Swaynton Signal Box

[Fast Line Floyd]

Even cast iron levers are not gorilla-proof - if you apply enough force you can break anything, and whilst most unusual it was not totally unknown for levers to be snapped.

I didn't think signal levers were ever made of cast iron (they were usually wrought) and I have never heard of a signalman breaking one although they would be much easier to break if they had been cast.

The usual cause of breakage is a badly balanced lever repeatedly banging back in the frame over time when "put back". This eventually causes fracture and a lever heading for failure can be detected by being slightly out of line from the remainder.

There have been cases where signalmen have forced the locking and some types of interlocking are more vulnerable than others. Some frames were fitted with brass catch handles specifically designed to break in preference to damage to the locking.

John

Len Coppin broke two at Cricklewood Junction, they were both clamped with a metal strap either side and four bolts as both levers were in the middle of the frame and to have changed them out at Cricklewood would have required the frame to be taken out of use for a day followed by a night of locking testing.

[John Hinson]

Len Coppin broke two at Cricklewood Junction, they were both clamped with a metal strap either side and four bolts as both levers were in the middle of the frame and to have changed them out at Cricklewood would have required the frame to be taken out of use for a day followed by a night of locking testing.

As that box had catch-handle locking I find it difficult to believe he broke them by brute force. Almost certainly thay had already fractured through being banged about.

John

[Fast Line Floyd]

Len Coppin broke two at Cricklewood Junction, they were both clamped with a metal strap either side and four bolts as both levers were in the middle of the frame and to have changed them out at Cricklewood would have required the frame to be taken out of use for a day followed by a night of locking testing.

As that box had catch-handle locking I find it difficult to believe he broke them by brute force. Almost certainly thay had already fractured through being banged about.

John

The breaking of the two levers was entirely due to brute force in throwing the levers back to normal, Len even broke several phone handsets because he just couldn't 'put' anything back where it came from.

[John Hinson]

I think we are saying the same thing in different words.

John

[Brightspark]

I guess there are heavy handed people in all walks of life. Slamming back levers would do it and I have also seen phones break through heavy use. Some people eh!

This evening the regulars had another chance to see the lever frame and were brave enough to start pulling levers and asking why certain levers where not marked as locking each other on the table provided. The push-pull lever was deemed a nice touch by someone who had not seen the frame before, but then instantly forgot this feature when he returned the lever fully back and puzzling as to why he couldn't return the point.
A common error for the newbies is not understanding that all the running signals have to be pulled off to allow the distant to be released. The expectation being that only the home signal needs to be off.

So, fun and educational.

Cheers

Andy