Ground Signals

 ...which also require benches, which need the Moles of Kirkby Stephen in order to plant them!

The ground signal, or dolly, reading out of the bay platform was the first to be tackled, although not the first to be completed. We had been given an LNER ground signal that was seized up: we built a bench upon which to mount this, as well as carry some flat wheels to take wires for other signals underneath the adjacent track. The application of heat and brute force enabled the signal to be dismantled, cleaned up properly and painted.

Jim, Sue and Mike P keep working the spindle in the casting,
having already freed up the rest of the linkages

Jim continued cleaning up the signal prior to painting

Since the bench had been built up in advance, we knew the hole sizes required for planting. Or so we thought! Unfortunately, we discovered the water column feed pipe lay right where we'd planned to put one leg, so had to adjust and dig out even more "allsorts", contending all the while with water levels!

Digging the hole for the bench so we can simply 'drop it in'

In the end, we lifted the ground signal back off the bench before planting. It was then a case of putting it back on top and bolting it down to get it vertical and aligned to the track for sighting. This was made more complicated by having the two parts making the bench top being of different thicknesses. To counter that, we used longer studding lengths and additional nuts to allow adjustment.

Checking for vertical, prior to final alignment and burying

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