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Eastgate

PHOTO GALLERY: NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY

Eastgate

OPENED: 1895. CLOSED: 1979

Click or tap the images for enlarged views

Just up the line from Wolsingham along Weardale, a survivor from another era existed for many years. Eastgate station was not important enough to warrant the provision of a full signal box, so a ground frame was provided to work the layout. This ground frame was located conveniently on the platform (so that the station staff could operate it when required), and was housed in a shed with garage-type opening doors. This ensured the levers were out of the way of the passengers (in the days when there were passengers!) – both to discourage tinkering and to avoid injury.

Eastgate SB
John Hinson, 1977

The lever frame itself is of great interest, it is believed to have been the last operational lever frame to the NER Central Division’s design. Unusually, though, it was thought to have actually been built by Stevens & Sons, who were contracted to build this and other installations in the area.

Eastgate SB
John Hinson, 1977

Operationally, the layout was safely controlled without signals, because the master lever (No 3, seen in the “reversed” position) locked all other levers. This lever could not be moved unless the single-line tablet was placed in the slide of the black cast-iron box seen behind it. This effectively proved that any train to be shunted had arrived and was stationary.

By the time these photographs were taken, most of the layout had gone and just one set of points remained, worked by lever 3.

The board behind the levers would have once borne the description of the functions of each lever, but this appears to have faded beyond recognition. Instructions on the use of the frame are boldly proclaimed on a large board standing on the (empty) instrument shelf.

On the right, two rows of specially made hooks would have once neatly held furled red and green flags. Great attention to detail for a minor location.

All in all, a very interesting little ground frame that is, alas, no more. It was replaced by a conventional two-lever ground frame on 11th March 1979.