A Remarkable Survivor: The Lever Frame from Pesspool Junction nr. Durham
Our first blog covers the unique lever frame from Pesspool Junction that will be installed in the S&DR 'box. This article first appeared in two consecutive editions of the Stainmore Railway Co. (SRC) Newsletter and we are most grateful to Tim Warner for kindly giving his permission for it to be reproduced here.
Over the last few years, I have been assisting in the background to look into the signalling at KSE after being dragged in by David Hutchinson to assist with setting up a couple of Facing Point Locks. I'm a signaller working for Network Rail, principally at Knaresborough, and spent many years heavily involved with the S&T at Embsay.
As part of the logistics for signalling KSE, a lot of attention has been given to the lever frame components that are 'in stock', yet it was not obvious what some of these actually were until much closer inspection and a willingness to NOT believe everything that is in print! It has long been published that there were two frames built by Stevens on site and, at a glance, this appeared to be the case, although there were some peculiarities in what we saw. One section of 20 levers had been built up, and was being looked at seriously for inclusion in the S&DR 'box rebuild. Stored around it were some other odd lever pivots that were alleged to be from the 'other' Stevens frame.
It was at this point that a group of enthusiastic Network Rail signallers, MOMs, testers and knowledgeable others turned up to investigate..
From looking through photos and descriptions in the book 'A History of North Eastern Railway Signalling', it became apparent that the catch blocks on the 'odd' levers matched a much rarer type of frame attributed to the NER's Central Division. And so began our excitement!
The frame in question came to the SRC from the collection of Mr. Chris Woolstenholmes, having been saved by him from Pesspool Junction near Durham when it closed in 1973.
"Chris Woolstenholmes (note spelling...) dismantled the Pesspool frame with a couple of friends after purchase from BR. He never re-assembled it, which probably explains some of the loss of parts over the years. The timber backboard was kept in his house upstairs, the frame used to be kept at Haswell, and later was moved to his cellar in Durham City. Pesspool was never on the Central Division (CD), but the (re?) use of CD parts in the year the CD was abolished and absorbed into the Northern & Southern Divisions is quite likely." Neil Mackay.
The exact parentage of the frame still remains a little bit uncertain, although the best working theory is that it was built from components made by l'Ansons for the NER CD. It could equally have some components made by the NER CD themselves, to designs by l'Ansons. There was also a very similar frame at Eastgate, which was claimed to have been made by Stevens?? presumably to the l'Anson / NER CD design.
Either way, the frame is believed to be unique in preservation, although some of the quadrants that would be seen above the floor are still to be found in the remains of Broomielaw 'box. Frames of this type were built from c. 1896 until the absorption of the CD into the Northern Division of the NER in 1900. It would seem that some components were in store in the Works and were put to use after the absorption took place, hence this frame in particular appearing 'out of area'.
So, what we have on our hands is a very rare type of frame from the outset ( we haven't got a definitive number built), built over a short timespan, which has turned out to be unique in preservation as far as we can tell, and almost complete!
All 22 levers have survived from Pesspool, all 4 uprights and the 3 heavy castings that support the lever pivots and tie the uprights together. All the quadrants are to hand, including to 2 to suit "Push-Pull" levers where two signals could be operated by one lever: usually shunt signals at either end of a crossover. We have tried to find the tappets from this frame for the locking but, as yet, have not succeeded as there is a huge collection to work through. It is quite likely that they are in there, but sadly there seems to be no surviving locking. In any case, this would have to be replaced to suit its new role.
As far as missing pieces go, we are short of two tie bars (flat bar with lots of accurately spaced holes to take the quadrants and tie the uprights together at the top), some catch handles and a couple of catch rods. All of these can be reproduced with a fair amount of ease.
With KSE being in the CD, it seems very appropriate to make use of this frame at this location. The former Junction 'box had a frame of this very type (albeit with 50 levers). The intention is to use this frame as a part-functional, part-demonstration item in the S&DR 'box to control shunting moves on the southern side of the layout and, eventually, working in conjunction with the rebuilt Junction 'box, to facilitate all train movements on site.
We have assembled a small section of the frame in order to gather measurements and reassure ourselves that we are on the right lines with how it all fits together. This was made especially easy owing to the presence of almost all the bolts required for assembly. The next stage will be to assemble all the components we have to double check everything is present and allow measurements to be taken so that the locking can be designed. Hopefully, we can then strip everything down, clean, paint and reassemble before carrying out the locking for its new role.
This incredible survivor should have many years ahead of it representing the NER CD on a CD route controlling CD signalling!
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| The catch blocks on the ‘odd’ levers from the Pesspool frame. |
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