Wednesday 7 March 2018

All Points Go

Tuesday 6th March

A good turnout on a fine day at Broadway with 6 of us in attendance.
We still had a bit of adjustment to make to the ground frame at the southern points to get everything operating smoothly and ensure that blades were seating properly in both positions - this linkage allows for a bit of trim:


and to make sure that nothing moves a bit of tamping round the concrete blocks :


And to ensure that there is no movement between the sleepers holding the FPL and its operating crank a pair of steel straps are screwed to the outside ends of the sleepers - John P in action here :



We all had a go at operating the levers but Len W got his picture for the blog (note that we have the blue FPL lever lock released with the red token- this means that all movements from now on are controlled this way - there is no point clipping) 


Set for platform 1 approach from Toddington :



And set for coming out of platform 2 on the run round:


and with the FPL in the locked position


While we were doing this, Neil C, Keith L and Carl S took the blue pickup loaded with all the necessary stuff (including sand, cement and water) to position and concrete in the new speed limit signs at each side of Childswickam bridge. 10mph into the station and 25mph off to Toddington :



Then off up north to install the hand spring point lever to operate the Headshunt points. 
This needed a bit of carpentry to the end of one of the sleepers to cut a slot to clear the base. Tough stuff those new sleepers. 


Then mark and drill for four substantial coach bolts:

Neil C had brought his own substantial socket set which made the winding in of these bolts a bit easier - even coated with a drop of oil they are a bit of a struggle:


So, four sets of heaves later we have it securely fixed. It must have  a very good seating because it needs a good pull to snap it over.


 And here it is connected up with the three main men admiring  their handiwork 


All Pointwork controls at Broadway now complete. Remember that the point into the Siding will stay permanently clipped - unclipped only when access is required to the Siding. 

Meanwhile, back down south there is some vandalism going on! It has been decided to remove the unwanted fittings from the bracket signal:


The doll will stay.  Looks a bit bereft without its bits! 


End of day, Keith L decides that a bit more ballast shovelling is good way to wind down. We need to clear between some sleepers for the signal wires to pass through. I think we are clear now that ballasting is finished to start thinking about the next stages of connecting up. 



A continuous stream of Broadway members were passing up and down platform 1 with barrow loads of sand for the final levelling  before tarmac team arrive next week. Lots of activity going on all round! All getting pretty exciting and looking good. 

Curly

13 comments:

  1. Well done the team, but how long before the signal box is used to move points and signals though? ant wait for the grand opening and that is not possible without your hard work, so many thanks.
    Regards
    Paul & Marion

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  2. The official commissioning of the signal box will probably not be until the start of the 2019 operating season. We will no doubt be pulling a few levers to test things before then!

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  3. Why does the southern turnout require a lock and a point lever, but the headshunt turnout just has a single lever?

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    Replies
    1. The Toddington-end point is required to be locked into position because it is used by passenger trains, simple as that. The north-end point is for light-engine movements so it is not required by the safety authorities.

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    2. That makes sense...

      Thanks

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  4. A pity that the right hand signal arm had to removed as it looked so good in that position. Was it originally intended to guard a siding parallel to the running line? If so why was the idea dropped assuming it wasn't just shortage of cash?

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    Replies
    1. Not a Siding but a passenger loop which would have meant double track over Childswickam Bridge. Not just cost but embankment stability along this stretch.

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    2. I thought that the embankment had been stabilised - or is it just that the work was only sufficient to allow one train to be on that part of the line at one time?

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    3. Yes, it has been Soil-nailed .......but caution is being exercised.. .... may be an insurance issue.

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  5. Interesting times to be live in! Can't wait until the box is commissioned; but will settle for seeing trains using Broadway again, especially the King.
    Great work and great blog.
    Regards, Paul.

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  6. why is the FP lock only needed for one throw of the points? Don't both directions have to be locked?

    great work.

    Andrew Harris whitby ontario

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    Replies
    1. No, I think the reason is that it's a FACING point lock.

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  7. The facing point lock is locking the points in the straight ahead road into platform 1 for the safe passage of the engine and coaches. These points can only be unlocked and changed by the engine crew when running round. The levers on the ground frame are themselves locked until the staff/token is inserted to unlock them. Once the run round is complete the points must be reset so that the staff/token can be removed for safe passage back to Toddington. The staff/token cannot be removed from the ground frame until the points are re-set.
    Hope this explains the procedure.
    Once everything is connected up to the signal box it all becomes supersafe under the control of the signalman and the locking systems in the signal box - but that's another story!

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