The last few weeks have seen us diverted by a few jobs that make poor write-ups or photos, including finding a new home for a few pallets of equipment that wouldn't be needed in even the most forward-looking resignalling of our route. However, we have now got back to work worth showing-off.
By request, we turned our attention to the big gates under Ruddington park bridge. Though substantially-constructed, these can only reach down as far as the rail-head. The six-foot is low enough at that spot for an enterprising teenager to crawl underneath, and we have reason to believe some have been doing so.
To fix, this, and to provide a secure anchor point for the bolts in the middle of the span, we rescued three old sleepers and trimmed them to length. Secured with six-inch nails, they won't be going anywhere soon!
In a previous week, we also spent some time ensuring the gates open well clear of the running line.
At the other end of the station, we're moving from planting iron in the ground to wiring it up. Some of the last yards of cable-run could well be done with the standard "orange pipe", but we've been lucky enough to acquire some small concrete troughing, which is easy to lay and we feel a higher-quality option.
Illustrated are the first cables to go in in the area: A pair of four-cores running from the distribution panel, snaking over to platform 1, through it and up the bracket to a shunt signal and miniature stencil box. These will be some of the more active signals on site, controlling movement out of the Platform 1 headshunt.
Although we did distract a certain individual from the task, we are all very pleased to see the graffiti being removed from the Pacer. It's a tedious job, but makes a big difference to visitor presentation!
