KSE Signalling Project

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...

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...

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!

...and planning ahead for their maintenance! Quite a lot of repetitive actions here: drilling out greaseways, tapping to fit grease nipples, bolting things together! First up were the balance levers for the LMS-pattern ground signals. These had previously had grease nipples fitted in most cases, so only required the threads cleaning up with a tap. The one that hadn't, required drilling out first. Why so many balance levers for just 2 signals? Well, this is a case of planning ahead. The two signals in question née to be able to be controlled from either the S&D box OR the Junction box. This is done by each signal having a wire from each box to a shortened balance lever, and whichever is operated will lift the longer lever (by means of a solid bar welded to it, which will be completed shortly!). Control between the two boxes is to be tied up electrically and mechanically. Hence, 6 levers for 2 signals! It was then on to the LNER-pattern ground signals, which were originally drill...

With works around the outside of the signalbox largely completed, this Mole turned his attention towards the missing section of the rodding run. There are only 4 stools required here, so thankfully it wasn't too daunting. However, the terrain was 'challenging'! First up, stools were selected and moved close to the run, with exact locations (at 9' intervals) marked out. The next job was to scrape back the ballast, concrete remnants and anything else that sat on top of the membrane. This then required cutting to enable the holes to be dug, and the stools planted. The end two holes were dug first, with great care being taken to get the stools in exactly the right place. Measurements were made from the inner edge of the rail for these, and the tops set at the same height as the top of the sleepers. Our tape measure (named John) came into its own here. These stools were tightly packed in place, the membrane folded back around them, and then ballast packed on top to leave bot...

As progress with the box continues, we've reached the stage for the locking room floor to be completed. Way, way back in the early days of the box rebuild, we positioned 3 large timbers ro which we could (eventually) fasten the cranks for the point rodding runs and the vertical wheels for the signal wires. This was done at a very early stage to make life simpler: getting them in place now would have proved far more difficult! The timbers in position, sat loosely on the pairs of rails that tie the floor, the lead out bench and the box structure together However, there was no pressure (then) to actually fasten them down to the pairs of rails. Fast forwards to the present... Bob wanted to get the rest of the floor in place downstairs, which required these timbers to be fastened down in their final position. We knew this was coming, and had developed an idea for a captive bolt, whose head sat between the two rails, allowing the timbers to be fastened down without the need for reaching ...

As the progress with the box itself nears the time at which we will be allowed to install the frame, we have been trying to get the various components cleaned up and painted. The stack of 22 levers with 3 of the catch blocks on top, showing their very distinctive shape. Some of the levers retain their original paint, whereas others were previously stripped back and primed in red oxide. The levers themselves required dismantling into their component parts so that they could be cleaned up properly, have the pins and holes inspected and made good as need be. As they have been dismantled, whilst the levers themselves have their number stamped on, the catch blocks and catch rods do not. Just in case they are not interchangeable (and to retain originality), we have numbered them accordingly. We did find that some levers have signs of brutality from some point in their lives: in some cases, the catch blocks would not slide off until the levers saw careful attention to high spots. The box cont...

Working alongside mechanical signalling is the dark art of electrical trickery. One vital part of this  is the railway safety relay. Relays of one sort or another have been used in vital railway signalling  circuits for over 125 years now and through long experience with older relays the present design,  the BR930 miniature has become possible. I say a present design, it was the mid 1960’s when  they first appeared and are still manufactured and used in 2025 worldwide. Not bad eh? They might call them miniature, but they still weigh over a Kilo each.   There’s now well over 200 variants of this relay depending on what function they are required to  perform. Thankfully we won’t need that many variants! Westinghouse M3 Point Machine We have been collecting, gathering, squandering, basically hoarding all the types of BR930  miniature relay, also known as Q type, that we will need including spares.   Everything from track circuits, signal i...

Fenced off for safety, we have a swamp! We took the opportunity to fill in around some of the benches (yes, those again...) we'd previously dug (yes, more Mole activity...) in to the ground, once we were happy with their position. Following torrential rain the day before, there was still some water in the bottom of the excavation. As we chucked more fill into the hole, we created a mud bath, and thought we had maybe created a wetland habitat. Once it dries out (which may be expecting a lot, I acknowledge), we will need to go back and attend to the fill further. This is because we have not yet fastened on the flat wheels for the signal wires, which we need to through-bolt: hence the need for access underneath still! The flat wheels require stripping, cleaning, painting and potentially some new pins making. But we're we to do this now, we'd have to keep maintaining them until they were brought into use, to prevent seizing up again. This would take further time at a stage wher...

The previous post featured an LNER-pattern ground signal: this is an LMS-pattern variant. As mentioned quite a while ago, this is very in-keeping for Kirkby Stephen, as they were used here from the 1950s. The LNER-pattern are upper quadrant, as opposed to the lower quadrant LMS...  This signal (above) will control movements into the Bay platform or the Tebay platform, from the point ends, to allow greater flexibility with shunting. Standard convention dictates the uppermost disc refers to the left-hand-most route, therefore the top is for the Bay, and the bottom for the Tebay platform. This was another bench building, mole-digging type of affair. They're quite common throughout this part of the project!! Between Dave, Alex, Steve and I, the ground signal was planted and bolted down at one corner, just in time for the Open Weekend, complete with temporary discs attached. We will be getting a batch of new discs made a little later. This just left the rest of the bolting down to be co...

Over the past week, we’ve made some incredible progress with the roof slating. The north face is now watertight, and we’re about halfway up the south face. As I mentioned in the last post, we’re pushing through regardless of the weather, and it’s paying off. A few nice days have also helped, and the progress is very pleasing. We’re using reclaimed Welsh slate, which varies in thickness and size, making it a bit challenging to achieve the professional finish we’re aiming for. However, with patience (and a few hiccups along the way), we’re very happy with the results so far. When we reach the top of the roof, I'll be sure to let you know.

Well, it turned out we were in the right place with our compensator bench! So much so, that trying to dig a hole for a concrete leg to go in led to a discovery. The remains of an original concrete leg!! Jim beside the excavation Jim excavated the old leg on one visit, which we then lifted out, only to find that the two concrete ties underneath were still in situ. Sadly, we couldn't leave these be, as the new leg needed to be set slightly lower in the ground. A little bit of stabbing with a crow bar identified that another bench leg was also present, bolted to the two ties! So the excavation grew even larger. The extent of the excavation, showing the two ties at the bottom, and the damaged leg to the left The bolts holding the concrete sections together required cutting with an angle grinder as the level of corrosion since the 1950s was impressive. Once the nuts were removed, the concrete leg was lifted off. This was not a simple lift, as they are large, heavy lumps and the bolt rem...