KSE Signalling Project

Shh!! Don't tell Patty and Hutch we've been moonlighting as P-Way, and 'liberating' ballast for our nefarious purposes! Our lightfingeredness has two purposes: making sure we can leave the areas around the rodding stools and benches dressed and tidy; as well as clearing out the bays where point rodding and signal wires need to run. Whilst Will was busy assembling the point rodding, I set to, digging out a couple of bays near the end of the shed, where wires for numbers 10 and 16 signals run. Theft is never easy, and digging granite ballast takes more effort than seems reasonable. However, two bays' worth of ballast nicely sat on one trolley, and filled in around the compensator bench (as detailed in the previous post...). However, as can be seen from the photos herein, there is more digging required to get right the way across to the main wire run. Having the bays cleared out means the wires experience less friction, which in turn makes the levers easier to pull! An...

 ...Err, yes, actually! Thermal expansion, to be honest... The saga of bench installation and 'finishing off' continues. The steel-topped bench, for which we dug into the rock in our previous post ("Benches" from 13th April), saw the holes being marked out for drilling. This ought to have been very simple, working from below and marking through the pre-cast concrete legs, to leave a mark on the underside of the soleplate. But, this being Kirkby Stephen, it was sat in a puddle, which needed bailing out first! Having duly accomplished this, we found that the marker did not fit through the holes! Fortunately, it was possibly to mark the holes from above, by alignment and measurement... We then placed the two compensators in position and used a string line to get the alignment correct in relation to the rest of the rodding run. The marker was then used to pick out the centres for the holes we required drilling. A centre punch was then used, so the marks getting rubbed off...

On Wednesday 7th, Paul Thompson and his team, together with a large group of SRC  volunteers, gathered at the site of the Junction signal box to make an assault on the 25 tons of  concrete needed to bring the foundations up to full strength. With the flat wagon, completely covered with all the necessary materials, marshalled  nearby, the various tasks were allotted to those most able to perform them. A trio of cement  mixers, each manned by its own team, began producing concrete which was tipped straight  into waiting wheelbarrows and transported to a predetermined site in the footings. It was then  manhandled, interleaved with steel mesh and tamped into its required position. A relentless 6 hours followed, by which time, we had completely emptied the wagon of  materials. Approx. three quarters of the job had been finished and everyone was exhausted!  Fresh supplies will be loaded and we should see the job completed next week when  building p...

After the initial rush to progress the frame installation ready for the S&D 200 celebrations at Kirkby Stephen East (an excellent event held over the August Bank Holiday in 2025), it was now time to paint and ‘fettle’ the levers in readiness for their operational role. I n most cases, it was just a case of building up layers of paint, in various colours to suit their intended function… Demonstration Section However, after painting, lever No. 9 (facing point lock for No. 8 points, at the station end of the headshunt crossover) had developed a problem with its catch-block deciding to stick in the raised position! Catch-blocks are heavy and designed to drop into a notch when the lever is in either the normal or reverse position and prevent the lever from accidently moving. If the block doesn’t drop by gravity, then there is a risk of the lever being left in mid stroke. Since painting, lever No. 9 had developed a sticking point whereby its catch-block wouldn’t drop back down. ...

 With the wet weather having receded (a little!), we could no longer avoid, the next round of work to finish off some more benches. BENCH NO.1 The first bench to tackle was the one that sits between the Tebay and Eden Valley lines, near the footbridge. This takes 2 rods from the box (levers 8 and 9 to access the shed headshunt from the Tebay line), as well as 2 from the ground frame (to access the Turntable road from the Eden Valley line), through 90° to the main rodding run. We had previously dug the legs into place for this, so 'just' needed to dig out a bit and fit the top...   And that's where things got more complicated! We needed to drop the top of the bench down by 1" to get everything to line up at the correct height (the hardwood sleepers we use for bench tops vary in thickness...). This was fixed very quickly, using a circular saw and chisel to take out an inch from underneath the sleepers, where they sit on the concrete legs. The digging out involved moving ...

Today saw us complete the installation of five heavy steel bars into the base of what will become the low internal wall of the signal box maintenance pit. This wall will support the ends of pairs of redundant rails, which in turn hold the large timbers that make up the lead-out bench. A suitably drilled steel ‘strongback’ will be fitted over the threaded bars and bolted tightly onto the rail ends, securing them firmly in place. This will allow our signalling team to attach the fascinatingly complex array of signalling paraphernalia when the time comes. In the meantime, we will begin assembling all our own paraphernalia on site in readiness for the pour of 25 tons of concrete into the assembled formwork - along with all the backbreaking effort that will accompany it. Watch this space.