A railway turntable is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they can be moved back in the direction from which they came. The turntable was a common, but very important, device that could be found in most terminals, large and small, during the steam era.

In the case of diesel locomotives, though most can be operated in either direction, they are treated as having "front ends" and "rear ends". That is determined by reference to the location of the crew cab.

Today, turntables are rarely used by freight railroads.  However, they have not completely disappeared as several have found a second life turning the many restored steam locomotives.