Great Central Railway

Opened: 1905

Closed: 1977

Location code: E40/07

Blind Lane box was located on the Great Central's main line a few miles out from Marylebone, at the end of a four-track section of line from Neasden. No map has ever been found that shows any road or lane by that name, although in the days before suburbia took the area over the road passing over a nearby bridge was a long dead end, so may have been regarded as a bit of a "blind alley"!

The box is a small cabin constructed to the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire's 1894 design, similar to Orgreaves Colliery, but unusually built entirely in timber. The MS&L became the Great Central, of course, just before the turn of the century.

This design of cabin was superceded by a type illustrated at Firbeck Junction "B".

This section of line was not part of the original London Extension contract which had all the signalling provided by the Railway Signal Company. That route had reached London via a joint arrangement with the Metropolitan Railway, but later an alternative route was achieved by providing a link from Neasden across to the Great Western at Northolt Junction. The contract for this small job was awarded to Saxby & Farmer, and their interpretation of the Great Central standard lever frame (see also Worksop West) varied in that the levers leant slightly back when in the "normal" rather than standing exactly vertical.

The signalling equipment here has been brought up to date with BR standard block instruments and a BR (LMR) signal repeater unit.

Notice the interesting style in painting the black and white chevrons on the detonator lever. The T-shaped lever badges are original.

By the date of this photograph, the four-track arrangement had been abandoned, and the box was retained purely as a break-section block post - hence the large proportion of white levers.

The box was abolished, after a spell of disuse, on 17th August 1977. It was then carefully dismantled and re-erected on the Great Central steam railway at Rothley.