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Turntables& DCC

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Hi Everybody.
I am building a layout at present & will at some stage be fitting a turntable. I will be using DCC.
Which of the presently available turntables are some where near Brtitish types & can be used with DCC ?
I have seen the Hejlan turntable model no 8901 at a good price & was wondering if this was suitable ?
Regards.
Tony Daly.
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Hi Tony,

Although my layout is DCC I have decided on conventional control for the turntable as I will need to 'eye-ball' the track alignment and will need very fine control to do so.

As far as I can tell none of the available RTR Turntables (Horny, Fleischman etc) are particularly British prototypical I have therefore opted for the Peco kit and Frizzinghall motorising kit.

Cheers,

Expat.
Hi
I have to agree with Expat as none of the "Nicer" TTs are prototypically British and I dislike the Hornby offering!
However, if funds ever allow, I personally would opt for the Heljan version and anglicise it a bit.

It can also be used with DCC without conversion
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Hi Tony,

I will reciprocate and agree with Brian. the Heljan is a nice, though expensive, (circa £155) piece of kit and looks to be relatively simple to anglicise. Unfortunately I model in N Gauge so do not have the option.

Cheers,

Expat.
QUOTE (Expat @ 7 Apr 2008, 17:36) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Tony,

I will reciprocate and agree with Brian. the Heljan is a nice, though expensive, (circa £155) piece of kit and looks to be relatively simple to anglicise. Unfortunately I model in N Gauge so do not have the option.

Cheers,

Expat.

Hi Expat.
What prompted this post was because I saw the Hejlan for less than £130.
Heljan's new product announcements for 2008 included a much more British looking turntable scheduled for a Q4 release this year.

David
2
The Heljan turntable is the same as the new turntable sold in the States by Walters. It's a well engineered product, I had a look close look at one working and it's top notch. When I was last at Warley I also had a good look at the test shot moulding for the well of the turntable, it would certainly be my choice.
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Intresting topic this, i motorised my peco turntable and have never been happy with it, i see that Hattons have the heljan turn table at £124, as i have an hole in my board for the peco TT would the heljan be a straight swop?
QUOTE (Thunder @ 7 Apr 2008, 20:35) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Intresting topic this, i motorised my peco turntable and have never been happy with it, i see that Hattons have the heljan turn table at £124, as i have an hole in my board for the peco TT would the heljan be a straight swop?

The Hejlan turntable is I understand quite large so you may have to enlarge the hole a little.
This my attempt at anglicising the Heljan turntable. I removed the cabin and added the winding and vaccuum gear from an Airfix/Dapol kit.

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QUOTE (Free_at _last @ 7 Apr 2008, 20:58) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>This my attempt at anglicising the Heljan turntable. I removed the cabin and added the winding and vaccuum gear from an Airfix/Dapol kit.



Very nice. How do you find it to operate & is it motorised ? Are you on DCC ?
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The only niggle I have with mine, is that it does not line up straight through when turned 180 degrees, it was almost a rail width out, so I have had to halve the error by having it not quite line up both ways. Whether that is just mine I don't know, I have not seen it mentioned by anybody else.
It is motorised and you can programme up to 60 stops. I am using dcc for loco control. The turntable pickup is from a split ring so does not need a reverse module.
The newly announced Heljan model looks interesting.
QUOTE (TonyDaly @ 7 Apr 2008, 20:45) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Expat.
What prompted this post was because I saw the Hejlan for less than £130.

Rails of Sheffield are quoting £154.50 for the Heljan turntable so if you have found it at £130 that would appear to be a bargain.

The pics look superb and very close to prototypical British. I just wish they would do an N Gauge one.

Such are the trials and tribulations of minority modelling.

Regards,

Expat.
QUOTE (Free_at _last @ 7 Apr 2008, 21:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The only niggle I have with mine, is that it does not line up straight through when turned 180 degrees, it was almost a rail width out, so I have had to halve the error by having it not quite line up both ways. Whether that is just mine I don't know, I have not seen it mentioned by anybody else.
It is motorised and you can programme up to 60 stops. I am using dcc for loco control. The turntable pickup is from a split ring so does not need a reverse module.
The newly announced Heljan model looks interesting.

Do you have a link to the new model ?
This link should load the Heljan 2008 new products leaflet. The new turntable is on the last page. It says Q2 2008, which works as end of June in my book
but probably not in product development terms. My guess would be Warley 2008.

Don't scroll through page 1 too fast! That strange looking thing in the middle is a traverser and becomes recognisable once you realise this is a plan view. We've had this discussion before but it's worth repeating.

David
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Do not rule out the fleischmann TTs, I find them the most reliable and can be painted to look about as British as any other brand (once you remove the green house!!!).

Rob
QUOTE (dwb @ 7 Apr 2008, 22:08) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>This link should load the Heljan 2008 new products leaflet. The new turntable is on the last page. It says Q2 2008, which works as end of June in my book
but probably not in product development terms. My guess would be Warley 2008.

Don't scroll through page 1 too fast! That strange looking thing in the middle is a traverser and becomes recognisable once you realise this is a plan view. We've had this discussion before but it's worth repeating.

David

Thanks David.
They seem to have 2 differant models for O gauge but only 1 for OO gauge & no photo of an actual model turntable which meas we will be waiting for as you say Warley.
The traverser would be interesting. I wonder if there was ever one in the UK ?
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QUOTE (80class @ 7 Apr 2008, 22:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Do not rule out the fleischmann TTs, I find them the most reliable and can be painted to look about as British as any other brand (once you remove the green house!!!).

Rob

Hi Rob.
Are they pretty expensive ?
Dear Tony,

The Fleischmann TT comes in 2 sizes, with length of bridge=183 mm and 310mm, which is around 46 ft or 78 ft in real size. The smaller one is around 180 quid and the larger 200, plus you may need some extension packs. See Here for pricing details from the main importer to the UK. You can find other prices, if you Google for "Fleischmann Turntable". They also come up on eBay still in original box, as they often get purchased and never installed.

Fleischmann have produced various models (manual and electric) over the years in HO and N gauge, the HO models all start with 6 and the N with 9. I am not sure of all the differences between each model, so take care you know what you are getting (on eBay or elsewhere).

Here is an interesting article about using DCC on the Fleischmann TT.
QUOTE (John @ 8 Apr 2008, 12:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Dear Tony,

The Fleischmann TT comes in 2 sizes, with length of bridge=183 mm and 310mm, which is around 46 ft or 78 ft in real size. The smaller one is around 180 quid and the larger 200, plus you may need some extension packs. See Here for pricing details from the main importer to the UK. You can find other prices, if you Google for "Fleischmann Turntable". They also come up on eBay still in original box, as they often get purchased and never installed.

Fleischmann have produced various models (manual and electric) over the years in HO and N gauge, the HO models all start with 6 and the N with 9. I am not sure of all the differences between each model, so take care you know what you are getting (on eBay or elsewhere).

Here is an interesting article about using DCC on the Fleischmann TT.

Hello John.
Thank you for that very useful information.It is expensive though. Is it as expensive in Europe I wonder ?
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