Brief Note

Wednesday 17th Feb

Neil C and Malcolm W were  at Broadway again today to progress the signal box electrics. 

The block shelf switch has been wired to its relay and the signal repeating instruments wired to signals and tested:

Next, the wiring that will connect up eventually to the illuminated diagram above the block shelf has been fed back through track Circuit repeater relays. 

The anunciator bell has been connected and is working from the home signal approach track circuit and the head shunt track circuit. 

Malcolm has completed stripping, cleaning and oiling all the lever catch handle pins. 

And of course, this must have been one of the best places to work at the moment! Obviously the draw needed testing again! 

I hope I shall be able to see all this good work before too much longer 

Curly

(photos and notes courtesy of Neil C) 

S & T Update

 Wednesday 9th Feb

While us volunteers have been on leave from the railway the Ops Manager and Head of S & T have been busy on several fronts.

Firstly, the Toddington south crossover. Malcolm W installed the final piece of mechanical locking in the signal box and Neil C completed the wiring. They then went through  a comprehensive locking test list and signed off the crossover as working. These photos shows point lever 7 reversed and disc 6 cleared:

Also because there are now no spare levers Malcolm made a rack to hang the " reminder appliances" on:

Back at Broadway the wiring up of the electrical locks begins and the replacement of two of the originals which had faulty coils.

All locks and contact boxes have now been wired up and wired back to the relay board on the back wall of the locking room. Here is one of the locks with its cover removed:

Attention then turned to the signal box chimney which once again has succumbed to blockage by nesting jackdaws. The blockage has now been removed and Malcolm has fabricated a chimney guard which has now been fitted. (I have no idea how they got up there to do it, so don't ask me!!).

Anyway, there was a successful steaming with smoke coming out in the right place:

Curly

Photos and info courtesy of Neil C

Broadway Calling!

 Tuesday 8th December

 All set up that Paul and Peter were to finish off the installation of the internal pax phone at Broadway. 0830 phone rang at home- Peter had hurt his back so couldnt attend. Luckily I was getting ready to reinstall the strowger selector that had  been a victim of relay failure ( It was the F, the one that detects the loop as the subscriber lifts the handset aka "answering the phone" in the presence of loads of AC ringing current) a clever application of a standard 3000 type. These relays are a bit prone to failure at 60 years old,  I think its to do with the AC peak voltage and a bit of damp as well.

 So I ended up meeting Paul at Broadway and an hour later the phone was in and working- much easier now to just dial 60 for Toddington station than those long BT codes and cheaper for the railway as well.

Here's a quick pic of Paul - just making sure it works ok

 

 

So there we are another job done. And the Office all left tidy as DB was watching! By the way, we were also asked to move the BT phone across to a more convenient spot 

on the window ledge by the door - certainly Sir, anything to oblige

Shortly we hope to start to wire up the Concentrator and the signal post phones, ready for when Broadway Signal Box comes on line, Covid and Cash permitting.

Mike S  

A big Welcome to Peter Giles, our newest recruit. With a knowledge of Strowger as well as those new fangled computery things, Welcome Peter. I hope that your back is better by now

A peaceful and Merry Christmas to all our readers

Continuing Work at Broadway

 Tuesday 15th December

Four of us at Broadway today with various tasks to perform. 

The lineside telephone cabinet with the sliding vertical door that we recently reconditioned at Winchcombe is to be installed at the base of the new bracket signal. But first I couldn't resist a couple of shots with some of the signals pulled off.  Which platform should we choose?! (I hasten  to add that the locking would not allow this combination!)

Or this:

Everything seems to work OK by pulling on the signal wires here

A bit of ballast digging required to prepare two holes for the cabinet legs (2 substantial lengths of angle iron bolted to the sides)

Manhandled into position and secured with two barrow loads of concrete - with just enough left over to secure the base of the ladder

 

These scaffolding boards should keep it in place  until the concrete sets.

While we were doing this Neil C busied himself in the Signal box locking room with some wiring.    Plenty of connections to make to the electric locks and blockshelf instruments and phones. Speaking of which, Malcolm W and Neil C have been marshalling the instruments and making sure that they are all in full working order plus a good clean and polish of their housings. Here is a selection in the process of refurbishment 

Note the magnificent Church Bell which will take pride of place!! 

Work in progress:

We are getting there bit by bit. 

Before leaving, a quick visit to the direction indicator signal at the North end to replace a shackle connecting pin. Now that the signal lamps are lit I wanted to see the effect of the frosted glass panel. Unfortunately there was still too much daylight to see the full effect - but you can get an idea of the illumination:

And you can just make out the twin LED's here.  Probably get a good view of this from Springfield Lane Bridge at night 

Curly

 

Broadway Signals Update

 Thursday 19th Nov

Just a quick update on Broadway signalling. 

The following is courtesy of Neil C who has been continuing with the electrical work  at Broadway together with Malcolm W while the rest of us are in lockdown.

I can report that all external  signal and electrical connections are now complete.

All signal lamps and track circuits are working.  It is interesting to plot the progress of a train approaching and running through the station by watching the repeater relays operating from the track circuits in the locking room (8  in all at Broadway and 2 for the Toddington /Broadway section )  - eventually of course there will be indicating lights on the diagram above the levers upstairs to show train position - plenty of work still to do! 

This picture is of Neil C wiring the twin ground signals at the base of the direction indicator signal (north end, platform 1 side of headhunt)

And Malcolm W fitting the lampcases

Malcolm W aloft on the direction indicator oiling the route indicator slides and fitting the lamp cases:

I shall be interested to see how the twin LED's in this case highlight the UP M / DN M letters through the frosted glass screen.

You'll have to wait until I get back for an answer to that.

In answer to a question on an earlier blog about the opening of the signal box, a commissioning date is set for early 2022. So we have just over a year to get it all sorted - read all about it in The Cornishman (assuming you have a copy of course!) 

Curly

Postscript

 Thursday 4th Nov

Just a quick note about some work I forgot to mention.  John P and I went to Gotherington on Oct 20th while the boss was on holiday to have a go at clearing some undergrowth from signal wires after a report that the wire from the distant signal was struggling to return to the normal position. I think this signal has the longest wire run on the railway.

It turns out that the wires from the station towards Winchcombe are copiously encased in brambles and other vegetation. 

No sign of any signal wires  under this lot !

A bit more work required here - we cleared about 150 yards towards the station from the old concrete sleeper park but there's still more serious de-brambling to do.

Curly

Mission Accomplished

 Tuesday 3rd Nov

Afraid I was not able to attend today - having to isolate for a hospital visit on Wed - but the stalwart team of Malcolm W, John P and Neil C completed the Broadway bracket. Signal lamps all connected up and working, balance weights fitted and signal wires connected - looks good with the scaffolding removed! 

Looking forward to pulling a lever! 

Photo courtesy of Neil C

Curly