KSE Signalling Project

Looking back over recent work and previous blog posts, there is more to report on the North Eastern Railway, Central Division signals. A lot of research and a lot of physical work has been taking place in order to get the arms themselves sorted. As you may remember, or have noted from previous entries, the Central Division was unusual on the NER in NOT having slotted posts, with the arms inside. Very few bits of CD signals remain, and we were lucky enough to have a complete set of castings for the masthead.  When it came to the length of the arms, however, things got a little trickier, since initially we did not have any drawings or specifications. Fortunately, at Kew, there are various documents and drawings. We were given a photograph of one of these drawings, which contained what we thought was a definitive answer: the arms are shown as being 4'6" long, beyond the end of the arm weight casting. Having tried to source these in Cedar without any success (they are rather large...

As the weather permits, the Moles have been busy digging for victory... but it feels as though we're going round in circles. We dig a hole, plonk a lump of concrete in it, and fill it back in again! Rest assured, the work does have a purpose: this is the installation of the concrete bench legs for the rodding run. If we can get them all in before the weather turns, we won't be drowned Moles!! We can then tackle fitting the tops later on, in the knowledge that the hardest, physical work has been completed. The ground varies significantly from hole to hole, but we have managed 2 concrete legs a day, combined with other tasks on site. These photos are from the last two days on site, and this section of the rodding run sits between the Tebay and Eden Valley lines. We didn't want to tackle this part of the run any earlier, given the focus on getting the box looking complete internally (more work will take place on days when the weather leaves something to be desired!!). Our digg...