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.