The next stage was to load test the wheels to make sure they were strong enough.
Now I'm not convinced by the calculations. I was told that one of the locos has an axle loading of 4 tons, on three axles, that makes 12 tons. The turntable must weigh around 2 tons when it is finished. That's 14 tons.
There are four turntable wheels. I was instructed to test them to 2-3 tons as that would give a nice margin for safety. At 3 tons that would give a tested load of 12 tons for the four wheels, evenly distributed.
I tested the wheels to 4-5 tons and they stood up to the test fine. I didn't get a chance to challenge the maths as the chap instructing me left early. Also I didn't want to test load any higher in case I broke all the wheels. There may be stronger options, or more wheels, if needed.
Anyway, the test procedure is to place the wheel on a loose fit axle and, with a bit of steel in between the flanges, apply a load with the press to the wheel rim and through the axle. The test needs to be repeated loading the rim at each wheel spoke and between each spoke so the whole of the rim has been loaded.
All the wheels survived.
I am tempted to suggest re testing the wheels again after I have descaled and cleaned the wheels next week, just to make sure and then question the test load and safety margin allowed for at that point. I would be happier if the wheels were tested to around 7 tons, but that isn't my call.