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The signal box at Clayton West dated back to the opening of the short branch off the line from Huddersfield to Penistone. It was built by Saxby & Farmer, to very similar design to Drayton and Boston Road, although as with many of these boxes built in the north of England (such as Navigation Road) it lacks some of the embellishments, such as the curved corners to the windows. The box is also provided with additional windows below the main panes; this is a feature that the Lancashire & Yorkshire subsequently adopted as standard on their boxes.

This design represents the culmination of the northern England designs of Saxby & Farmer, and was introduced in 1876 to replace the type illustrated at Brierfield Station.

The nameplate on the front of the box is probably original, having escaped the LMS renewal programme, and declares the name of the box as Clayton West Station to differentiate it from the box where the branch joined the main line, which was Clayton West Junction..

The original Saxby & Farmer frame in the box was replaced by the North Eastern Region of British Railways by their standard type of frame (of Mckenzie & Holland design) comprising of twenty levers in 1961.

The box closed when the passenger service was withdrawn from this branch in 1983.

All photographs copyright © John Hinson unless otherwise stated