KSE Signalling Project

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...

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!

 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...

Yesterday saw the final stages of the reinforced footings unveiled as the team worked tirelessly in the rain to remove the shuttering. For those of you who doubted the veracity of the shuttering, I can tell you that it did not move one millimetre, and not one additional prop or wedge was required during the entire pour, so well done to the installation team! The footprint of the new building is now plain to see, with everything cleared and ready for the corners to be marked out and the blockwork foundations to be installed, which, all being well, should begin this coming weekend. With 20,000 bricks to buy and lay, please be patient; we will progress as quickly as money and time allow. And a big thank you for all your donations; our enthusiasm is as boundless as your generosity.

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. ...

Today saw us complete the installation of five heavy steel bars into the base of what will become the low internal wall of the signal box maintenance pit. This wall will support the ends of pairs of redundant rails, which in turn hold the large timbers that make up the lead-out bench. A suitably drilled steel ‘strongback’ will be fitted over the threaded bars and bolted tightly onto the rail ends, securing them firmly in place. This will allow our signalling team to attach the fascinatingly complex array of signalling paraphernalia when the time comes. In the meantime, we will begin assembling all our own paraphernalia on site in readiness for the pour of 25 tons of concrete into the assembled formwork - along with all the backbreaking effort that will accompany it. Watch this space.

 With the construction phase of the S&DR ‘box finished, things have now come full circle  as, today, with all the appropriate paperwork (CDM-Regs, Risk Assessments etc) now in  place, we made the first constructive moves towards resurrecting the much bigger Junction  ‘box.  All the decaying foundations of yesteryear have been removed to reveal the original  concrete base on which they were resting. Steve & Andrew , our structural engineer and  architect respectively, sensibly decided to adopt a ‘belt and braces’ approach and beef this up  with another 350mm cap of steel-reinforced concrete. Today we began laying the formwork,  which will contain this 25 tons of concrete. When finished, this will give us an  unimpeachable base on which to start the build. We will be reporting our progress step by step in this blog so you can watch the building  grow and, please remember, it has only been made possible by your generous don...

  In the middle of a bleak, cold and damp winter, the signal box has proved to be a good place to warm up and carry out various painting jobs! The warming up has tested out the chimney and fireplace nicely! The levers have progressed to their final undercoat, with a good variety of colours on show. For those who wonder about the choice of colours: these relate to the levers' functions. Red - signals (shunt, subsidiary and main aspect) Yellow - distant signals Black - points Blue - point lock Blue over Black - points and lock combined (motor points, in our case) Blue over Brown - release (for a ground frame) White - spare lever The levers have been rubbed down and undercoated, with warmer weather required before the top coats can be applied. The fire in the box isn't enough on its own to produce a good finish. All available space has been used, with a trestle table set up behind the levers, windowsills covered and the slab of wood for the block shelf also pressed into service. T...

Following on from the previous blog post, dealing with the problems we found with the CD signals and the research, we set to, and trimmed a main arm down by 6", with the ability to take off another 6" if need be, later*. Having chopped it down, a test was in order, which necessitated the removal of the arm we'd fitted to the Fixed Stop signal at the top of the site. This should have been very simple, but we found the paint had stuck the washer plate onto the arm. We just left it attached, deciding that we could attack it on the ground, later if need be! Shortened arm in place, and looking better-proportioned than the 'technically correct' version! The shortened arm (measuring at 4' projecting beyond the post) was slotted in and secured with a single bolt. And it returned to the horizontal position perfectly, on its own! Success!! Sadly we couldn't just leave it like this, and took it back indoors so that it could be fully painted. The opportunity was taken...

A distinct feeling of déjà vu today, as the Junction Box building team descended into the decaying remains of the box foundations and began removing approximately 3,000 bricks. These were held together (if you can call it that) by the metamorphosed remains of lime mortar, which had turned into something akin to dirty sand. The concrete footings thus exposed will have core samples taken and professionally examined to confirm whether they are suitable for reuse. All the bricks will be cleaned and reused with modern cement to rebuild the footings. This is a significant amount of work, but it will save us a great deal of money. After many more hours of back-breaking work, all remaining decaying brickwork was removed and stacked ready for sorting and cleaning. This laid bare the original concrete base, which will be professionally cored and evaluated to determine its suitability for reuse. Initial examination shows that there were no foundations whatsoever for either the internal wall that ...

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...