Very few boxes were renewed during the
life of the Midland & Great Northern Railway, but Cromer Yard opened during
the 1920s, and was to a very different design to those based on Midland (Massingham) or Great Northern (Langor Bridge) practice. Construction is from
concrete blocks, although the front panels are faced with brick.
In 1954, the frame was renewed by the Eastern Region of British Railways, with one to the Railway Signal Company's design from the former London, Tilbury & Southend Railway dating from 1906. An example of this type is illustrated at Ockendon. This frame contains 35 levers, which originally controlled just the station area.
Around 1972, the line to the triangle at Runton was converted to be worked as two single lines, one for Norwich traffic and the other for the Sheringham line, the final short stub of the M&GN to survive. This is the arrangement that survives today.
The single line section to North Walsham was worked by Tyers' No6
Electric Tablet. These wonderful vintage instruments were often called
chocolate machines, owing the the way tablets were delivered from a vertical
pile viewed through a glass window into a slide operated by the handle on the
left.
Meanwhile, the Sheringham line was worked under One Engine In
Steam regulations, whereby every train had to return before the next could
depart. This method really only suited dead-end branches but was perfect for
operation of the short run to Sheringham and back.