KSE Signalling Project

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.

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.

 With the wet weather having receded (a little!), we could no longer avoid, the next round of work to finish off some more benches. BENCH NO.1 The first bench to tackle was the one that sits between the Tebay and Eden Valley lines, near the footbridge. This takes 2 rods from the box (levers 8 and 9 to access the shed headshunt from the Tebay line), as well as 2 from the ground frame (to access the Turntable road from the Eden Valley line), through 90° to the main rodding run. We had previously dug the legs into place for this, so 'just' needed to dig out a bit and fit the top...   And that's where things got more complicated! We needed to drop the top of the bench down by 1" to get everything to line up at the correct height (the hardwood sleepers we use for bench tops vary in thickness...). This was fixed very quickly, using a circular saw and chisel to take out an inch from underneath the sleepers, where they sit on the concrete legs. The digging out involved moving ...

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.

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..

Following on from the previous two posts concerning Central Division signals, we now have Part 3.. This concerns a trip Matt and I made, up to Fighting Cocks Station, near Darlington, to meet up with Norman Hugill. The original (Central Division!) signal from the station has been returned there, to (hopefully) be re-erected as a reminder of the line. However, for the time being, it lies in its component parts, and includes various parts we have not seen anywhere else! Particularly of note is the landing and the balance lever arrangement. Both of which we need to duplicate in order to complete our signals at KSE! We duly headed up, armed with tape measures, pens and a clipboard. The arm. First of all, we discovered the original wooden arm was only 4' in length (which would give 3'6" beyond the post), although it does look shorter than most from the photos in situ. Secondly, the edges were all rounded off, which answered a question I'd had rumbling around in the back of ...

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...

As the weather permits, the Moles have been busy digging for victory... but it feels as though we're going round in circles. We dig a hole, plonk a lump of concrete in it, and fill it back in again! Rest assured, the work does have a purpose: this is the installation of the concrete bench legs for the rodding run. If we can get them all in before the weather turns, we won't be drowned Moles!! We can then tackle fitting the tops later on, in the knowledge that the hardest, physical work has been completed. The ground varies significantly from hole to hole, but we have managed 2 concrete legs a day, combined with other tasks on site. These photos are from the last two days on site, and this section of the rodding run sits between the Tebay and Eden Valley lines. We didn't want to tackle this part of the run any earlier, given the focus on getting the box looking complete internally (more work will take place on days when the weather leaves something to be desired!!). Our digg...