London, Midland & Scottish Railway

Opened: 1946

Closed: ——

Location code: LM57/06

From 1933, the LMS simplified the design of their boxes by omitting the corner fillet box which harked back to the Midland Railway's earliest architecture.

Elmton & Cresswell Junction opened in 1946, replacing two Midland Railway boxes that had existed here, on the Mansfield to Worksop line.

Here, a branch diverges for Seymour Junction, single line worked by Tyer's tablet. Although now disused, this is the last location in England worked by this system.

The box looks desperate for a lick of paint in this 1977 view.

The 48-lever frame was one of a small number of frames manufactured in 1938 to an advanced version of the London & North Western Railway's stirrup type (like that at Harrow No2), which ceased production in 1925. Some frames of this type were installed in the Wigan area in 1938, but it must be assumed that the outbreak of war in 1939 caused the work for which this frame was intended to be postponed and subsequently cancelled.

The block instruments are all of the Great Central type, but it is reasonable to assume Midland Railway instruments were originally provided. The instruments seen here are likely to have been installed after the formation of British Railways as this box ultimately became part of the Eastern Region which was also responsible for most of the former Great Central's lines.

The box is still operational, although the closure of the majority of the coal mines in the area must have reduced the level of traffic substantially.