KSE Signalling Project

With a shed-load of building materials delivered and stored on site, we have today recommenced work on the junction box. The base of the north-side lead-out slot has been precisely aligned with the adjacent running line to the S&T's requirements. It has been lined with flagstones and will not require any further attention until we have completed a similar construction on the south side of the box. Work on this has now begun, with the rough placement of some of the railway lines that will act as supports for the huge lead-out bench timbers that Tim and his team will fit in due course. We still have a long way to go, but "from little acorns mighty oaks do grow", and with your continued help and support, come hell or high water (and we do get plenty of high water up here!), we absolutely will resurrect this building. So keep watching!

 ...sadly not. Or maybe, thankfully not! You may remember back to various updates and blog posts about the North Eastern Railway, Northern Division lattice bracket signal, designed and built by McKenzie and Holland for the alterations at Hell Beck... Well, there is more of an update: we've now put the structure back together! The individual component parts (T-piece that forms the landing, 2 dolls and the main post) had previously been repaired, cleaned up and painted, but for various reasons could not be reassembled in time for our great Signal Planting Week, back in 2024. So since then, the main post has sat, looking rather isolated and a little forlorn. Scaffolding was erected for us by Bell and Prime, in such a way as to be able to be used to lift the components in to place using chain blocks, pull lifts and so forth. We knew the weights of the individual components, and then allowed a margin beyond this when specifying our requirements.  We had the RAMS set out before star...

With our multisize handmade bricks (Photo 1) leading us a merry dance, we persevered in the sweltering heat of a Stainmore summer, laying the inner and outer courses of the three-course-thick walls (Photo 2). The next task will be to fill in the middle course and then install the damp course. We have not yet been able to do any more work on the lead-out bench as we await the rails on which it will sit. These are due imminently and will then be cut to the required length and fitted. I am sure that once I get my head around laying a straight course of bricks with three different lengths, two widths and a variety of thicknesses, we will proceed apace. Thank you all for your contributions, and watch this space.

The laying of a couple of hundred bricks over the last few days has, at last, seen the walls of the Junction 'box rise to ground level. The site is so awkward to access and get materials to that much of our time is spent preparing to lay bricks rather than actually laying them. However, work is finally underway, with plenty to think about. While we wait for the support rails for the lead-out bench to arrive, we have several tasks to complete. We need to prepare and build the bench access slots in both sides of the building, together with small cable access slots at ground level at each end of the structure. In addition, we need to install the stone step for the locking room doorway and, of course, fit a damp-proof course six inches above ground level. Only then will we be ready to continue laying the remaining 17,000 bricks. Watch this space.

Following on from the work to connect everything up, we finally managed to control No.7 points from No.7 lever! The various photos show the contorted 'out-and-back' nature of the rodding run, with the video showing each stage of moving the points. When setting everything up, and joining the rodding, time was taken to position each crank, correct for the mid-stroke of the lever itself. The point rodding was then cut (with an angle grinder) and had holes punched for bolting together, with connections or fishplates. Jonny gets to grips with the rodding punch just outside the signal box. Only a temporary link between the lever tail and the vertical crank was put in: we are now having some made and bushed to better suit the scheme. There is some more work to do, in order to get a tidier lead out, which will involve some customised bending of rodding connections to get the heights correct. This is important as we need to squeeze signal wires underneath the rods, without rubbing on th...

Following on from the previous posts, when the rodding comes out from the box, it needs to turn through 90° to meet the rodding run. To accomplish this, we bolt cranks, securely, to the lead out bench timbers.  Whilst this *OUGHT* to be simple, sadly it wasn't... two of the crank bases needed to land above the rails that support the lead out timbers. Fortunately, there was enough room to swivel the bases, and use the securing bolts that we had previously installed, to also secure the bases! This did lead to a slight discrepancy with the alignments, but we can correct this once everything is bolted down by heating and carefully bending the forged connections. We're only talking about 3/16"! (These show the work to align the rods as best we could: working from the vertical cranks in one direction, and the pre-installed rodding run in the other) The rods will all come out at the same (high) level, which allows all the signal wires to sit below them. The higher base (for No.9 ...

The point rodding runs were planned out very early on, but as I've referenced previously, sometimes reality hit home, hard! A lack of space to actually do what we'd planned led to a few alterations along the way, one of which actually reversed the direction of travel for the rodding when the lever was to be pulled. This meant we had to correct the direction underneath the box, at the point where the lever pulls up, and the rodding has to move horizontally. This is achieved by having a vertical crank, and more specifically, which way around it is sited... Vertical crank: Option A is the standard positioning which we had planned for. Option B is the location we had to adopt in order to change the direction of the rodding to match up properly. Space underneath the box is especially tight, and the optimum position for the vertical cranks was found to be where the end was in mid air, thus unable to be bolted down. Fortunately, Rob Murray had an offcut of heavy steel plate which I re...

The previous post dealt with the first half of the lead out bench. I am pleased to report that the remaining two timbers have now been fastened down, using the same technology!  Dave had chance to make further hook bolts, battling the wind whilst welding! Will and I then tackled the assembly: this time we placed the bolts in position between the rails, packed underneath to keep them raised in position, and dropped the timbers on top. We then just needed to shuffle slightly until the bolts slid through the holes! We shall probably use this method on the junction box, as it worked out pretty well! With everything bolted down solidly, we then looked again at what was required ON the bench, and where!

The far from ideal weather over the last couple of weeks has somewhat limited the amount of work we have been able to undertake. However, some fine weather at last has allowed us to progress the blockwork in the footings of the Junction ‘box and bring both end walls up to brick level, while also inserting a piece of pipework in each end to facilitate cable access for the signal engineers at a later date. The threaded steel uprights you can see built into the low internal wall are to secure lengths of redundant rail that will eventually support the huge timbers of the leadout bench. Our first delivery of bricks is now expected in early July, by which time, we hope to have all four walls up to brick height – Cumbrian weather permitting of course!

 Progress towards connecting up the rodding run comes on in leaps and setbacks. A lot of time was spent on the design side, and various drawings done. As has previously been reported, there have been times when we've had to make subtle alterations!  The Bench in question. Not all the cranks are in the correct position here... In this instance, we have a bench that sits between the two running lines (Eden Valley and Tebay), and takes cranks for No.8 points, No.9 Facing Point Lock as well as levers 1 and 2 from the Bridge ground frame, giving access to the turntable road. This is very compact, and had to be altered as the space for the bench was not quite enough to locate the cranks as planned. The proximity between, and likelihood of an interference fit, can be seen here, with the cranks and connections. A tall base stands ready! To overcome tight clearances between two of the cranks, we swapped out a low crank base for a high one. This prevents any clash between the two cranks...

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 ta...