Monday 24/04/2017 saw the fitting of a DCC chip to control the existing Heljan turntable which has proven rather unreliable. With control of the turntable deck by the DCC handset we should have much finer and realistic operation.  This was a quite a task as the existing electronics had to be cut into and removed, passing the point of no return.  Hats off to Bill for taking this task on.

Whilst Bill was busying himself with the above, Joe took the opportunity to start work on replacing a section of buckled trackwork on the line in front of the coaling stage.  We thought the rails had buckled due to expansion, turns out the rails were pushed out of vertical alignment by a screw from beneath the baseboard, thank you Spencer, we need to ban you from screwdrivers!

We now have completed the main upgrades to Milton Street MPD, any remaining work is scenic and loco based.

Spencer has been busy DCC fitting, detailing and weathering some of his loco’s which haven’t seen the light of day on Milton Street MPD yet.  All the weathering has been Spencers first solo’s attempts, and the loco’s have turned out pretty good…

D11/2 62691 ‘Laird Of Balmawhapple’ rounds up a 3F Jinty, 2P Compound and Crosti boilered 9F.

With the microswitch problems we’ve experienced at Warley, these will be the first items to be replaced.  Instead of the short lever ones currently used which require very fine tuning of the servos, we are replacing these with longer actuating levers.  This should be a simple swap over and more details will be posted when completed.

Next on the list wil the the troublesome turntable.  This Heljan model wasnt cheap, and has been known to work perfectly on exhibition layouts, but this one doesnt!  So after being troubled with it at too many shows, this most importal part of the layout is getting a going over…

• The indexing system will be disabled and the control panel will be junked
• A DCC chip will be fitted to the motor control and driven by the DCC controller
• The approach roads will be lifted and all ground/turntable deck levels matched

Hopefully after these works, the turntable will prove to be much more reliable.

The main project Spencer is working on is replacing Milton Street’s solenoids with servo’s, controlled by a Megapoints Controller.  The first photo shows all servo cables connected and the controller mounted to the underside of the baseboard, and the second photo shows the protective cover over the Megapoints board.  

As result of switching to servo’s is a drop in wiring needed between baseboards and control panel.  The decision to operate Milton Street from the front from its next outing has resulted in a new control panel being built.  Taking advantage of the lower  wiring runs, the new control panel is considerably smaller and now incorporates a holder for the DCC handset, this is shown to great effect in the third photograph

A new lighting rig has been constructed for Milton Street MPD in preparation for the Perth show, 25/26th June.  Moving away from spotlights, the lighting is now provided by LED strips, mounted in inverted PVC guttering, covered in black plastic sheeting.  The main advantages being there is now an even spread of light over the whole layout, and there is no heat generated!