Hey guys. I do not get to post as much as I used to but thought I would show everyone one’s of Millhouse River’s excellent transfer tables.
Some of you may remember my “old” layout that was the featured layout in RUN 255 a few years ago. Well, that layout is now in the land fill and I am in the process of building a much bigger and better “Eastern Division”. This layout will feature a transfer table in the diesel service facility instead of the ever popular turntable.
Anyway, back to the table. I bought the table last September and Al delivered it to York in October. The packaging was bullet proof, to say the least. Al packages the product to survive a small nuclear blast and that is a good thing.
Unfortunately, life gets in the way and all the best laid plans never seem to work for me and the table resided in its box until last weekend. I finally got enough of the framework complete to do the install.
If you have modest wood working skills, you can certainly install the table on some stout framing. I built my framework in the engine service area to be sturdy enough to easily support me and a few Big Boys.
Al builds these tables out of aluminum and the fit and finish rivals a good machinist’s effort. It is a shame to hide the frame below the table. There are (2) basic pieces, the aluminum base and the table top. The base attaches to the wood framing with (6) brackets that accept carriage bolts, nuts and washers.
There are a number of ways to attach the transfer table to the layout. I choose to cut a piece of plywood and mount the plywood to the table. I then “dropped” the whole assembly into the framing on the layout. I did this to avoid holding the table in position from underneath while bolting it fast. There is plenty of room for shim type washers to get the exact height of the bridge to match your roadbed.
I plan to cover the exposed bolt heads with a walkway and handrail along the edge of the “pit” that will be removable if I ever need to remove the table.
The table comes completely assembled. All that needs to be done is install the base on the layout, line up the table top with the drive belts and fire it up. I chose to have Al install the automated indexing system and also weather the deck and pit area. Al provides handrail post castings and wire for the bridge along with a detailed operator’s shanty that gets installed on the bridge. These last (3) items need to be installed by the customer to avoid any damage during installation. A keypad is provided for operation as well as a power supply.
Like most guys, I did not read the instructions until I started installation. Most of the work was intuitive but the indexing system did require a few readings of the instructions to understand all the small nuances of the system.
Overall, this is an excellent unit. I would highly recommend the Millhouse transfer table to anyone who is considering one for their layout. It is not cheap but neither is the price of quality. It performs flawlessly and looks great. It will certainly be the centerpiece of my engine service facility.
Here are the pics, they are pretty simple to follow.
Donald
