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Post by GentlemanJim on Oct 23, 2013 19:03:47 GMT
A few cap badges and a couple of Signal Cabin Lever Frame ID plates. I know where the plates come from, do you? Attachments:
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Post by Seven Kings Kid on Oct 23, 2013 21:40:05 GMT
My guess is that those signal numbers should have "WL" in front of them. Acton Town?
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Post by GentlemanJim on Oct 24, 2013 9:23:20 GMT
My guess is that those signal numbers should have "WL" in front of them. Acton Town? Correct. They were used as 'blanking plates' on Woodford Frame. Acton Town closed in 1965 and Woodford coal yard about the same time so they didn't take long stripping out the AT frame for it's components to be used elsewhere.
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Post by railtechnician on Oct 24, 2013 13:17:56 GMT
My guess is that those signal numbers should have "WL" in front of them. Acton Town? Correct. They were used as 'blanking plates' on Woodford Frame. Acton Town closed in 1965 and Woodford coal yard about the same time so they didn't take long stripping out the AT frame for it's components to be used elsewhere. I can't speak for the 1960s but in the 1970s and 1980s frames were generally stripped out on the resignalling changeover shift. We'd have an engineers train arrive during the shift to take away frames and other equipment. Trackside equipment and cabling would usually be recovered in the following weeks, relay cases for local cleanup and repainting for the next jobs, cable to go to stores for scrap, relays, signals and trainstops etc back to Signal Overhaul Shop for refurbishment. Of course if the money on the job was tight sometimes recovery did not occur especially if equipment was not required for re-use in a hurry or was intended to be scrapped. Thus redundant equipment and cable might remain in situ for years. Comms installation were particularly bad in this regard and in the noughties I was still discovering telephone, PA and radio equipment in situ and powered although it had been out of use for a decade or more. Sometimes this was a bonus, for example when the new telephone cables (installed as part of the 1980s telephone network uplift) on the south end of the Northern line were full to capacity much faster than anticipated we were able to recommission the old disconnected 100 pair PILC cables, which they had replaced, as they had been left in situ and were in good condition! South Woodford frame was left partially in situ, certain parts were robbed for use elsewhere, and the old cabin formed part of the New Works Signal & Comms training centre located there (portakabins at the end of the car park + the old gatekeepers hut which was our guv's office) until the late 1980s. I was the Comms installation instructor there from 1982 to 1985 before opening my own Comms training centre at Wood Lane in the old substation control room. I used to use the South Woodford cabin to teach cable jointing to signal, comms and LT cables night staff and the disused power room beneath was where I kept an ex substation PABX and an MDF for fault finding and wiring termination training. The signal electrical instructor used to use the old frame in his signal wireman practical courses. We also had a signal mechanical colleague (a proper mechanical engineer before joining LT) on site who taught basic fitting and signal mechanical work. In all my years at LT/LU I only collected the snowing duties allowance on one occasion, circa 1978, when I was despatched from Whitechapel to Woodford to keep the points de-iced through Saturday night into Sunday morning. It is the only time I can recall being in Woodford signal cabin, we were allowed in on rotation for 'a warm and a cuppa' five minutes every hour on what turned out to be a very long shift. What I recall most is the contrast between the cold on the track and the heat in that cabin and my lasting memory is how after a gruelling 12 hour shift I had to dig my car out of a snowdrift before I could drive home to North London. It was a very long night as LT had taken all the buses off the road by 9pm on Saturday and I started out early for Whitechapel (11pm start) in my car as an alternative to trying to get in by bus and tube.
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Post by GentlemanJim on Oct 24, 2013 15:18:03 GMT
Correct. They were used as 'blanking plates' on Woodford Frame. Acton Town closed in 1965 and Woodford coal yard about the same time so they didn't take long stripping out the AT frame for it's components to be used elsewhere. I can't speak for the 1960s but in the 1970s and 1980s frames were generally stripped out on the resignalling changeover shift. We'd have an engineers train arrive during the shift to take away frames and other equipment. Trackside equipment and cabling would usually be recovered in the following weeks, relay cases for local cleanup and repainting for the next jobs, cable to go to stores for scrap, relays, signals and trainstops etc back to Signal Overhaul Shop for refurbishment. Of course if the money on the job was tight sometimes recovery did not occur especially if equipment was not required for re-use in a hurry or was intended to be scrapped. Thus redundant equipment and cable might remain in situ for years. Comms installation were particularly bad in this regard and in the noughties I was still discovering telephone, PA and radio equipment in situ and powered although it had been out of use for a decade or more. Sometimes this was a bonus, for example when the new telephone cables (installed as part of the 1980s telephone network uplift) on the south end of the Northern line were full to capacity much faster than anticipated we were able to recommission the old disconnected 100 pair PILC cables, which they had replaced, as they had been left in situ and were in good condition! South Woodford frame was left partially in situ, certain parts were robbed for use elsewhere, and the old cabin formed part of the New Works Signal & Comms training centre located there (portakabins at the end of the car park + the old gatekeepers hut which was our guv's office) until the late 1980s. I was the Comms installation instructor there from 1982 to 1985 before opening my own Comms training centre at Wood Lane in the old substation control room. I used to use the South Woodford cabin to teach cable jointing to signal, comms and LT cables night staff and the disused power room beneath was where I kept an ex substation PABX and an MDF for fault finding and wiring termination training. The signal electrical instructor used to use the old frame in his signal wireman practical courses. We also had a signal mechanical colleague (a proper mechanical engineer before joining LT) on site who taught basic fitting and signal mechanical work. In all my years at LT/LU I only collected the snowing duties allowance on one occasion, circa 1978, when I was despatched from Whitechapel to Woodford to keep the points de-iced through Saturday night into Sunday morning. It is the only time I can recall being in Woodford signal cabin, we were allowed in on rotation for 'a warm and a cuppa' five minutes every hour on what turned out to be a very long shift. What I recall most is the contrast between the cold on the track and the heat in that cabin and my lasting memory is how after a gruelling 12 hour shift I had to dig my car out of a snowdrift before I could drive home to North London. It was a very long night as LT had taken all the buses off the road by 9pm on Saturday and I started out early for Whitechapel (11pm start) in my car as an alternative to trying to get in by bus and tube. The 3 Lever Frames mentioned so far.
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