Simplicity

 Looking again at the last blog and the lovely pic of the Button A/B phone reminded me of just how simple it was.

 When you inserted the coins it was arranged that they hit a small bell dome  near which was a microphone so the operator would hear a different  note as each coin was inserted!

 Thats how she knew that you hadnt put in the full amount!

 I can still remember them saying " Caller you need to insert an extra penny" or whatever. 

Thats also how they new that when your time was up you could be asked for an extra sixpence or shilling on a TRUNK call.

 Come on now someone will know what the coin values were?,, yes yes a penny slot but what did the other ones allow?

And dont get me started on indirect local dialling codes, tapped out on the receiver rest to get a free call. 

(as a clue they started with 9 as that got you from the uax into the parent exchange?.

Mike S

Ps. I have now been told the pre-decimal it was 1p, 6p or a whole shilling. After decimalisation it was a 2 pence or 10p.

A Catch Up

 Tuesday 30th August

Today we started moving house! Now that we have a sparkly 40ft container in the yard at Winchcombe we can re-organise all our equipment from diverse locations into one place.

Last week we built some serious wooden shelving . Here's Neil in full flow with battery drill and battery screwdriver. John P had cut all the battens ready for this

 

And the finished shelves - providing a serious amount of shelving

Looks quite bright with the flash but we need to install some lighting so that we can see what we are doing .  There is no electricity supply on this side of the yard at this point so Neil C is digging a trench down the side of the concrete roadway to provide a connection on the other side near the toilet block  (there is a duct under the roadway through which the cable can be fed)

So we spent most of today sorting out signal fittings, loading them onto the transit  and moving them to their new home 

What do we put where?!

So, to summarise the last few weeks . 

We have spent time making and fitting two brackets to secure the two mechanical detectors at Toddington to the adjacent rail. This is to ensure that there is no relative movement putting the locking bars out of alignment.

Here is one fitted at Toddington (the triangular bit)

Plus a lot of cleaning and painting work including Winchcombe signal box window frames and sills

Various signal fittings 

And of course the scruffy Winchcombe automatic gate!

Finally some repairs to the foot crossing at Gotherington signal box which we have given a good dose of creosote - but we shall have to return when we have sorted out some timber to  replace some decaying boarding. 

We have also prepared some boarding to replace a rotten part of the foot crossing at Toddington signal box.

No letting up on the jobs to do!

Curly

We HAVE been busy

 Apologies for the delay since last posting

Firstly I just wanted to say a grateful THANKS to all the people who have donated to us very valuable, indeed irreplaceable, Strowger Servicing tools over the last year or so.

 Last week I called into the coach that serves as out S&T centre and was greeted by the gift of a very well kept "Wallet, Tool, No4"

 And inside was...

 

 complete with a selection of the most requently used tools, not sure about the big spring guage though?

So I owe someone a THANK YOU, they and the wallet will be most helpful.

Earler in the year I built a copy of a "Stand, Testing , No 17"  Its not quite as elegant as the originals and I hope you like the bungee that holds the capacaitor box open- saves a lot of broken fingernails and trapped fingers!

Its been an essential tool as we have embarked on clearing a few faulty selectors and basic lubrication- has anyone got any "Oildag"? knocking around?

 Had a horrible fault on one selector, it kept trying to go rotary as it went vertical, somehow drive was getting to both magnets, turned out the problem was breakdown in the paxolin insualtion on the upper wipers , but we found it in the end

Heres a couple of pics of it in use

So, honestly, we have been busy and thanks to all our readers and supporters.

 Keep cool

Mike

PS As a little extra here a couple of pics that I took at Lincolnshire Aviation at East Kirby- wot an excellent day out

Its the only place YOU can ride in a Lancaster ( but you do need a deep pocket!) 

Not yet Flight worthy but taxy's several times a day!

and I couldnt reist this one, oh for the simplicity of Button A/B! No STD, no C&FC relaysets, 

No electromechamical Directors either!

Point Clipping Made Easy

 Tuesday 18th May

Another use for some spare point rodding was being developed today to make the  signalman's life a bit easier in the event of motor point malfunction.

If this happens the signalman has to walk from the signalbox to the points in order to wind them over with a hand crank and then the points have to be clipped for safety. Carrying a (not light) point clip over this distance is somewhat tiring. So the plan is to have a secure place at the points to mount a clip and make it vandal proof. 

Here is a mock up of the proposed unit.

Five lengths of rodding have been prepared 

Here John P is cutting the ends with the angle grinder to prepare a point to make it easier to hammer into the ballast

Then they will be made secure with a bed of concrete

A rectangular slot will be cut into the top of rod into which the clip can be locked .

So each motor point will have a secure  local clip for use in emergency with only a key needed for the lock!

The deconstructed back blind has been cleaned up and has been given a coat of green primer

The signal that once had this on Chicken Curve was moved to the other side of the track and visibility of the arm is no longer a problem - so we won't need it now. So once it is all repainted and assembled if anyone has need of it we would be happy for it to go to a new home for a small donation to the GWSR!

And the post holding the keypad at Winchcombe gate has received its cream and brown top coats

Curly

General Stuff

 Tuesday  10th May

The red lenses in two of the ground signals at Toddington  have frosted over significantly reducing their visibility (plastic I'm afraid!)

Easily removable if the clamps haven't been fitted with slotted cheese head screws! Otherwise significant dismantling required. Luckily a pair of stillsons managed to grip and move them. This photo shows what an effect the weather has on the plastic - really ingrained.

One of the other tasks we need to address is the fitting of some additional rodding to the motor operated points north of the station at Toddington (no. 22). We will fit two additional angle cranks to the sleeper ends to connect the two yellow stretchers - this to prevent any flexing movement of the centre of the  blades during the passage of traffic. 

Meanwhile back at base we continue with the refurbishment of various items of signalling - including a facing point lock:

Various pointwork connections and cranks:

And the dismantling of a signal arm sighting board (or quadrant). Needed all its bolts cutting off with an angle grinder - Andy D at work here:

More angle grinding for tomorrow's team!

And finally a bit of tidying up of the post holding the keypad for the gate at Winchcombe which has had a bit if a scraping from passing plant. Green primer doesn't look heritage at the moment! Another job for tomorrow to finish off.

Curly

Detector Connecting

 Tuesday 5th April

This will probably be our last visit to Toddington to finish off the re-connection of the signals and detection.

But first of all a bit of shovelling to remove some excessive ballast by the signal box. Some retaining boards have been protecting the point rodding from falling ballast but these are now in danger of falling in . 

So we have removed several barrow loads of ballast and the boards are no longer required.  (Sorry no 'after' photo!)

Then back to the detector at the station end of the new crossover. The concrete mounting is now well set so the shuttering can be removed, the mounting nuts tightened and the ballast tidied up.

Then to connect the detector bar to the wire controlling the adjacent starter signal. First step is to cut the wire.

And then fit a thimble and connector to each end (having trimmed each end to the correct length)

Malcolm's fingers again taking the brunt of it! A phone call to the signalman to pull off the signal and all is working perfectly.

An aerial view of the completed installation

We finished the day with some tidying up of the site - spare concrete blocks, stools and rodding etc - loaded on the pickup for storage back at Winchcombe. There were only three of us today -- me plus Malcolm W and John B here reviewing the day!

Curly

Detector Fitting

 Tuesday 29th March

A bit more work to do on the new crossover at Toddington today. The connections to the points (14) and their  FPL (nearest the station) have not been made yet and are clipped for the road from platform 1 to the main line south. 

Our main objective today was to fit the detection unit for this point

Firstly, a concrete base is prepared using wooden shuttering:

The detector has four securing bolts (note the blue nuts) which have had a short bar welded on to the head. We then lifted the unit into position and sank the bolts into the wet concrete. We will tighten the nuts  next week when the concrete has set.

There is a slotted bar which passes through the centre of the unit (aligned with and parallel to the signal wire seen on top). The signal wire which connects to the adjacent ground signal now has to be cut and attached to each end of the bar.

Only if the slots in the three bars connected to the point blades and FPL coincide with the slot in the detector can the signal be operated. This next picture gives a better view of the arrangement

The FPL in the centre of the photo is not yet connected to the angle crank (on the 3rd sleeper to the right). To ensure that there is no relative movement between them and to prevent misalignment, the sleepers are strapped together with a steel strap on both sides:

And finally a bit of ground signal refreshment. Replacement of the two discs on the unit by the bracket signal - beautifully hand painted by Malcolm W!

Despite the weather - raining heavily in the morning - we achieved our objectives and the concrete escaped the downpour!

Curly