Since Christmas, the box has been closed to visitors, which has meant that Lowdham Railway Heritage have been able to do a lot of engineering work upstairs. In particular, they have rebuilt the interlocking in the lever frame, which was removed piecemeal by British Rail as track and signals were removed and levers became redundant.
This interlocking prevented you from pulling a sequence of levers that could cause an accident, for example a signal letting a train go towards points that were set so that it would derail, or signals going towards the level crossing while the gates were across the railway.
This was achieved by steel rods, bars, cams and wedges, all intricately made, and connected to the levers. Over the last three months, we have designed the locking from scratch (as no old drawings could be found), made it, and tested it. Lowdham Railway Heritage are glad to say that the lever frame now works exactly as they believe it did in the 1950s.
And to help you, the visitor, understand how it works, Lowdham Railway Heritage have added a Perspex panel over the most interesting part of the mechanics so that you can see it in operation.
Lowdham Railway Heritage are planning open days and open evenings, usually on the second weekend and the fourth Tuesday evening of the month, although please check the dates (as some months vary), and book your visit using the Eventbrite website as before. Their planned opening times will be 2pm to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and 7:30pm to 9pm on Tuesdays.
The next few dates are: weekend 9th/10th April, Tues 26th April, Sunday 8th May, Tues 24th May.
To visit, go to www.eventbrite.com and search for ‘Lowdham’
To engage, go to facebook.com/lowdhamsignalbox
To donate, go to secure.nochex.com/charity/ and search for ‘Lowdham’
To contact, email [email protected] or tel 07718077584
David Moore, Lowdham Railway Heritage.