Modern Turntable in the Transportation Palace
Centrally located in the Palace of Transportation
was the working exhibit of the C., C., C. & St. L. Railway (Big Four
Route), a monster locomotive and tender mounted on a turntable resembling
an inverted bridge truss, the whole assemblage of parts revolved easily
on a relatively small horizontal circle of steel, so that the headlight,
carried high in air, illuminated in turn every corner of the great building.
As the turntable, with its well-poised burden, revolved in its 75-foot circle,
the 79-inch driving-wheels rotated rapidly. Electric power was used for
moving all of the mechanism, and only the result was seen. The American
Locomotive Company built the engine, and the Chicago Bridge and Iron Works
supplied the turntable. In the circle of floor-space below the sweep of
the turntable, the railroad company had laid out a map showing the routes
traversed by its lines. Besides its own weight, the great turntable carried
that of the locomotive, 184,000 pounds, and the tender 140,00 pounds 162
tons in all. To balance the greater weight of the engine and give steadiness
to the motion, 55,000 pounds of sand were carried in the tender. Engines
of this type hauled ten cars at a rate of sixty miles an hour.
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Terry's 1904 World's Fair Page.
1-1997