Temporary Ground Signal in Operation

Tues 27th Sept

Six of us at Cheltenham Racecourse today with two tasks in hand. Firstly to connect the temporary ground signal that we installed  last week to enable us to strip signal No 3 for a complete makeover.
Secondly to finish burying the cable by the side of platform 2 down to the signal box.
Neil C was the advance guard to get the scaffolding up round signal 3 before the arrival of the first train of the day. We arrived and loaded the P Way trolley after 4270 had run round and the way was clear to move our kit up to the bridge. Carl, Jim, Keith and John poised for action:

The objective was to disconnect the electrical wiring and signal wire from No 3 as quickly as possible  and re-connect to the ground signal to enable seamless operation for the next steam run round. All went well with only an additional short length of signal wire required to be "spliced" in:

Electrical wires from No 3 connected straight in without drama. Except that the light bulb didn't survive the journey - luckily we found a spare in the signal box so both illumination and detection are now fully functioning:

Cable burying along platform 2 now complete - everything now looking nice and tidy;
:

Now just needs the Tarmac!

Curly

Preparations for signal re-furb

Tuesday 20th Sept

Four of us on duty today so off to Cheltenham for some maintenance work.

Signal No.3 at the southern end of platform 1 at Cheltenham Racecourse Station is due for a re-paint - but before we can dismantle it there is a precaution we have to take. Because this signal controls the points in Hunting Butts we are going to instal a temporary ground signal . This (hopefully) will be visible to the engine drivers right at the end of the slope of platform 1.

We are anticipating that this work will take about 3 weeks (weather permitting) . This needs the erection of scaffolding to strip off all the fittings and the cleaning and re-painting of  the whole lot.

The ground signal is to be bolted to two concrete blocks where we have dug out a base 

A fair bit of manhandling required - at least a 2 man lift ( the signal needed 3 of us)
Here it is suitably mounted and secured with 4 bolts. We will connect the signal wires and
electrics next week.

We finished off the day by continuing to bury the new 30 pair electrical cable which runs the length of platform 2 from the bridge to the signal box. A good idea to have it out of sight and to protect it from damage and hot coals.

Still another 3 or 4 panels of track to go but that will have to wait for next week.

Paul, John P and Malcolm having a well earned rest! Digging out ballast is always a pain. The cable
is now up against the platform wall and about 3" underground.


Curly