Bits and Pieces

If you think back to the frame installation last year, you may have realised that the main girders, upon which the frame sits, were not held in place: relying on gravity. We had a plan for this (well, actually two plans...); to use steel angle to locate it against the side walls of the box, preventing any movement. The six pieces of steel were cut to length and drilled some time ago, and have appeared in various photos in different layers of paint!

Following a lot of rearrangement underneath the box, we gained access to shere we needed to be: in a constricted and awkward space, behind and underneath the frame itself. It was simply a matter of drilling in to the blockwork, then winding in the thunderbolts. The two support girders (which are fastened together) are now prevented from moving by three bits of angle at each end.

Apologies for a lack of photos: as happens so often, we got stuck in to ticking this little job off the list, and completely forgot! It would have been awkward to take photos in the space available, as we were both involved: one holding (and eyeing up the drill), and the other drilling.



Originally, Pesspool Junction's frame would have been sat on a large (16" x 16") lump of timber that probably sat into a pocket from above, in the end walls of the box. We had decided on steel girders very early on in the design works, and used rubber packing under the frame stanchions during the installation to compensate for this.


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