From ruin to signal

 From ruin to signal

By Robert Law

Over the last few years we have had a goal of making the Up platform bi-directional. We have a good few standard LMS round posts that could have been used. But we decided it would be great to have a more period fitting signal that echoes back to the highland railway days. There are still several signals on the railway which are of this age. Our south distant and home at Boat of Garten. Plus the distant signal at Aviemore.  With the approval of the department heads a refurbished lattice signal post has been installed and below you will find how this has been done.

We are very lucky on the railway to have so many assets available to us, in the yard we have several lattice posts from various modernization projects from the larger railway network. Luckily for us.  Not to sure of its origins but we have a suitable 15ft lattice post. This picture is from over a year  ago.

The signal post then found its way down to Aviemore, were it was sandblasted down to bare metal. Given a coat of rust protective paint, followed by a coverage of undercoat.

Once finished it was transported back to Boat of Garten in on of the P-way ballast trains.

Back at Boat of Garten, it was time to get the foundations in for the signal. We are very lucky to have the foundation casting that goes with the signal available. With a bit of mechanical help the hole was dug, leveled and the casting set. With attention being paid, ensuring that it was vertical, as no adjustments can be made once the signal is placed on top.

The next step was to drop the post on top, with the help of the p-way and the coalmar. Light work was made of dropping the post onto its foundations. Once on it is sercured with two hoops both of different sizes. With the base being tapered, as the hoops are hammered down they become tight onto the casting. 

And that’s it! The signal post is up and the table around it is in place ready to tack the new shunt signals. Still lots of work to do yet, which will take some time but it’s starting to look the part.

S&T Spring Report

S&T Spring Report

By Rob Law

Hello and welcome, to the Strathspey Railways S&T round up.

Sorry for the lengthy time since the last blog entry but we have been busy. There just hasn’t been a place in the work until now that tells the story. Around Aviemore the pre season maintenance and point testing has now been completed. With everything in good order. Also, Dalfaber ABCL has seen its first annual level crossing exam. With permission of Network Rail, Strathspey Railway has adopted there test LX71. During this testing, faults are applied to the crossing to ensure that the crossing responds in the correct way. And that the crossing will only give the driver a proceed indication when the road closure sequence has completed correctly.

Dalfaber ABCL under test.

At Boat of Garten, work is continuing on making the up platform bi-directional. The intermediate table on the wire run is in, with flat wheels installed. Wire run support posts are installed with pullie wheels fitted. ( but most likely will need to be adjusted as work goes on). And the signal bases are in but nothing is tied down yet. So things may change.

The new “main” signal will be a lattice post and this is the base of the lattice post. Sitting 1550mm in height/ depth. There is a good bit of digging to do to get it in the ground.

The signal was taken down to Aviemore shed were the staff and volunteers have sandblasted the structure to bare metal and have given it a coat of red oxide and its first coat of paint before sending it back to Boat. It will receiving a bit more attention before it is put onto its base.

Planning stage. As it is a short structure and is effectively on the wrong side of the track. Attention needs to be given to how the structure will affect the loading gauge. Any structure below 4640mm, must maintain a distance of 1364mm from the rail. In this case the signal arm is below this height so the post must be place out from the line to suite.

The lattice post base half dug in to the ground the new signals have been placed 1400mm forwards of the existing to allow for the new to be installed while the old are still in operation.

A bad picture, but gives you an idea of what work goes into base; Signal post base, stool with ladder base. Two cross members with three timbers on top to take the shunt signals and vertical wheel for the change in direction of the wire.

As the signals are moving over to allow for gauging. The detector base will have to move over to meet it. At first this was a bit irritating. Then we realized that with this, we will be able to keep the old signals in use up to the change over. So overall it’s not a bad thing.

Half way along between the signal box and the yard points detector there is a requirement for the wire run to change direction to line the start up to the destination. 

Completed with its flat wheels installed. This moves the wire run over by 1220mm to line up with the detectors and stops the wire run from running up the middle of the yard, creating a tripping hazard for our staff and volunteers. This also has the use of changing the order of the wires as they are received to what they leave allowing them to be positioned to the correct detector in the correct order without the wires crossing.

The wire run starting to be install with the use of fence posts still to be cut down to size.

A view from the signal box window with the wire run in place.

Still not finalized, but this is the general idea of how it will all look. Some adjustments still to be made, but the shunt signals will have to be removed to allow for the installation of the lattice post. Only once it is in, will any part be bolted/ tied down.

Other small jobs going on. Parts have been looked out and prepared for when we replace the two telegraph poles down the line. A date is still to be confirmed for this work to be done. But it is hoped to be done over the summer months.

The lock stretcher and stretcher bars are to be replaced on the yard point and a replacement lock stretcher is to be fitted to the crossover. Due to points gauging been required. Two lock stretchers have been refurbished by the team in Aviemore shed and are now whiting to be installed.

So once again that is you up to date with the ongoings of the S&T department. As always if you would like to get involved, in any department of the railway pease make contact via the railways website. 

Year Review

Year Review.

By Robert Law

27th December 2023

With so much talk, about things ‘not going’ well on the railway at the moment . I thought it would be good to reflect on the work fulfilled and how productive this year has been for the S&T department.

The first thing that was completed this year was the renewal of the lead off table at Boat of Garten South. This was so rotten and had been put off for a number of years. It had started to cause point’s failure and operational problems. With the investment of new treated Softwood timbers these problems have now all been resolved, with all equipment seems to be working correctly.

The Dalfaber level crossing has been the  biggest project that the railway has undertaken in a long time, allowing us to develop , the road deck, track, level crossing control equipment, road warning lights, barriers, public footpath, street lighting and power supply from the utilities company.

There has only been one operational failure with the crossing repaired within the same day with minimal disruption to the road users. We have taken on and have delivered the Maintenance of the crossing to Network Rail standards for the first year on behalf of the council, who owns and operates the crossing.

In comparison to 2022 where we saw an average of 2 reported level crossing incident's a week, 2023 has had no stated reports, thanks to the updated equipment.

Aviemore Station, North GF: To make operational requirements simpler, removing the need for extra time. The Shunt Key retained in Aviemore Speyside Cabin has been withdrawn and a new electrical release has been installed in its place. This making it easier and more flexible for operations to run an effective railway on event days.

We have also accomplished a the installation of two key token machines in Spey lodge ,this was required as our signalers required refresher courses and practical experience as part of the post COVID development . This year being the first in a while of actively running a two train service, in addition the Aviemore to Boat of Garten Key Token Machines worked the full year with no reported operational issues.

This year has been see us progress , providing much needed face lifts to aging structures and drawing from our colleagues individual strengths.The S&T department has been really productive year and we look to move this enthusiasm in to the year ahead. Wishing you all a very restive festive period and we all look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

Boat of Garten Yard points

Boat of Garten Yard Points

By Robert Law

27th December 2023 

Since the close of the running season, work has continued at Boat of Garten with the signaling enhancements. The detectors for what will become 20 points, into the North Yard. Is looking a lot more completed.

All parts are now fitted and secured in regards to the detectors. The lift bar unfortunately is still to be completed but will be done with time. This set up has been designed/made with as many of our original LMS parts to the LMS design as possible. Some BR standard parts have been required to supplement what we do not have.

Work is now going to move up to the Up to Down crossover. With the renewal of the detector base from a twin to a quad to take the extra detectors for the new signals in the future.

Work has started on cleaning and preparing all the parts that are required. Enough LMS type parts have been found to follow the designs without any BR standard parts.

Jigs and Formers.

Jigs and Formers.

By Robert Law

13th October 2023

One of the other small jobs that has been done but probably has been missed by the untrained eye. Is the replacement of the signal lenses, or spectacles. Each semaphore signal is fitted with two. Red, Green. Or Yellow, Green for a distant signal. Luckily we have this from jig from Tyer & Co Ltd. This wonderful device is the cutting edge of 1950s design! Designed to reduce maintenance costs and speed up the repairs to signals with broken or missing lenses. 

This is a jig designed by the LMR. With its concept going back to the early 1950s. It has been a great help with the replacement of the polycarbonate lenses that we use on the railway. Glass lenses were commonly used up to the 1960s/70s. And before the modern days of rubber, window putty or metal tabs were used to secure the lenses in place.

Interesting we have received an early copy of the instructions of use that we thought we would share with you all

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Armed with all this information it was time to fit some replacement lenses around the railway.

So the first thing to be done is to put the rubber seal around the lens. Place the brass oval handle down into the jig. Remove a boot lace from your boot and rap it round the inside of the outside rim. With this done it then gets placed into the jig, with the boot lace on the inside of the brass former.

Once placed in the jig, close the back over to secure the lens in place. Then start to pull the boot lace round lifting the rubber edge up and placing it around the brass oval. Remembering to push the brass former down as you go round otherwise it can slip off and you need to start again.

Once the outside rubber seal has been lifted on the brass former it can be removed from the jig. Don’t have it out of the jig for too long as the rubber seal is under a lot of stress and it wants to get back to its original shape. As you can see on the left hand side of the picture.

The brass former is then passed through the spectacles plate with the outer edge of the rubber seal pushed firmly agents the spectacle plate. With this the brass former is then pulled out.

With the brass former pulled clear the rubber seal then moves back to its original form trapping the lens in the correct position.

Looking from the other side.

Various signal lenses have now been changed around the railway. Not a big job, but one we thought you would like us to share with you.

Boat North home signal with before and after

Boat South home signal before and after.

Lots more lenses have been changed around the railway. Have a look around and see if you can spot the difference.

Boat Of Garten Signalling Project.

Boat of Garten Signalling Project.

By Robert Law  

30/09/2023

It has been a while since the last S&T Blog update , however we have been busy in the background. 

Work is slowly progressing on several areas of the Boat of Garten South Project, with the normal maintenance still to be done across the whole of the railway. In addition Dalfaber level crossing  has been added as part of the regular work. 

I thought we would start with a reminder of  what we are looking to achieve: Currently the Down platform is signalled to allow bi-directional moves of passenger trains. In simple terms trains are permitted to arrive or depart in both North or South directions. However the  Up platform is currently only permitted to send passenger trains in both directions but not receive passenger trains form the South. This is because of the lack of  Facing Point Locks FPLs been fitted on the yard and the crossover points.

We have so far prepared the rodding run from the signal box to the point ends, for the FPLs. Locking and associated equipment have been fitted at both point ends. The lift bar, we are still working on and hope to  complete this in the coming months. 

Firstly at the yard points, we have needed to dig a big hole. The reason for this is to accommodate a new detection table. You can see the Timbers used to build the table, stacked up in the background.

Once the hole was levelled off, at a depth of 2ft 2”. The bottom timber and cross members were lowered into the hole and then partially back filled. The Timbers have been packed to ensure that they are firmly in place, reducing the risk of movement or sinkage. With this achieved, the top Timbers have been placed, with a detector base and a single detector on it. (Two will be required). It has then been possible to adjust all parts until a good placement is found. Ensuring that: heights and alignments are all correct and the swords will be able to move freely. On our next organised visit we will be spending time screwing and bolting everything into place.

At the B end of the crossover, some investigation digging was carried out to see what condition the existing timber table is in. The original timbers were found to be in very good condition and placed in a way that a second timber to widen the table could be added. This work is required for a larger detector base that needs to be installed, that can accommodate 3 detectors for the 3 routes from these future signals.

New timber added and the ground back filled.  There will be a new table built in front of this and the new pair of ground signals will be installed. This includes a signal post in the middle for movements into the Up platform.

Inside the Signal Cabin we have been busy with the installation of the extra/ missing levers from the frame. As you can imagine nothing is small, nothing is light. It dose not look much, but I can assure you that this was no easy task. With help been drawn in by unsuspecting passersby’s. Thank you.  First the quadrants had to be lifted out of the way. But to do this, the lever catch handles needed to be dismantled to allow them to be lifted. The levers themselves were then carefully lowered down, onto the cam shaft below. 

With the lever’s in-place the cam followers could then be installed. This is the connection between the interlocking tappets and the levers. The remaining tappets will be installed as the interlocking changes are made. With All this installation completed the whole frame was then put back together.

With the history of the cabin that is documented, this is the original frame and can be placed back as far as the 1930s. It may well be earlier but we are unable to confirm that it is. We do believe that this is the first time that the frame has been complete in its history. As it never had all its levers installed in BR days or LMS, that we know of. Please if you have any information about the early days of the frame, get in touch.

Before and after shot.

The extra levers that have been installed in the frame have come from the original 40 lever frame, out of the North cabin at Boat of Garten. Which we do still have. The frame that is in the North Cabin has 20 levers. That came from Carrbridge central cabin and was located in the station building. Witch was removed in the 1970s with the coming of the current signalling system “Scottish Geographical”.

1 tray of 4 that make up the locking.

In the background of site, planning and development is still ongoing with the mechanical interlocking designs. This is no easy task and is proving difficult to achieve. For every problem there is a solution! It just takes time and lots of tea and biscuits. For those who are unsure what the interlocking means. This is the brains of the signal cabin. Controls the train movements with the aid of a competent signaller. Ensures that trains can only travel when it is safe to do so.

There is lots of small jobs that can be done, it’s not all about big lifting. Time has been taken by our operations volunteers Painting the levers to the current layout. Tidying the place up until the big change comes.