Tyne Valley distant delight

158849 passes the Milton Gate Box up distant signal with 1N59 from Carlisle (08.59) to Newcastle

Returning south from Newcastle after my visit to Prudhoe and a day riding the Tyne and Wear Metro, I decided to travel back via Carlisle and the WCML (on 24 April 2024), in order to spend a couple of hours at a remote location on the wonderful Tyne Valley Line that boasts the route’s only semaphore distant signal.

A location that I had only recently read about is Milton Gate Box, just east of the station and historic market town of Brampton, where a NER Type N2 box stands at a level crossing on the A689 and controls a trio of semaphores from its 10-lever Stevens frame, including a motor-worked up distant signal (1) close to Brampton station.

158796 passes Milton Gate Level Crossing with 2A26 from Carlisle (09.22) to Morpeth

Brampton is ten miles east of Carlisle and the gate box stands mid-way between two signal boxes at Brampton Fell and Low Row, neither of which has any semaphore signalling. Besides the distant, its other semaphores are up main (2) west of the level crossing and down main (7) to the east of the crossing.

156468 approaches Milton Gate Level Crossing with 2N09 from Chathill (07.08) to Carlisle

As I wrote following my recent visit to Prudhoe, plans are being developed for the eventual replacement of remaining semaphores on the Tyne Valley route. Along with those at Prudhoe (seven) and Milton, these currently comprise anther trio at Wetheral (Corby Gates Signal Box), five at Haydon Bridge and two at Hexham.

156475 approaches Milton Gate up home signal 2 with 1N60 from Carlisle (09.52) to Newcastle

Brampton station stands about a mile south-east of the town, with Milton Gate crossing being half a mile north-east of the station, as seen in this extract from the local OS map. Getting a shot of the up home signal looked like a challenge, but a foot crossing of the line east of the box looked like it might offer a view of the down home signal.

Sure enough, Milton East Footpath Crossing offers a great view back towards the box, with down home signal 7 close to the foot crossing and up home signal 2 in view beyond. But for a front view of the up home it is worth pausing at Farlam Road over-bridge on the way back to the station.

156468 passes the historic footbridge at Brampton station and the Milton Gate distant signal with 2A28 from Carlisle (10.23) to Morpeth

The station at Brampton (Cumbria) has an interesting history, having been the junction for a short branch to Brampton Town (known as The Dandy) from its opening in 1836 until closure in 1923, since when it has become a footpath.

Diverging to the east of Brampton station, and also shown on the OS map, was another railway, this one linking Brampton with Lambley on the Haltwhistle-Alston branch line. It was built to serve collieries that were owned by the Earl of Carlisle, was known as Lord Carlisle’s Railway, and closed in 1953.

As this poster on the station notes, Brampton’s first Station Master was Thomas Edmondson, inventor of the ubiquitous cardboard tickets that bear his name, became a worldwide standard for railway tickets, and are still used in certain parts of the world.