KSE Signalling Project

A high-intensity, all-action day on site saw three members of the team heaving, wrestling, levering, wedging, propping, bolting and finally concreting all ten lengths of supporting rail for the leadout bench into their final resting places. This was quite a big job, as I’m sure you will appreciate. Those lengths of rail will go where they want to go, not where you want to put them, and they really took some persuading. The next job will be to brick them into the walls on which they are now resting, completing an immensely strong and stable base for the installation team to build upon. Very shortly, we will be wrestling with the even longer lengths of rail that will support the brickwork over the leadout slot, but that is another story.

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!

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 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!

Mad dogs, Englishmen, and the signal box team were out today in the blazing sun, laying out the corner blocks that will define the shape of the Junction box, with the good old ‘3/4/5 triangle’ providing nice, accurate right angles at the corners. Very hot weather is not ideal for laying bricks, as the bone-dry blocks and hot concrete were sucking the life out of the mortar before the blocks could be levelled. However, a bucket of water provided an effective cure! We also manhandled a ton of ‘crusher run’ onto the base of the maintenance pit to provide a cheap, effective surface, which compacted nicely into a solid working floor. Progress should be steady now, weather permitting, so watch this space!

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.

On Wednesday 7th, Paul Thompson and his team, together with a large group of SRC  volunteers, gathered at the site of the Junction signal box to make an assault on the 25 tons of  concrete needed to bring the foundations up to full strength. With the flat wagon, completely covered with all the necessary materials, marshalled  nearby, the various tasks were allotted to those most able to perform them. A trio of cement  mixers, each manned by its own team, began producing concrete which was tipped straight  into waiting wheelbarrows and transported to a predetermined site in the footings. It was then  manhandled, interleaved with steel mesh and tamped into its required position. A relentless 6 hours followed, by which time, we had completely emptied the wagon of  materials. Approx. three quarters of the job had been finished and everyone was exhausted!  Fresh supplies will be loaded and we should see the job completed next week when  building p...

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.

 Work on our latest project recommenced today as we began cutting and laying the steel mats that will further reinforce the concrete cap. Two layers of the mat are required – one at the base of the trench and another just under the surface of the cap. Liquid concrete will flood all around and under these binding the whole of the base together into one big solid mass. We have some finishing touches to apply yet before we concrete and I will report on these with some explanatory photos in the next post. If any of you are planning to visit our imminent Easter event for a train ride, you will have an excellent view of the emergent ‘box as the train rolls by.

Today saw us make further progress on the shuttering for the signal box foundations—pinning, bracing, and stiffening the timbers that will resist the tremendous force exerted by 25 tons of wet concrete. We are almost ready, but not quite, as we still need to lay the steel reinforcing mesh that will further bind and strengthen the concrete. Only then can we begin laying the first courses of blockwork, marking the gradual, phoenix-like rise of this building from the rubble of yesteryear and the dead hand of British Railways. And the story of its return is only just beginning..

 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...