KSE Signalling Project

This post comprises two reports from Bob – the first of which highlights the ‘joys’ of working outside in the ‘delightful’ Cumbrian weather at this time of year. The second describes work on one of the better days! The successes of Monday 15th and the elation of taming the rear wall were completely negated by our efforts on Friday 19th to get any meaningful work done at all as our water supply resisted all attempts to thaw it out – hot water and blowlamps proving no match for a Stainmore winter. The bulk bag of sand was frozen into a rock-solid block which even a determined attack by Andrew (with a pick axe!) did little more than reduce it to a selection of large sandstone rocks. So, after 4 futile hours of trying to start work, and with frozen fingers and empty bellies, we had to give it best, go home and await the thaw, but rest assured, we are not easily put off and we will be back! Yesterday (24th), as winter released its icy grip, at least for the moment, we were able to continue ...

Just a quick update from yesterday's efforts in the cold. We completed bolting the a-frames (and rollers) onto the stools we planted previously. We had hoped to complete the infilling around the stools and drop some rods in as well, but the ground was frozen! Will at work, bolting the a-frames onto the already-buried stool. The stool cannot be fully buried until these are fitted, as you can't physically get the bolts in, since the ground is in the way here! In an ideal world we would have fully assembled the rollers and A-frames BEFORE planting the stools, but that wasn't possible for a number of reasons. North Eastern Railway, Northern Division castings for replication. Kirkby Stephen did feature some Northern Division signals in the area, and the Eden Valley certainly had some! The lattice posts we have on site, one of which that will be used in this scheme, require these fittings. We also gathered the NER Northern Division components together, to take to the foundry for...

On Saturday, we finally began to tackle the elephant in the room (the rear wall) which has lurked in the background since we began this project and has been the subject of much debate on the best way to repair it. Our original intention was to rebuild the inner skin completely in blockwork to eradicate a bulge in the middle, and a slight lean at one end, but a visit, and some expert advice from our local professional builder, Paul Thompson, indicated that such a drastic measure was not required. Instead, we could undertake the necessary repair by more simple means. Consequently, we have been able to fix the lean on the corner by re-aligning all the stones in their original position, pointing all the joints and, finally, pouring a liquid cement mix into the core which will consolidate all the stonework on this corner. When the building is finished, this corner will form one half of the main doorway into the signal box. The bulge in the middle of the wall will be the next job and ever...

Over the past weekend we had two days on the project and planted the 5 stools beyond the completed section, leading towards the footbridge. These will take 4 rods (2 from the box and 2 from the groundframe nearest the station), and so were larger stools. Previous stools have required 15" deep holes. These needed 24"!! The completed section in the background with the new stools in the foreground. The extra 9 inches required brought us through all sorts of material in the formation. Nearest the bridge were large lumps of concrete, whereas heading towards the station were lumps of sandstone. ALL put up a fight. Consequently, the additional 9" depth required far more time digging than the dimensions would suggest... If the S&T team are about then they're probably digging holes. As darkness descended on Tuesday, we aligned and levelled the stools to create a smooth, gentle curve (following the track) and partially infilled them. Next time, we aim to fix the a-frames a...

Happy New Year everyone and so it has turned out so far, with a volte-face in the atrocious weather over the holiday enabling us to make significant progress on the signal box. It has to be said though that although the weather prevented us from building, we were not idle as stocks of sand, cement, blocks and stone all needed replenishing and transporting to site in preparation for the next assault. This done, the blockwork forming the internal walls has been raised up to window level on the west wall, with the front wall requiring but a single further course to complete. The east wall which incorporates the locking room doorway is lagging behind somewhat awaiting some realignment of the truculent rear wall, which forms part of said doorway, to enable us to continue. We intend to tackle the problem very shortly and I look forward to reporting a successful outcome (i.e. nothing falling down). Meanwhile, the stone facing on the west facing wall has grown somewhat in its inexorable and se...

We've already looked at part of the rodding run, but there's also the small matter of the signals we want to install... Since we're in NER Central Division territory, we need appropriate signals for the scheme. Which really isn't straightforward, as there are very few known components anywhere! We have one (almost) complete set, as pictured, which has its own fascinating story of survival which we will explore in a future blog post. How these parts survived is a tale for the ages! This assembly came from the eastern end of Kirkby Stephen East Station, and fortunately is in excellent condition. But that's just one set of parts. And we need more! We do have another, complete, set. But unfortunately they aren't suitable for re use at all!! You could say the other set is a little on the 'manky' side Most of the components can easily be copied at a foundry, using the originals as a pattern from which to cast. However, the arm weight and post caps require pat...