The Levers March on

S&T visit Broadway 26th Jan

Today's first task was to fit the Catch Rods and Catch Rod handles to the levers.
We had previously match marked these so that we knew they should go together
without too much hassle and that all the colours matched.

Pushing the levers into their locked positions now gives the typical satisfying "clang"!

The next task was to fit the Lever Tail Wheels down in the Locking room. These are attached
To the levers as part of the signal wire adjusters which will eventually be fitted to the
floor upstairs. This allows the tension in the wires operating the signals which are located a
long way from the box to be adjusted to compensate for expansion/contraction of the wire.

We then fitted the brackets to the lever frame which will support the locking trays. More about this
in due course.

One omission from the last blog ( if anyone noticed it) was mention of the Yellow Lever ( no 45)
This will operate the distant signal.

We now eagerly await the installation of the electrics in the signal box so that we can continue
with further work at Broadway.

Richard C.

The Levers go in!

Tuesday 19th Jan - S&T invade Broadway Signal Box

Seven of S&T Tuesday gang descended on the Broadway Signal Box to
install the levers in the lever frame. John P and Len crawled through the
rodding tunnel and positioned themselves for the fitting and tightening
of the pivot pin saddles.

Under the expert guidance of Malcolm W we did a final clean of the bores and oil holes in the levers
and lowered them into the frame in the correct colour order (all the levers have already been finish painted in their appropriate colours)

We got about a third fitted by the first tea break

There are 46 lever positions in the frame but there is no lever 29 included. Only 24 of the

levers will be used in the initial phase of operation at Broadway.

By lunchtime we were nearly there after a finger numbing push to get all the levers in

Once the levers are in we had to fit the tread plate support bars - quite a fiddly job getting the

bolts in and tightened. Then the tread plates were slotted in - looks really smart!

The team admiring the result!

Curly C.

Lets get it all cleared out!

The first day back after the Christmas Holiday and a really good turnout as you will see later.

The first job was to clear away all the s&t cabling from where pway will re-lay the track through Winchcombe Station during the shutdown period.

Jim Price and John Protherough unbolting a trackside pulley wheel.

 Malcolm W with Carl  Smith and Len Williamson

Keith Livall coiling up scrap signal wire, its galv steel and not worth much but it all goes off to the scrapman. The electrical cabling for the signal lamps and the track circuits was also all cleared away and the remaining signal wires tied back so as not to interfere with the platform extension brickies

As I said, almost a full turnout this morning


Sorry if I didnt quite catch everyone as they worked but here we all are, apart from me behind the camera.

Afterwards the scaffolding was all loaded onto a pickup and taken down to Racecourse to refurbish  two signals.  I didnt think to send the camera.

Mike S

The Pressure is on!

A bit of a gap since the last post so I thought we had better do an update.
We shortly expect (Feb) to be handed the keys to the new Broadway Box so that installation  can start. In the meantime we have lots of signal levers which need  a final cleaning off and painting to do.
First we have to clean off the older preservative primer

and then we can start to re apply the three coats that each one needs.

We also check before painting that the levers are clearly numbered ready for their postions in the Lever Frame.
There's a lot to do, as those of you who saw the pre -assembled frame at Winchcombe or at Broadway will know the size of it.

December is not a good month for doing outdoor painting so Len, thats Len above, sends his thanks to Bldg Services for the loan of a nice dry workshop.

On a sunnier note I found these pics of the installation of the "play signal" at Toddington and a well known culprit testing it out!

 Keith and John P getting it sorted

 Go on andy, give it some welly!!

Very best wishes to all our readers and  a Happy and Healthy new Year for 2016

Mike S