Robbing, Nicking, and Stealing on the sly...

Shh!! Don't tell Patty and Hutch we've been moonlighting as P-Way, and 'liberating' ballast for our nefarious purposes!


Our lightfingeredness has two purposes: making sure we can leave the areas around the rodding stools and benches dressed and tidy; as well as clearing out the bays where point rodding and signal wires need to run.

Whilst Will was busy assembling the point rodding, I set to, digging out a couple of bays near the end of the shed, where wires for numbers 10 and 16 signals run. Theft is never easy, and digging granite ballast takes more effort than seems reasonable. However, two bays' worth of ballast nicely sat on one trolley, and filled in around the compensator bench (as detailed in the previous post...).

However, as can be seen from the photos herein, there is more digging required to get right the way across to the main wire run. Having the bays cleared out means the wires experience less friction, which in turn makes the levers easier to pull!


Anyone else out there who'd like to come along and join our thieving (or any of our other questionable or certifiable) activities: do get in touch! - You'll be welcomed and might even find yourselves enjoying all sorts of new things!




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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jumpstart the Junction!

Image
Kirkby Stephen East is a unique and atmospheric heritage railway station, steeped in the rich history of northern England’s railways. Once a vital junction on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway, the station is now being lovingly restored by a dedicated team of volunteers and enthusiasts. Central to this restoration is the revival of its historic signalling infrastructure - an ambitious project that brings the past to life and ensures the station can once again function as an operational hub for heritage trains.  This multi-phase endeavour begins with the faithful reconstruction of an extraordinary survivor from the early days of railway signalling... Phase 1 – Rebuilding the S&DR Signal Box Kirkby Stephen East had no fewer than three signal boxes throughout its working life! Since taking over the site and redeveloping the trackwork, the need for signalling has become a priority - even going so far as to reinstate the two tall timbers needed for the iconic signal g...
Read more

A Sticky Situation

Image
After the initial rush to progress the frame installation ready for the S&D 200 celebrations at Kirkby Stephen East (an excellent event held over the August Bank Holiday in 2025), it was now time to paint and ‘fettle’ the levers in readiness for their operational role. I n most cases, it was just a case of building up layers of paint, in various colours to suit their intended function… Demonstration Section However, after painting, lever No. 9 (facing point lock for No. 8 points, at the station end of the headshunt crossover) had developed a problem with its catch-block deciding to stick in the raised position! Catch-blocks are heavy and designed to drop into a notch when the lever is in either the normal or reverse position and prevent the lever from accidently moving. If the block doesn’t drop by gravity, then there is a risk of the lever being left in mid stroke. Since painting, lever No. 9 had developed a sticking point whereby its catch-block wouldn’t drop back down. ...
Read more

Joining the Dots...

Image
Quite some time ago, we installed a bench at the end of the first stretch of rodding, leading away from the box. We even got so far as to drill the holes for the crank bases! This is where the rodding turns through 90° to go underneath the track and then will meet up with the main rodding run, via a similar arrangement on another bench. It's slightly more complicated here, as we needed to swap the order of the rods as they got to the bench, so that they are in the correct order for the main run. In the first photo, where Will can be seen trimming the studding we used to bolt down the crank bases, the rods are from levers 9-8-7, from the left. This transposed (effectively) to 8-9-7 from the bench... note the alignment of the cranks, relative to the bench. No.9 lever controls a Facing Point Lock (FPL), and we chose to use up a crank and pedestal with a smaller diameter bearing, reflecting the smaller force required to operate it.  Unfortunately, this has larger holes for the pins to ...
Read more