Constable Burton Signal Box
The Former Furness Railway Vickers Gun Range Sidings Signal Box at Eskmeals
The Signal Box was opened on 2 Dec 1897, and brought into use on 6 Dec 1897.
Through lots of liaising with various members of the Furness Railway Trust, and the generosity of Glaxo’s (they provided Shaw’s (of Ulverston) transport to move it to its 1st resting place at Scruton). DWT will work on it and a base will be constructed at Constable Burton which is to be the final location of the signal box.
Jon Wilkinson has given the following information on the history of the SB:
It was installed at Monk Moors on the Cumberland coast in 1897 and controlled a cross-over and siding into the gun range at Eskmeals, from which it later took the name "Vickers Gun Range Sidings".
The Furness Railway (FR) had three new signal boxes around this time which had a strong family resemblance but differed from anything before or since.
Coniston station had a single-finial, 10-feet square box - which still exists on a garden railway in Coniston.
Monk Moors had the larger, 2-finial, 10' x 12' rectangular design - as you will see....
Ulverston East had a larger-still, rectangular design - largely built of limestone but long-since demolished.
After its rescue from alongside the FR main line, Jon Wilkinson repaired and rebuilt it in his garden before donating it to the Furness Railway Trust.
It went into short-term storage at the Glaxo factory at Ulverston until a suitable permanent site could be found.
Trust members are keen to see it return to working life as an operational signal box and strongly support the proposal for its use on the Wensleydale Railway.
