Mainly Cabling & Cabinets

Tuesday 2nd Jan.

Split into two groups today - one at Winchcombe to recondition several large line-side boxes and one to do cabling work towards Broadway with the aid of the diesel railcar.
But before setting off a bit of troughing work behind Winchcombe signal box to protect a cable crossing under the tracks.
First a bit of  masonry work to create a ninety degree change of direction with the troughing:

And just right for the cable to sit nicely. Just the lids needed to finish it off:

Now it was time for Neil C, George B, Peter W and yours truly to head off to Broadway in the railcar loaded up with a kilometer of 20 pair cable - here we are disappearing up Defford Straight:

It takes a surprisingly long time to get there at at an average speed of approx 12mph - proceeding cautiously looping round the PW track works at Toddington and passing through the station with the re-slabbing of platform 1 in progress. Have to say that seeing the new aqueduct close up is quite impressive as well.
Anyway, less of this rambling and back to the work in hand.
First stop is at the new distant signal where we install the three cables from the new line-side cabinet across under the track to the post. Peter W digs a trench and George eases away ballast for a protective plastic tube to go under the rails :

The three cables to the signal are for the motor, the detector and the lamp. The main 20 pair cable from Toddington is cut to approx length and pushed up into the cabinet. Neil C has a wrestle with the cable to get it bent neatly into the trench:

And up into the cabinet:

Plenty of work to do here eventually with all the connections, batteries and relay  etc. to make and fit.
Then it's onward to Childswickham Bridge to lay another length of cable up to the signal box.

First of all the railcar moves forward slowly unreeling the cable into the 4ft and two of us follow on at a distance to heft the cable out of the 4ft to the side of the track.
Another length of cable is then unreeled up platform 2 to the signals at the North end.
To finish our work for the day, two large pallets of cable troughing are loaded from the piles on platform 2 onto the trailer. You will notice on the next picture that to get an even loading on the trailer we had to turn the cable drum 90 deg. with much heaving and the aid of a crowbar. Still very heavy with a lot of cable still on it. Just about on the limit of trailer capacity with this lot:

This troughing was taken off at Toddington on the way back with the assistance of the Telehandler. It will be used for cable protection there once the replacement track work is completed.
Few more troughs to remove from Broadway platform 2 yet though before all is tidy!
Back at Winchcombe Jim P, John P, Carl S and Malcolm W were busy with the re-con of the line-side cabinets - I think another 5 of these are required in various positions in and around Broadway station

Curly