Michael Colliery signal

[Lochty no more]

Work started today on the "Michael Colliery signal" at the Kingdom of Fife Railway Preservation Society in Leven. The signal is a Stevens & sons single lattice post the arm 16` 6" above ground level. Whats interesting about this signal is the counterweight is on the left hand side of the signal

so the operating rod goes from the left hand side over to the right hand side

the operating rod clip is of a type I have not seen before fixed to the lattice instead of the angle iron

The boss plate, arm stop and operating rod end all showing plenty of wear. The arm stop has two sets of holes,one for 5`x 10" signal arms and the other ( as in the case of this signal )for 4`x 9" signal arms

the cast base of the signal is 20"x 20"

the operating wheel has been broken off, it`s normally the cast bracket in the photo that gets smashed so we can marry it up with a replacement. Everything gets photographed and measured then we will dismantle, clean up, paint and repair or replace as required - what could possibly go wrong?

[Lochty no more]

Just realised I have a photo (courtesy of Pete Westwater) of an NBR signal with the counterweight on the left hand side, not a million miles away in fact just a few hundred yards away from our yard at Kirkland.

the signal at the Iron brig in Leven. The operating rod crossing the lattice post from left to right. Got to wonder if the counterweight fouled against the fence wire.

[Lochty no more]

We have got the matching ground frame to go with the "Michael Colliery signal",

Its a Stevens & sons 5 lever knee frame, although there are only 3 levers fitted - why oh why did they dump it in the long grass instead of storing it under cover, its in a right old state. Cleaned up the plates and re - attached them to there levers