KSE Signalling Project

 ...sadly not. Or maybe, thankfully not! You may remember back to various updates and blog posts about the North Eastern Railway, Northern Division lattice bracket signal, designed and built by McKenzie and Holland for the alterations at Hell Beck... Well, there is more of an update: we've now put the structure back together! The individual component parts (T-piece that forms the landing, 2 dolls and the main post) had previously been repaired, cleaned up and painted, but for various reasons could not be reassembled in time for our great Signal Planting Week, back in 2024. So since then, the main post has sat, looking rather isolated and a little forlorn. Scaffolding was erected for us by Bell and Prime, in such a way as to be able to be used to lift the components in to place using chain blocks, pull lifts and so forth. We knew the weights of the individual components, and then allowed a margin beyond this when specifying our requirements.  We had the RAMS set out before star...

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!

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.

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 ...

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...

No rest for the Moles. We've been putting off digging for the next benches that require installation, owing to the need to get the box progressed with the frame, in readiness for the big gala... Whilst the weather is good, we could no longer put off the digging, and set to with the largest excavation. Just outside the box, we squeeze a bench for most of the signal wires to run on flat wheels, carrying them underneath the 4 lines. In the same place, we have to get wire stakes in place for the other signal wires, ducts to feed on to the Junction box as well as leaving enough space for the drainage run. We moved the bench so that it was adjacent to the hole, using a small trolley. Timmy's help with the digging wasn't necessarily constuctive... If that weren't enough, the ground we had to dig, to the levels required, had a few 'challenges' to overcome. Such as big rocks, cement leftovers from the building works and a mound of rubble! Motivational encouragement was p...

Well, it would seem there's plenty of scope for confusion! Hopefully this post will deal with some of the oddities, rule out the absurd, and maybe even share a bit of the history; all coupled to recent progress. Kirkby Stephen East. Well, that's obvious, isn't it? The most easterly-located station in Kirkby Stephen. Meaning the other station (on the Settle - Carlisle) was called Kirkby Stephen West.  But for many years, such a distinction was unnecessary: it was either the North Eastern station or the Midland station, according to the operators of the lines in question. Even after the Grouping, the two stations were run by different companies, so the distinction between the stations fell in line with this: either LNER or LMS!  The issue only really arose after Nationalisation, when both stations serving Kirkby Stephen came under the control of BR, albeit different regions initially. In order to try and make it easier for their customers, the use of East and West came about,...