Putting Up Shelves

Putting up shelves normally requires some means of supporting them. Usually a bracket!

In the case of the signal box, there is a shelf for all the instruments to sit upon, which is located above the lever frame itself! The brackets for this, that partner the CD frame, are fairly ornate and quite distinctive. Whilst we have brackets to support the lever descriptions that go behind the frame, low down, we do not have any original block shelf brackets.

Brackets at Beamish

A visit to Beamish (unrelated to the work at KSE...) resulted in 'spotting' three such brackets on the wall of a non-railway display! Subsequent discussions with Paul Jarman saw the loan of one of these brackets being agreed so that we could cast copies from it. For the signal box, we will require two such brackets, and having an original to work from was a much more appealing proposition than having to recreate them from scratch. 

The loaned Bracket

Discussions with the foundry ('our' excellent Leach & Thompson once again) ascertained that we would indeed be able to cast from the originals as opposed to requiring a pattern to be made. The Ironmongers' Trust Company grant will cover these castings, and we are truly grateful to all those who have helped put this together and aided in borrowing the original bracket!

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