The Levers March on

S&T visit Broadway 26th Jan

Today's first task was to fit the Catch Rods and Catch Rod handles to the levers.
We had previously match marked these so that we knew they should go together
without too much hassle and that all the colours matched.

Pushing the levers into their locked positions now gives the typical satisfying "clang"!

The next task was to fit the Lever Tail Wheels down in the Locking room. These are attached
To the levers as part of the signal wire adjusters which will eventually be fitted to the
floor upstairs. This allows the tension in the wires operating the signals which are located a
long way from the box to be adjusted to compensate for expansion/contraction of the wire.

We then fitted the brackets to the lever frame which will support the locking trays. More about this
in due course.

One omission from the last blog ( if anyone noticed it) was mention of the Yellow Lever ( no 45)
This will operate the distant signal.

We now eagerly await the installation of the electrics in the signal box so that we can continue
with further work at Broadway.

Richard C.

The Levers go in!

Tuesday 19th Jan - S&T invade Broadway Signal Box

Seven of S&T Tuesday gang descended on the Broadway Signal Box to
install the levers in the lever frame. John P and Len crawled through the
rodding tunnel and positioned themselves for the fitting and tightening
of the pivot pin saddles.

Under the expert guidance of Malcolm W we did a final clean of the bores and oil holes in the levers
and lowered them into the frame in the correct colour order (all the levers have already been finish painted in their appropriate colours)

We got about a third fitted by the first tea break

There are 46 lever positions in the frame but there is no lever 29 included. Only 24 of the

levers will be used in the initial phase of operation at Broadway.

By lunchtime we were nearly there after a finger numbing push to get all the levers in

Once the levers are in we had to fit the tread plate support bars - quite a fiddly job getting the

bolts in and tightened. Then the tread plates were slotted in - looks really smart!

The team admiring the result!

Curly C.

Lets get it all cleared out!

The first day back after the Christmas Holiday and a really good turnout as you will see later.

The first job was to clear away all the s&t cabling from where pway will re-lay the track through Winchcombe Station during the shutdown period.

Jim Price and John Protherough unbolting a trackside pulley wheel.

 Malcolm W with Carl  Smith and Len Williamson

Keith Livall coiling up scrap signal wire, its galv steel and not worth much but it all goes off to the scrapman. The electrical cabling for the signal lamps and the track circuits was also all cleared away and the remaining signal wires tied back so as not to interfere with the platform extension brickies

As I said, almost a full turnout this morning


Sorry if I didnt quite catch everyone as they worked but here we all are, apart from me behind the camera.

Afterwards the scaffolding was all loaded onto a pickup and taken down to Racecourse to refurbish  two signals.  I didnt think to send the camera.

Mike S

The Pressure is on!

A bit of a gap since the last post so I thought we had better do an update.
We shortly expect (Feb) to be handed the keys to the new Broadway Box so that installation  can start. In the meantime we have lots of signal levers which need  a final cleaning off and painting to do.
First we have to clean off the older preservative primer

and then we can start to re apply the three coats that each one needs.

We also check before painting that the levers are clearly numbered ready for their postions in the Lever Frame.
There's a lot to do, as those of you who saw the pre -assembled frame at Winchcombe or at Broadway will know the size of it.

December is not a good month for doing outdoor painting so Len, thats Len above, sends his thanks to Bldg Services for the loan of a nice dry workshop.

On a sunnier note I found these pics of the installation of the "play signal" at Toddington and a well known culprit testing it out!

 Keith and John P getting it sorted

 Go on andy, give it some welly!!

Very best wishes to all our readers and  a Happy and Healthy new Year for 2016

Mike S

Progress is good

Someone once said that steady progress in the right direction will get you there faster that dashing hither and thither. Our little Blog does get a bit delayed at times but we are glad to shout out loud when we have something in particular to show

Here we can see the final assembly of the Route Indicator signal for Broadway, its quite a lump and the bits are somewhat unusual such that it was felt best to assemble it here and then transport it, intactum as they say, to site.
Hmm,,,,,,,probably a bit large for the pickup.

Elsewhere in the yard and in the meantime, the painting continues

Here we have Carl Smart and Richard Collier duelling away to see who can finish the white bit first.

Not quite sure whether this was before or after the last pic but you can also see the continuing work to assemble the bracket signal , another bigger lump and again for Broadway.
On the telecoms side we still plan to replace the concentrators in both Winchcombe and Toddington signal boxes during this close season.
That will make a total of 4 new ones, all to the same design and operating methods and looking in period for our 'boxes; but with  completely new and standardised components.

Mike S

Slowly but ever forwards: including "Find the Lady"

A bit of a gap since the last entry for which we apologise.
Steady progress continues as my heading suggests but  de-rusting and painting poles, sorry Posts isnt very photogenic is it?   
Visitors have probably seen the stack of painted Posts below the Winchcombe signal box and how it has steadily grown. As you will see they are all lettered with their planned positions at Broadway.
Of course Posts are not all there is to it, we also continue to clean off and prepare the Post fittings, ladders,crows nests, cranks and wheels for signals, as well points linkages for each location and all that has been the main part of the work done.

We also work steadily toward the Concentrator replacement program.  The new units should be into Winchcombe and Toddington during the closed season, ready for the start up next year.

Here is another stage of it, Joinery made the boxes, C&W did the varnishing, here is the Winchcombe varnishing front panel ready for the original PO type keys and  almost ready to start the electronics, over to you Kevern.

Since we are also renewing other outdated connection systems (only MDF's! ) we need to have ready new cabling to connect the new system to the old original cable pairs  and we would rather spend time now in preparation hopefully ensuring that we meet nothing unexpected when we change things over- at least thats the plan.

As part of the preparation we have to work inside the cable head cupboards in the Locking Room.
Your other scribe "Curly" aka Richard C got very wound up as we were finishing off last time as it was almost a  game of Find the Lady!
We have three similar cupboards all with heavy steel fronts but only one actually fits each cabinet and you can't tell until you put them in position AND try to lock them.  Poor old RC!

Hence we got Alex from C&W to paint on some numbers. Not rocket science but  we will be for ever  grateful each time we have more than one cabinet open. Thanks Alex, tidy job. Hope that you enjoyed the quick guided tour of the Locking Room, yes, I know its due for a vacuum out.

Oh, nearly forgot.
In the meantime we had  reports that occasionally  the tie lines were not working properly between W and Todd. We have seven possible routes that choose between two lines in each direction. Anyway the problem was that two of the seven selectors had faulty TL relays so it was pot luck which one you got  (the alotter uniselector automatically  steps calls round to share the load) the effect was No Dial Tone from the remote end. But thats now been sorted with bits from the spares box and some more help from Paul at DFR, thanks Paul.

Happy Days


Mike S

Tuesday 7th July- S&T at Winchcombe

An unusual start to the day with operations being disrupted by bees.
Working by the side of the MSC shed was risky because a swarm of bees
have taken residence inside the end of one of the recently painted
Bracket signal dollies. So if anyone needs a swarm for their hive
they know where to look! (making the assumption that they are
honey bees)

Re-conditioning of signalling equipment continues at a pace with 6 of us

on site today. Richard C, John P and Keith L attacking another 26ft post.

This took most of the day to wire brush with angle grinders and then paint

with primer. Luckily it stayed dry.

  

Andy P has time off from lineside drainage duties to re-condition a lineside

electrical cabinet. Makes a change from digging ballast and silt.

A ground signal post received its top coat of black gloss.

We are running out of space to mount parts for painting - here you will see

 a selection of balance weight arms and ladder fixings hanging from

hooks under the MSC shed "awning"

And finally a mention of the sterling work that Mike S is doing with tidying up the

Phone system. Here he is with the wall mounted phones that have been moved from the 

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