Making Way for the Wires

Tuesday 18th Dec.

Only five of us at Broadway today to continue with barrow crossing work at the south end of the platforms.
Platform 1 side needs a channel  through which the signal wires pass. Some shuttering has been prepared using old scaffold boards - now ready for some concrete:

And here with the concrete poured:

The length of point rodding on the right is secured in the concrete with some studs - the point rodding on the left holds two pieces of c-channel (the rodding will be removed once the concrete is set). A steel plate will then be bolted on to cover everything up.
On the opposite side of the crossing you can see a similar arrangement but with some block work. Because the ground to the left falls away significantly we need to build a retaining wall for the infill required. Peter W starts by digging out for some footings.

And now it is time to practice our bricklaying skills to match up with the platform wall. I'm afraid rain stopped play after the first row so I guess it will now be after Christmas before this is finished.

Adjacent to this another concrete block has been prepared to mount a horizontal pulley to direct a signal wire across to the base of the bracket signal.

I had a walk up to the signal by Childswickham Bridge with Malcolm to joint up the wire for this signal with the sling. This is now all connected up to the balance weight arm. The ladder, platform and upper fittings are still required to finish off this signal.

I promised a picture of the completed mechanical detector at the south points so here it is

Showing the three detector bars (one to each blade and one to the fpl). The piece of rodding on the left attaches the body of the detector to the rail to ensure that it cannot move.
The two locking bars (at right angles  which attach to the signal wires) have been tied off in a retracted position. This is to ensure that the ground frame can still operate.
Talk about leaves on the line causing problems - the fpl and locking bars were completely covered in leaves when we arrived, so we took some time to clear them away to prevent them clogging up the mechanisms

That's all from me until the New Year - so a very Happy Christmas to all you readers!

Curly