Wensleydale Railway - Photo Archive

Restoration and Installation of a Lever Frame

in Scruton Signal Box (Gate Box) - Page 1

When Aiskew level crossing was converted to an AOCL (Automatic Open Crossing, Locally monitored) in the mid-1980s, the frame and levers from the Gate Box there were bought by John Young, an army officer who was a keen collector of signalling equipment. John’s collection grew to be the largest privately-owned signalling collection in the country and is now in the care of the Museum of Scottish Railways at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway. John himself, of course, is better known to many of us as a WR member and volunteer, and was our first Volunteer Coordinator.

After the future of the Railway was secured, John very generously donated the Aiskew frame back for use in the surviving Signal Box at Scruton (technically that too was a Gate Box), and for the last several years the dismantled frame has lain in pieces in the locking pit below the box. Last year the station team decided that the time had come to restore and install it, and Timothy Edwards and Peter Harbord agreed to take the project on. John Young has taken a keen interest and has been supporting us with documentation and advice.

Having been stored for the best part of 40 years, latterly in damp conditions, the paintwork had broken down and most parts were severely corroded. Everything has now been stripped down to bare metal and primed, and at least two coats of metal paint are being applied. One of the most painstaking jobs has been the individual cleaning of around 80 Whitworth bolts which hold the frame together. The catch mechanisms on the levers have been dismantled, cleaned and reassembled and are operational again. The locking pit has been cleared out: during this process it was discovered that one of the bearing timbers was badly rotten, so that is being replaced, after which re-assembly can commence. With 8 levers, the Aiskew frame is 2 levers smaller than the original Scruton frame, so it will fit in the available space comfortably.

If all goes well the frame should be in place later this year (2025). Initially it will be just for “show” and will provide a new feature for the educational programme at the station. Later, it is hoped to install a demonstration signal, worked from one of the levers, if a suitable location away from the running line can be identified. In the future, the frame could in theory be used to control signals protecting the level crossing, in the same way as at Bedale, though this would only be worthwhile if there was regular running east of Scruton.

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