Two signal boxes were opened in 1878 at the
eastern end of the Great Northern's Hitchin to Cambridge branch. In design,
these were comparable with Aslockton, but there
were some noticeable differences. The vertical boarding in the gable ends was
linked by battens, giving a ribbed appearance. Also, the locking-room windows
had pointed tips above them rather than the usual arch. Only a handful of boxes
elsewhere had this latter feature.
This evening view shows that unlike most
Great Northern boxes at level crossings, Shepreth box was not located alongside
the gates. The usual arrangement would be for four gates to be worked by wheel,
but here we see an arrangement that was quite common on the Great Eastern
Railway. The signal box is positioned for good supervision of the connections
to the goods yard, and two large hand-worked gates are provided.
These hand-opearted gates were operated by the station staff
during daytime and by the signalman at night. They could not be operated until
the signalman operated a lever that bolted the gates in position.