Salisbury Cathedral Being Repaired -- The five steeple jacks want to speed things up a bit so they're building an electric railway on a cathedral's spire. The men are helping to repair the most famous and the tallest spire in England that of Salisbury Cathedral. The top 25ft of the spire is to be taken down and rebuilt. the first 220ft. are scaled by inside spiral stairs. The railway climbs dizzily from the top of the square tower to the scaffolding 184ft. further on. It will be used to lower tons of masonry and the 9ft. iron cross which surmounts the spire. June 05, 1950.