MSE S7/KE4 Assembly Instructions

Complete kit to build a working
(un-motorised) home or distant
signal in any height up to
27ft6in*. Some marking out,
cutting and shaping of parts is
required.
This kit represents one of the early designs of
standard LNER signals, consisting of an upper
quadrant arm on a tapered wooden post, with
an LNWR-type post top and square lamp. This
type of signal was used for some renewals and
new installations, until the switch to tubular
steel posts in the mid-1930s. Lattice post
signals were also being installed at the same
time. Some examples may still be in use on
Network Rail today.
* - The use of a safety hoop is correct for
signals up to 20ft tall. Above this, it is possible
that a platform is required. More photographic
evidence is sought.
Parts supplied:
S012/1 arm etc fret
S06 wooden post casting
S09/5 ladder fret
SC010 post cap casting
SC025 lamp casting
30 x 2mm brass tube (arm bearing)
30 x 1.0mm brass rod (arm spindle)
30 x 0.9mm brass rod (balance weight axle)
30mm x 22swg nickel silver wire (crank axle)
250 and 3 off 50 x 0.45mm brass wire
(operating wire, arm stop & corrugations)
20 x 1.2mm brass rod (post pegs)
Red, yellow and blue-green glazing
Baseplate
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
Ideally, the kit should be built using 50W and
25W (low temperature) soldering irons, 188°,
145° and 70° solders and liquid fluxes,
minidrill and slitting disc, various files, pliers,
drills etc, and tinsnips and small scissors for
cutting out the frets. In these instructions left-
and right-hand mean as viewed from the front
of the signal. A selection of prototype
photographs will help assembly, but you may
have to search for these.
Burnish both sides of the frets before
removing any parts, and tin the smaller parts
before removal. Parts 4, 5a, 6a, 15 & 16 on the
S012/1 fret are not required and may be
discarded. Grip the etched parts in smooth
pliers when filing off tags to avoid bending
them.
The Signal Arm:
Use 188° solder for this section.
Open out the spindle hole in the spectacle plate
(3) to no.61 (1.0mm). Using the half-etched
lines as a guide, scribe painting lines on both
sides of the chosen arm – home (1) or distant
(2):
To do the rear side, punch guide pips through
from the front marks.
To model the earlier (prior to 1936) corrugated
pattern of arm, deeply scribe the corrugations
on to the front of the arm, using the horizontal
half-etched marks as a guide, and solder two
pieces of 0.45mm brass wire onto the rear face
at the same distances from the top and bottom
edges. Unless your prototype demands it,
avoid modelling a corrugated distant arm - the
rear is very difficult to paint!
Punch out the five bolt heads in the chosen
arm, then solder it to the half-etched side of
(3), ensuring the arm's half-etched bolt heads
are on its front face. Remove some of the
corrugation wires so the arm will fit to the
plate. Solder the arm assembly to the 30 x
1.0mm brass rod spindle. To keep things
square, drill a 1.0mm hole in a wood block,
insert the spindle then drop the arm on to it
face down. When soldering, avoid tilting the
arm. Remove the excess front spindle and file
it almost flush with the spectacle plate. Leave
the excess rear material for now as a painting
handle. Joggle the operating wire arm back
1mm so the operating wire will clear the
spectacle plate.
The Post:
Warning: being cast in whitemetal, the post is
easily melted or distorted. Handle it carefully,
and ensure you have picked up the low-
temperature (70°) iron before making any
joints!
Wooden posts usually came in one of a range
of standard heights, chosen to give adequate
sighting, as shown in the first column of the
table. The height given is the height of the arm
centre-line above rail level, so the post cutting
length given in the second column includes an
allowance of 13mm and 7mm at the top and
bottom of the post respectively. Non-standard
cutting heights can thus be calculated from the
table - don't forget to make allowance for any
signal not mounted on the ground. Note that a
platform starter is typically 16ft high.
Post Post to
Height cutting
(ft/ins) length distance
(mm)
16.0 132.0
18.0 146.0
20.0 160.0
22.6 177.5
25.0 195.0
27.6 212.5
Having chosen your post height, cut the post to
the length shown in the second column of the
table, removing the excess from the top end of
the post - the cast-on details are not required.
Remove any flash and mould lines, file off the
bearing, lamp and balance weight brackets and
square the post ends. Always try to file along
the length of the post rather than across it, so
any file marks look like timber grain.
Straighten the post using gentle finger pressure
if it has become distorted.
Square off one end of
the arm bearing tube.
Solder (188°) a
length of 0.45mm
brass wire parallel to
the length of the
tube, so it projects
around 4mm beyond
the squared end. This
wire forms an arm stop, to prevent the arm
falling below the horizontal. Clamp the tube to
one side of the post so the wire falls in the
crook of bearing and post as shown.
The tube centreline should be 6mm below the
post top, and the end should project around
1.5mm in front of the post. Solder (70°) the
tube to the post. Use the minidrill and slitting
disc to trim the rear of the tube so it projects
around 1.5mm behind the post. Test fit the arm
in the bearing, and trim the stop wire. You
may need to file down the top of the spectacle
plate or the underside of the wire to give a free
motion.
If you intend to use the large rectangular
baseplate to mount the signal on the layout,
first scribe a longitudinal centre line along it.
Drill a no.56 (1.2mm) hole on the line, around
25mm from one end. Solder (188°) a short
1.2mm brass rod peg into the hole. Drill a
corresponding hole in the centre of the post
base. With the greater part of the baseplate
facing away from you, orient the post with the
ladder
(mm)
17.0
18.0
19.0
20.5
22.0
23.5