-ground version and the in-ground version. The two versions are analogous to an above-ground and an in-ground swimming pool. The above-ground version is not flush with the driveway or garage pad and does not require excavation. The in-ground version is flush with the driveway or garage pad and does require excavation.
The non-American turntables tend to be more utilitarian; the operator often spins their vehicle around by hand, and these manufacturers offer few options other than motorized versions. The newer developed U.S. turntables tend to cater to the consumer behavior of the American marketplace – some of these models offer microprocessor controls, safety engineering features, high vehicle weight capacities, lighting accessories and heated platters.
Turntables have also been built for use by buses or trolleybuses in a few places. Examples of trolleybus turntables include the Christchurch trolleybus turntable, in Dorset, England [2] (long disused but still extant); the Longwood trolleybus turntable, in Huddersfield, England [3] (dismantled); one at the LT Isleworth trolleybus depot; one used on the Guadalajara trolleybus system in Mexico in the 1980s; and the Unterburg trolleybus turntable, at Burg, Germany, near Solingen, which was used by trolleybuses of the Solingen trolleybus system in regular service until November 2009 and remains in place for occasional use by heritage vehicles. [4]
A bus turntable existed at Snow Hill in St Helier, Jersey, when it was used as a bus station between 1932 and 1964. [5]
A bus platform, currently in use in Elantxobe, Basque Country, has a turntable.
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws power from dual overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires, and two trolley poles, are required to complete the electrical circuit. This differs from a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as the return path, needing only one wire and one pole. They are also distinct from other kinds of electric buses, which usually rely on batteries. Power is most commonly supplied as 600-volt direct current, but there are exceptions.
A turntable is the circular rotating platform of a phonograph, a device for playing sound recordings.
A campervan, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motor caravan or RV in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans that have been fitted out, whereas a motorhome is one with a coachbuilt body.
The Henry Ford is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theatre, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop, the Rosa Parks bus, and many other historical exhibits. It is the largest indoor–outdoor museum complex in the United States and is visited by over 1.7 million people each year. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981 as "Edison Institute".
In rail terminology, a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they can be moved back in the direction from which they came. it is especially used in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weigh against the construction of a turnaround wye. In the case of steam locomotives, railways needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many locomotives the top speed was lower in reverse motion. In the case of diesel locomotives, though most can be operated in either direction, they are treated as having "front ends" and "rear ends". When a diesel locomotive is operated as a single unit, the railway company often prefers, or requires, that it be run "front end" first. When operated as part of a multiple unit locomotive consist, the locomotives can be arranged so that the consist can be operated "front end first" no matter which direction the consist is pointed. Turntables were also used to turn observation cars so that their windowed lounge ends faced toward the rear of the train.
A driveway is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group.
The Westcott House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie Style house in Springfield, Ohio. The house was built in 1908 for Mr. Burton J. Westcott, his wife Orpha, and their family. The Westcott property is the only Prairie style house designed by Wright in the state of Ohio. The grounds include the main house and a garage with stables connected by an extensive pergola.
Guy Motors was a Wolverhampton-based vehicle manufacturer that produced cars, lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company was founded by Sydney S. Guy (1885–1971) who was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Guy Motors operated out of its Fallings Park factory from 1914 to 1982, playing an important role in the development of the British motor industry.
The Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, 55 miles (89 km) northwest of downtown Chicago.
A residential garage is a walled, roofed structure for storing a vehicle or vehicles that may be part of or attached to a home, or a separate outbuilding or shed. Residential garages typically have space for one or two cars, although three-car garages are used. When a garage is attached to a house, the garage typically has an entry door into the house, called the person door or man door, in contrast with the wider and taller door for vehicles, called the garage door, which can be raised to permit the entry and exit of a vehicle and then closed to secure the vehicle. A garage protects a vehicle from precipitation, and, if it is equipped with a locking garage door, it also protects the vehicle(s) from theft and vandalism. Most garages also serve multifunction duty as workshops for a variety of projects, including painting, woodworking, and assembly. Garages also may be used for other purposes as well, such as storage or entertainment.
The Marmon-Herrington Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer of axles and transfer cases for trucks and other vehicles. Earlier, the company built military vehicles and some tanks during World War II, and until the late 1950s or early 1960s was a manufacturer of trucks and trolley buses. Marmon-Herrington had a partnership with Ford Motor Company, producing trucks and other commercial vehicles, such as buses. The company may be best known for its all-wheel-drive conversions to other truck maker's units, especially to Ford truck models. Founded in 1931, Marmon-Herrington was based in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a plant in Windsor, Ontario, and remained in Indianapolis until 1963. It is now based in Louisville, Kentucky.
Gräf & Stift was an Austrian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, from 1902 until 2001, latterly as a subsidiary of MAN. It was founded in 1902 by the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf, and the investor, Wilhelm Stift. Before the Second World War, the company was a well-known manufacturer of luxury automobiles, including the Double Phaeton that carried Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, when they were assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914. By the 1930s Gräf & Stift had begun making trucks and buses, and it ceased car manufacturing in 1938. The company merged with Österreichische Automobil Fabriks-AG (ÖAF) in 1971, becoming ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG, and later the same year was taken over by MAN AG. It continued in business as a subsidiary of MAN, and the Gräf & Stift name remained in use as a MAN brand for the Austrian market and for trolleybuses until 2001, when ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG was renamed MAN Sonderfahrzeuge AG. It was located in Vienna, and the production facilities continue in use there, but no longer using the Gräf & Stift name.
Viseon Bus GmbH was a German bus, trolleybus and coach manufacturer, based in Pilsting, Bavaria, Germany. It was established in July 2008, and in April 2009 it took over the former Neoman bus and coach production facility of MAN Truck & Bus in Pilsting and a workforce of 220 employees. That plant had been manufacturing vehicles under the Neoplan brand, owned by MAN since 2001. Because of financial difficulties, Viseon Bus ceased production in 2013 and was liquidated in 2014.
Road powered electric vehicles (RPEV) collect any form of potential energy from the road surface to supply electricity to locomotive motors and ancillary equipment within the vehicle.
The Mendoza trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network in Mendoza, the capital city of Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is owned by the provincial government.
The automotive industry in North Korea is a branch of the national economy, with much lower production than the automotive industry in South Korea. In North Korea motor vehicle production is focused on military and industrial goals, including construction; few private citizens own cars.
St Helier railway station was the terminus of the Jersey Eastern Railway (JER) in Saint Helier, the capital of Jersey in the Channel Islands. Opened in 1874, it was situated in a railway cutting at the base of Mont de la Ville below Fort Regent. The station was referred to as St. Helier to distinguish it from another railway terminus opened by the Jersey Railway in 1873 at the Weighbridge in St Helier. The station was in passenger operation until the line closed in 1929. Today the site is occupied by the Snow Hill car park.
Sunbeam Commercial Vehicles was a commercial vehicle manufacturing offshoot of the Wolverhampton based Sunbeam Motor Car Company when it was a subsidiary of S T D Motors Limited. Sunbeam had always made ambulances on modified Sunbeam car chassis. S T D Motors chose to enter the large commercial vehicle market in the late 1920s, and once established they made petrol and diesel buses and electrically powered trolleybuses and milk floats. Commercial Vehicles became a separate department of Sunbeam in 1931.
The Unterburg trolleybus turntable is a disused turntable for trolleybuses in the Solingen district Burg an der Wupper. The facility was regularly used by trolleybus line 683, operated by the Stadtwerke Solingen (SWS), until 15 November 2009, but is preserved in working condition.
A car elevator or vehicle elevator is an elevator designed for the vertical transportation of vehicles inside buildings, so increasing the number of vehicles that can be parked in parking lots and parking garages. Where real estate is costly, these car parking systems can reduce overall costs by using less land to park the same number of cars.
Media related to Automobile turntables at Wikimedia Commons