Appleby Signal Box and Station

Lying approximately 1 mile south of the village stands the impressive Appleby signal box – voted by the BBC as one of the Top 10 ‘Listed’ signal boxes in the UK.

It was renovated and restored to its former glory in 2004.

November 26 Signal Box WP2

The signal box was built in the late C19 for Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company by the Railway Signal Company of Fazakerley, Liverpool.

The specification included: Timber frame, weatherboarded; Welsh slate roof. Cast-iron lever frame. Rectangular on plan. Entrances to left return (west side). South front,
facing railway: 2 storeys, 2 bays. Ground floor: two 2-pane casements with
sills. First floor: plank walkway on cast-iron brackets, iron handrail
beneath full-width window with a central 24-pane window flanked by 4-pane
sliding sashes to each end.

Cast-iron gutter. Swept roof with ornate bargeboards and wooden finials. Iron stovepipe chimney to rear. Left return: board door to right; wooden staircase with plain treads, newel and
handrail, rising to landing on right supported on cast-iron brackets, with lean-to porch, outer glazed door and half-glazed inner door. First : hinged plank walkway on brackets beneath full-width window with  bars incorporating sliding sashes similar to front; 4-pane attic
casement. Right return has similar plank walkway, first-floor and attic ; original nameboard with raised lettering APPLEBY LINCS. Rear haspane casement to left, overlooking road. Interior contains original 23- frame bearing manufacturer’s name, operated from first floor.
Mechanism for operating level crossing gates for London and North Eastern by the Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company has hand-wheel
inscribed LNER 1942. Included (together with the nearby Elsham Signal Box  5 miles south-east) as a representative example of the
standard design of signal box (used 1881-1923) of the most successful firm of the later pre-grouping period.

SE 91 SE APPLEBY ERMINE STREET
(west side) 4/15  Appleby Signal Box approximately 10 metres north-east of level crossing

Listing NGR: SE9522612871

Source: English Heritage

November 26 Signal Box WP

Prior to renovations, below, courtesy of Ms Janet Tierney LRPS.

The old style wooden gates shown below were replaced by the modern, automated kind.

Appleby Signal Box and crossing

In 2013.

Level crossing and signal box1

And on October 19th 2015

P1010436

The station was opened by the Trent, Ancholme and Grimsby Railway on its 14 mile long line from Gunness, on the east bank of the Trent where it made an end-on junction with the South Yorkshire Railway’s line from Doncaster, and Wrawby Junction, near Barnetby, where it met the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from Retford to Grimsby. The station was, like others on the line, staggered over a level crossing. The line was absorbed by the M. S. & L. R., later becoming the Great Central Railway, becoming part of theLondon and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

Source: Wikipedia.

Kellys Directory 1919 mentions the Telegraph Office

Whites Directory 1872 mentions that there were trains several times a day; John Hobson was the Station Master; Carrier was Henry Keightley. Services to Brigg were thursday and Hull friday.

Appleby station b&w2

Sadly, Appleby Station was closed to passengers by the British Railways Board in 1967 as part of the ‘Dr Beeching Cuts’ and the station house demolished.

Trains using the South TransPennine line pass the site of the station. Supplies for Scunthorpe Steel Works still use the line regularly.

This delightful letter, from a Mrs Stockdale, appeared in Lincolnshire Life in 2011:

APPLEBY STATION SIR, How well I remember visiting the lovely little village of Appleby with my parents. When arriving at the station we were met by a courteous member of the small station staff. He brought along some wooden steps and placed them at the carriage door for us to step out onto, the platform being so much lower than the train. In later years I remember arriving at the station and after the train had pulled out, crossing the line and admiring the well-kept garden of which Appleby was so justly proud.

I am very grateful to Paul Brown for allowing me to share the following photographs:

Appleby station 7 1980-04-06 14 Appleby goods yard 2 1980-08-18 Appleby 03 (2) Appleby goods yard 1 1980-08-18 01 (2) Appleby station 5 1980-04-06 010 rescan appleby signal box 3 rescan 1980-08-18 Appleby signal box 2 1980-04-06 11 Appleby goods yard 3 1980-08-18 03 (4) Appleby station 8 1980-08-18 06 (4) Appleby station looking east 1 1980-08-18 train (2) Appleby station looking east 2 1980-04-06 13 (3) Appleby station looking east 6 1980-08-18 A rescan Appleby station 5 1980-04-06 010 rescan

There follows a number of photos of the station submitted by Appleby residents.

Appleby station b&w1

Train passing Appleby station

Appleby station 2