Most of us had a brain exercising start to the day with our Personal Trackside Safety test in the Tim Mitchell building at Winchcombe station. At least this avoided some of the heat of the day and we all performed well!
Today's main task was to marshall the fittings for the Broadway bracket signal and fit them on to make sure that everything goes together. We don't want to be at the top of a ladder finding there is a problem.
Finials tend to be a problem where bolt holes don't match - in fact we drilled new holes in the long doll using the finial as a template.
The second one is wrestled on:
Then the pivot casting is fitted with a hoop and a bolt. Getting the hoops over the post has the inevitable result of chipping the white paint - very hard to avoid this - touching up will be required eventually.
We must make sure that we get the positions of these castings at the right height because a Call-on arm has to be fitted below the main signal arm and we have limited space with the lengths of these dolls. Not sure but I think there should be a minimum distance of 5ft between arms.
Next is the mounting of the spectacle plate on its pivot:
Then a problem. The brand new signal arm (immaculately enamelled red and white) won't fit over the central boss. So it's out with the files to fettle the boss. Filing the hole in the signal arm is a no-no, risking sure damage to the enamel.
Finally it is coaxed on and secured with 4 M12 bolts.
Then the back blind is fitted to the other end of the spectacle plate pivot. This masks the light from the rear of lamp casing when the signal is pulled off.
This will all be dismantled before transporting of the signal to Broadway.
End of day picture - still a bit more to fit on yet.
The converted cabinet for the Oiling Gang storage is now finish painted inside and out and ready for transport to Toddington:
Curly
The bracket looks wonderful. Must admit, I would be tempted to raise it to its position intact with all the bits on.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see it in position. Well done.
Regards, Paul.
Finials bolt holes are always a problem when they don't come off the post they were originally fitted to. I believe that after around 1956 Reading used a template to drill the holes so that they were interchangeable
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, official Reading drawings show the distance between a Stop arm and a Calling-on arm was 4'6" so I hope that's helpful.
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ReplyDeleteStill working hard there, does look good this signal. As St Blazey says can it be raised into position without taking it apart? Now a heritage question, M12 Bolts. are these the english bolts pre 1948 or the foreign ones post 2015?
ReplyDeleteRegards
Paul & Marion
Arms were bolted to the spectacle casting using four half-inch Whitworth bolts in GWR and BR days. M12 is the nearest metric match today.
DeleteRaising that whole assembly is not practical - would need importing a suitable crane and once vertical would need the base securing to make it safe with ladders to get up to the top. So a big No No to that I'm afraid.
DeleteOh Aardvark 11, where is thy sense of humour?
DeleteIf they're metric bolts there's a good chance that they were foreign ones made in China! 😁😁😁😁
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