SVR S&T Dept.
SIGNALLING NOTES - Chris. Hall
During February, March and April, since I last put pen to paper, we have been finding and repairing minor faults as well as completing much of the routine maintenance due in the first half of the year. We are also undertaking a secret project which will only be revealed when it is erected in the first week of September. This involves lots of measuring, planning and painting. The first step planned for 15 July is to dig a hole and cast a concrete block 2m x 2m x 1m deep to act as the base.
The location of the concrete block has been marked out with white paint. The cable troughing, signal wire run and rodding run will all need to be moved as part of this work. The temporary platform 1 starting signal became operational on 21st November 1987 and is not planned to be removed until 8th October 2025 and so will have lasted slightly less than 38 years. [Photo: C. K. Hall]
New lever leads have been engraved for levers 1, 7, 8 and 14 at Highley. The name of the yard exit signal at the north end (no. 7) has been changed from Disc for No. 5 to Disc at No. 5 to reflect its changed function. [Photo: B. Graystone]
A clue to the project is a picture that looks like the contents of an Airfix kit: it all needs to be painted and then glued together.
On completion of shot blasting on 4 May the parts have been painted with metal primer. However it needs a Road Rail Vehicle to lift each part and four 3/4" bolts to connect it together rather than polystyrene cement. [Photo: C.K.Hall]
The routine maintenance includes testing of all track circuits to prove they operate correctly. The testing includes a comparison with previous results, allowing for differences in the ground conditions, measuring voltages and recording the resistance required at the relay end to cause the relay to drop and pick up again (which is a good indicator of performance). A fault was reported on 15 March on Bewdley North track circuit 3T (Up Main or Platform 2) as it remained occupied after passage of an up train and only cleared hour later. Although we could not get the track circuit to fail the following day, we did spot that the voltage drop through the bonded joints in the barrow crossing changed as the rails were struck by a hammer. The bonds could not be seen but this was sufficient to get the P-Way to lift the crossing timbers so that the mid-week team could replace the bond wires - this should mean that it will work correctly in the forthcoming Gala.
Other routine maintenance includes FPL and detection testing, annual checks of batteriers, power supplies and location cupboards and oiling and greasing of cranks and signals. This is mostly now done mid-week and so it often does not involve the signalmen.
There had been several reports of the Up Loop to EL2 disc (27) on the gantry at Kidderminster sticking off and various efforts had been made to clear any debris from the signal wire run. Finally the wire run was modified to remove a friction point and the balance lever renewed with a standard one so that the weight could be adjusted easily (previously it had a shorter than normal balance lever to give better access to the timber walkway). A report was made that disc 53 (by the buffer stops on platform 1) was sticking both on and off and it was found that the barrow crossing boards by the signalbox had collapsed and pinched the wire. P-Way rebuilt the crossing and S&T renewed the point rodding rollers beneath it.
Testing had shown earth leakage on the token busbars: cables from loc 17 (HL Up Distant) to loc 18 (HL Up Home) had been replaced a few years ago. Cable testing near Waterworks Crossing found an area of damage. The faulty cable was narrowed down to a length of about 500m. An article in Express Points described the work carried out here to renew [more details?] a sizeable section of comms cable between HL and Sterns and also signalling and power cables to HLs Down Distant in w/c 17 March. There will then of course follow terminating and testing work but this can be done at leisure once the cables are in the ground.
10 points at Bewdley South, recently restored to use, were installed in 1923 to replace a scissors crossing and give access from the Stourport line to the Back Road and, with 13 points, allow an engine or coach to be run round when North box is closed. These points saw some major work to replace worn cranks and compensators and adjust the rodding. This took a large team 2 days and is not yet quite finished. Compensators are placed roughly half way along a rodding run and change push to pull so that the point blades do not move as the temperature changes. When they wear the points become more difficult to operate.
An intermittent fault with the indication of FPL 11 and points 12 (BH12 WK) was traced to a poor connection in location 5 and has now been repaired. Location 15 (just north of Sterns) has been removed due to its proximity to the landslip at Mor Brook and the cables disconnected and bagged off. Bell communication between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade is thus not available. A token machine in the signalling school has also been repaired.
Work continues to run new wiring in Kidderminster box as part of the plan to bring lever 55 into use and allow Foley Park Siding to be used whilst the signal boxes are open. A new location cupboard for Bridgnorth is also being prepared.
S&T along with KRM hosted another group from Birmingham University, international students studying Rail control systems. The level of engagement from the students was excellent. They were amazed with everything and seriously impressed at the culture of volunteering and heritage preservation to be found in the UK.
An article describing the work we carried out at Highley in November has appeared in IRSE News (January 2025) and an expanded version of that article can be downloaded here (https://irse.info/6i2z7) for those who are interested.
A reminder that this article, as well as other information on Signal Engineering, can be viewed in full colour on the unofficial Signal Engineering web site at \\://www.svrsig.org/ (or look for 'svrsig' on google).