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Description

Photo of a turntable. Turntables were primarily used by railroads during the steam era. Locomotives awaiting light-duty maintenance and repairs were moved from yard tracks onto the turntable by a hostler. The turntable operator would then use controls to operate the electric motors that powered the turntable to rotate, aligning the turntable tracks with those for an available maintenance bay in the roundhouse. When servicing and minor repairs of that locomotive were complete, it would be backed onto the aligned turntable again, and rotated again to align with yard tracks that allowed the locomotive to return to revenue service or await a new assignment.