Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about 1,000 feet above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite being at such an altitude and in a remote location, the town is easily accessible via the many roads which link the town to Weardale valley, Teesdale, Hartside Pass (and towns in Cumbria such as Penrith) as well as the Tyne valley. Historically part of Cumberland, Alston lies within the North Pennines, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is surrounded by beautiful views of the surrounding fells and the South Tyne Valley. Much of the town centre is a designated Conservation Area which includes several listed buildings.

Sadly the picturesque hilly high street was closed and was being dug up to facilitate emergency water main works. We did find a nice café but there wasn’t much opportunity for pictures!

Tags:   Alston Alston Railway station Alston Station South Tynedale Railway STR Cumbria Northumberland Northumbria

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Alston is a small town in Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about 1,000 feet above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite being at such an altitude and in a remote location, the town is easily accessible via the many roads which link the town to Weardale valley, Teesdale, Hartside Pass (and towns in Cumbria such as Penrith) as well as the Tyne valley. Historically part of Cumberland, Alston lies within the North Pennines, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is surrounded by beautiful views of the surrounding fells and the South Tyne Valley. Much of the town centre is a designated Conservation Area which includes several listed buildings.

Sadly the picturesque hilly high street was closed and was being dug up to facilitate emergency water main works. We did find a nice café but there wasn’t much opportunity for pictures!

Tags:   Alston Alston Railway station Alston Station South Tynedale Railway STR Cumbria Northumberland Northumbria

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The original signal box at Alston was dismantled when British Rail closed the branch so a new box had to be sought and erected. The replacement signal box formerly stood at Ainderby, on the branch line to Redmire, it being acquired from British Rail and re-erected on a new brick base. The level crossing barriers and mechanism came from the now-closed How Mill station on the Newcastle and Carlisle line.

The signal box houses a 21 lever frame, made by McKenzie and Holland. In addition there is a manually operated gate machine to operate the level crossing barriers - this combination of manual gate wheel and lifting barriers (rather that gates) being somewhat rare in the UK. The frame has had a chequered life as it was constructed for the Highland Railway by McK&H and first installed at Kingussie. It was removed in 1926 when a replacement level crossing mechanism was installed in an emergency.

The frame had developed a crack and had to be sent to England to be repaired by Westinghouse who had taken over McKenzie and Holland in 1920. The frame was then installed on the North Staffordshire Section of the LMS when a road at a level crossing was realigned to cross the railway. The old frame with the gate mechanism at this box was inadequate because of worn bearings so the repaired spare frame from Kingussie was installed by Westinghouse. It remained in service until the NS signal box closed. The frame was sold to the South Tyndale railway and installed at its present location.

The signals are standard BR ones using a former LMS design but the signal to the carriage sidings is unusual. It is a semaphore ground signal mounted onto a conventional signal post.

Tags:   Alston Signal Box Alston box Box Signal box Alston Alston Railway station Alston Station South Tynedale Railway STR Cumbria Northumberland Northumbria

© All Rights Reserved

The original signal box at Alston was dismantled when British Rail closed the branch so a new box had to be sought and erected. The replacement signal box formerly stood at Ainderby, on the branch line to Redmire, it being acquired from British Rail and re-erected on a new brick base. The level crossing barriers and mechanism came from the now-closed How Mill station on the Newcastle and Carlisle line.

The signal box houses a 21 lever frame, made by McKenzie and Holland. In addition there is a manually operated gate machine to operate the level crossing barriers - this combination of manual gate wheel and lifting barriers (rather that gates) being somewhat rare in the UK. The frame has had a chequered life as it was constructed for the Highland Railway by McK&H and first installed at Kingussie. It was removed in 1926 when a replacement level crossing mechanism was installed in an emergency.

The frame had developed a crack and had to be sent to England to be repaired by Westinghouse who had taken over McKenzie and Holland in 1920. The frame was then installed on the North Staffordshire Section of the LMS when a road at a level crossing was realigned to cross the railway. The old frame with the gate mechanism at this box was inadequate because of worn bearings so the repaired spare frame from Kingussie was installed by Westinghouse. It remained in service until the NS signal box closed. The frame was sold to the South Tyndale railway and installed at its present location.

The signals are standard BR ones using a former LMS design but the signal to the carriage sidings is unusual. It is a semaphore ground signal mounted onto a conventional signal post.

Tags:   Alston Signal Box Alston box Box Signal box Alston Alston Railway station Alston Station South Tynedale Railway STR Cumbria Northumberland Northumbria

© All Rights Reserved

The original signal box at Alston was dismantled when British Rail closed the branch so a new box had to be sought and erected. The replacement signal box formerly stood at Ainderby, on the branch line to Redmire, it being acquired from British Rail and re-erected on a new brick base. The level crossing barriers and mechanism came from the now-closed How Mill station on the Newcastle and Carlisle line.

The signal box houses a 21 lever frame, made by McKenzie and Holland. In addition there is a manually operated gate machine to operate the level crossing barriers - this combination of manual gate wheel and lifting barriers (rather that gates) being somewhat rare in the UK. The frame has had a chequered life as it was constructed for the Highland Railway by McK&H and first installed at Kingussie. It was removed in 1926 when a replacement level crossing mechanism was installed in an emergency.

The frame had developed a crack and had to be sent to England to be repaired by Westinghouse who had taken over McKenzie and Holland in 1920. The frame was then installed on the North Staffordshire Section of the LMS when a road at a level crossing was realigned to cross the railway. The old frame with the gate mechanism at this box was inadequate because of worn bearings so the repaired spare frame from Kingussie was installed by Westinghouse. It remained in service until the NS signal box closed. The frame was sold to the South Tyndale railway and installed at its present location.

The signals are standard BR ones using a former LMS design but the signal to the carriage sidings is unusual. It is a semaphore ground signal mounted onto a conventional signal post.

Tags:   Alston Signal Box Alston box Box Signal box Alston Alston Railway station Alston Station South Tynedale Railway STR Cumbria Northumberland Northumbria

© All Rights Reserved