Northern Division Lattice Fettling

The lattice main post for the bracket signal was the last to be planted during the week with the Road Railer and was installed in the dark. As it was positioned, some material was dragged into the hole. At the time, we knew it hadn't settled properly and wasn't vertical, but due to the conditions, we decided to revisit it later. The signal post was on its studs, secured with nuts, and stable.

The post: not looking too bad from this angle,
but it was definitely worse from the side.

Another day arrived, and the post was inspected. There was a clear lean away from the station and slightly towards the Tebay line, suggesting something was under one corner. Ratchet straps were used to take the strain (after loosening the securing nuts) to safely investigate the cause.

Sure enough, a few trowels' worth of spoil was removed from the edge of the foot, but none of it caused the issue, as it was all small or soft lumps. A podger (a metal tool for lining up holes and applying leverage) was used to continue the inspection without putting hands under the post.

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Ratchet straps secured to the post, around the corner opposite the rock's location,
and around the track. Very little force was required to lean the post over enough.
In the background, P-way works continue to rebuild the crossover
that has been moved.

We found a solid lump of rock close to one of the studs, which wouldn’t budge. A bit of tension was applied to the ratchet straps (with the nuts backed off further), allowing the rock to be removed with the podger.

The offending lump and the foot of the post

With the rock gone, releasing the tension on the straps allowed the post to settle fully onto the levelling nuts on the studs, needing only slight adjustments. A quick check confirmed the post was now "about" vertical.

Using a spirit level on the tapered post confirmed the opposite faces were mirror images, rather than strictly vertical. They aligned perfectly. The securing nuts were tightened, and we moved on to other tasks.

Kneeling (uncomfortably) to tighten the nuts back down
on the foot of the post to secure it once more!

The next work on the bracket signal will focus on filling in the hole once its verticality is confirmed (fine-tuning remains possible but likely unnecessary). The remaining signal components are being blasted and painted off-site and will be assembled next year with scaffolding and a winch. While the scaffolding is in place, another layer of paint will be added to the entire structure. 

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