Further from the station than
Achnasheen West, the east box was of identical
design although slightly smaller. In accordance with Highland Railway practice,
neither box was manned in the conventional sense, being worked more in the
manner of a ground frame. The signalling instruments were in the Booking
Office, along with a two lever frame slotting the starting signals onto the
single line in each direction. The signalman would only visit the boxes in
order to set the points and clear the signals.
Achnasheen East box contained a McKenzie & Holland design frame of fourteen
levers, most of which were still in use up to closure. Along the back wall are
wire adjusters to allow the signalman to compensate for expansion of the signal
wires during warm weather. Behind the levers at the left-hand end of the frame
is a mechanical indicator to show whether the West box's distant is off as this
must be so before East box's distant is cleared. In practice, the distants were
rarely used, as a considerable amount of legwork was necessary between the
boxes to operate them.
The simple layout of the East box is shown on this enlargement from the
previous photograph. The LMS diagram is dated 1935, although recent scratching
out of a short siding serving a dock is evident. At the foot of the diagram is
a gradient chart to assist the signalman in making a quick decision should a
"runaway" occur.