Willowburn Project: This project involves the restoration of a former Queensland Railways lever frame from a incomplete rusty unit to a fully restored and fully interlocked lever frame. It is unknown exactly where the lever frame was used, but its interlocking type and number of levers suggest it could have come from Willowburn cabin, near Toowoomba. The photograph above shows the signal cabin at Willowburn, while the image below shows the track layout at Willowburn at a similar time.
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The lever frame when purchased was covered in rust and had several damaged (bent) levers. These were heated and carefully straightened on a heavy duty press.
Some cast components were cracked and have been repaired or replaced with identical parts from another lever frame. Each and every part has been carefully cleaned to remove all traces of paint and rust, then either oiled or painted. Once restoration and assembly is complete parts will be given a final top coat in the desired colours to protect the metal. Virtually no interlocking was left in the lever frame so an interlocking diagram will have to be developed then the interlocking manufactured and fitted in accordance with the desired signalling plan. |