KSE Signalling Project

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...

The remaining front bearing plate castings were drilled by Alex, Dave and I, following on from the marking out Will did previously. This part of the job was very straightforward, and we soon had them all done. Drilling interrupted for a photo Concentration! It then got rather more complicated, as we came to offer the front bearing up to the post itself. We knew the casting fitted the routed posts, as we trial-fitted these before planting the posts. The central hole through the post, for the spindle itself, was drilled oversized to cater for any discrepancies. Or so I thought! ...unfortunately, it appears that this drilling of the post (hopefully in the singular) was out by more than expected. Looking through the post to the casting beyond, showing the margin of the error. After much shuffling to see if we could make it work, I took the more brutal option, and set to with a hammer and chisel, opening out the post hole to suit. At this stage I can confirm the castings are correct, the ho...

A new progress update from Tim:  Readers of my ramblings may well remember the posts alluding to all the new castings of NER Central Division signal components. They may also recollect the preparations carried out to the wooden signal posts in order to accommodate the said castings... Routing out the signal posts Well, after much avoidance of setting to and drilling out the castings, ready for f tting up, things got serious! In the machine shop, the radial arm drill has been commissioned, and appropriate training carried out. The raw castings, as collected from the foundry, but left to weather, slightly. The castings were cleaned up and marked for the hole centres whilst suitable clamping arrangements were devised for the work. The first front bearing casting, clamped down onto a couple of spacers to raise up from the bed and prevent damage drilling through. The four mounting holes were drilled in one go, once the centres were marked and double (triple!) checked, but the centre piv...