Fellas,

I found this at work today in the undergrowth.
There used to be a railway line through the yard we occupy at work so i'm guessing it is left over from that, it was opened in 1862 and closed in 1962.

I 'think' it's a lever thing that was used to move the tracks (points?)

It was bolted the the very rotten remains of a sleeper so seems to have been mounted horizontally as you see it in this picture, not upright.

Any ideas from you guys?

I can't find any pictures of these things on the internet, any pointers?

I have a strange fascination to turn this into a permanently mounted beer bottle opener for in the garden!


train switch

Is it a lever for changing points?

How about a crank for operating a level crossing gate?

Think it's a cantilever switch for old signals. Signals use steel cable from the signal box and this would attach to the loop you see on the long section of the shaft.
On the other end would be a steel rod which would run up the signal post (with help of other levers) and open the signal. The two 'arms' you see on that smaller section would have had two bolts in that attached to the sleeper? That bit would be facing perpendicular to the long arm and would restrict the movement to forwards/backwards

My Dad's a signalman on NYMR so will double-check next time I see him

[Edited on 16/6/16 by christim]

Flux capacitor

Gear lever from a lada niva

Rusty metal