Benches

 With the wet weather having receded (a little!), we could no longer avoid, the next round of work to finish off some more benches.


BENCH NO.1

The first bench to tackle was the one that sits between the Tebay and Eden Valley lines, near the footbridge. This takes 2 rods from the box (levers 8 and 9 to access the shed headshunt from the Tebay line), as well as 2 from the ground frame (to access the Turntable road from the Eden Valley line), through 90° to the main rodding run. We had previously dug the legs into place for this, so 'just' needed to dig out a bit and fit the top...

 


And that's where things got more complicated! We needed to drop the top of the bench down by 1" to get everything to line up at the correct height (the hardwood sleepers we use for bench tops vary in thickness...). This was fixed very quickly, using a circular saw and chisel to take out an inch from underneath the sleepers, where they sit on the concrete legs. The digging out involved moving more material than expected, and some of it took a lot of breaking up with picks and crow bars*. We then had to position the cranks for the rodding so that everything lined up. This was doubly difficult, as clearance is tight, but we think we got there. We may have to adjust 1 crank if there is an interference fit...



The last job was to fill in around the bench and dress it off to look 'Neat and Tidy'.

 

* both Russell and Sheryl were used, following our policy of naming tools for purposes of entertainment, clarity and confusion!


BENCH NO.2

The second bench to tackle was very similar, in that the legs had previously been planted: we just needed to put the top on and cranks in place. This one is the next bench along from the previous, and has the drives for the Point and FPL from the ground frame. The digging was tough (again), but other than rejigging the cranks to ensure they both fitted, it went well. The rejigging was necessary as otherwise the cranks would have sat right at the very end of the timber bench top, giving very little space for anything! By flipping the cranks, it also changed the direction of the rodding, meaning the rest of the ground frame run also needed altering. Fortunately this was simply a matter of changing the bit we've not yet installed!! Again, filling in around the bench was the last job, leaving this one 'Neat and Tidy', too!

 



BENCH NO.3

Bench 3 was the toughest of the lot: a double compensator bench for which we had to dig the legs into the ground from scratch. It is the next bench along, and caters for the compensators for levers 8 and 9 from the box. The digging was very hard going, with aching hands and arms from trying to drive Russell* through the tough ground and all its rock! The bench top had to be set lower, too, but rather than using timber for the top, we opted to use a scrap steel soleplate, meaning we saved about 5" of digging. Just as well, as we were battling with the natural rock by the time we got to the bottom! This now needs the mag drill to finish off (holes to drill through the steel), but all the digging is complete, and the top is painted. This was left as a 'work in progress' as opposed to the previous two...

 

 




BENCH NO.4

Bench 4 was the final one to tackle for the two work days: it is another double compensator bench, but this time located on the rodding run for the Junction ground frame. This covers levers 4 and 5, which control the junction crossover itself and the associated FPL. This bench has seen lots of previous faffing about, to try and get it levelled up correctly, after several failed attempts! Because of the previous issues, we'd left it set up, but not bolted together, to ensure we didn't change our minds (again)! Being happy with alignment, levels and general 'fit', we marked and drilled the holes before bolting it together, fitting the compensators and finally filling it all back in to leave it... yes, you guessed it: 'Neat and Tidy'.

All the cranks and compensators now need a final dose of going over, with grease ways checked, grease nipples fitted and split pins added.


...and on a more positive and less back-breaking note: we only have 1 more bench to dig in for the signal box rodding run! Yay!

Location: Stainmore Railway Company, South Rd, Kirkby Stephen CA17 4LA, UK

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