A Few More Preparations

Tuesday 5th Dec

Five of us at Broadway again today to do a bit more finishing of the preparatory work on the point rodding and pulleys.  We are now going to have to wait to make any significant progress until the track is tamped and ballasted.
We have a selection of connecting rods to connect the cranks to the rods. There is a bit of trial and error to make sure that all four of the northward facing rods are at the same height and equally spaced:

 So that there is the minimum of misalignment of the rods running over the rollers. We have temporarily put two 4 wheel sets of  rollers in the ballast to achieve this:

The distance from the signal box to the blade of the Siding Point is 696 feet. So with a roller support set every 9 ft (77sets) this is going to be quite a pull.
We measured this distance accurately because we need to establish the exact mid point of the rodding run so that a compensator mechanism can be installed to negate the effects of expansion/contraction of such a long length of steel. Here is John P with the tape (I am on the other end). We have marked 50ft intervals on the sides of the rails.

I haven't got a picture of one of these compensators - quite a clever mechanical device. I will dig one out for next week.

A couple of other "woodworking" jobs were going on in the background.  To minimise the amount of final ballast shovelling between the sleepers where the signal wires will cross under the tracks we have cut some boards to cover the central gap.

And then to mark out and cut the final 5 slots for the signal wires. Carl S in action with the saw 

And then with the board back in position. Not quite small rodent proof, but will stop the birds from nesting in the lever frame up above. (we had a blackbird in there last year) 

Just a final note on the locking frame. The links holding the upper and lower tappet blades have now been fully adjusted and tightened. The copper washers allow just enough compression to get the split pin holes to align with the bolts fully tightened.

Testing of locking still to be carried out. Best done when there is nobody working underneath the box to avoid casualties! 

Curly