Station Name: NORTH LONSDALE CROSSINGConishead Priory Station Gallery 2:
c1954 - July 2019  North Lonsdale signal box looking north-east c1954. MR Class 2F 0-6-0 probably No.58199 stands in front of the Glaxo pharmaceuticals factory. By this time the box survived only to operate the crossing gates. The masonry of the signal box is worthy of note: the pale rock-faced stone is set against darker ashlar used for the quoins, window architraves [CHECK] and string course. In March 1933 the box closed as a block post with the section of line from Ulverston Canal signal box to North Lonsdale box worked as a siding; this measure was taken when the North Lonsdale ironworks furnaces were out of blast. In November 1937 North Lonsdale box reopened as a block post, as one of the iron works’ furnaces was being fired again, but the furnace closed for good in August 1938; foundry work continued until after World War 2. Thereafter North Lonsdale box was retained to operate the level crossing gates.
Photo by Rev John Jackson courtesy of the Cumbrian Railways Association [CRA JA1119] 
North Lonsdale signal box has suffered vandalism since the previous photo was taken and its nameboard is less legible. The view is probably circa 1960.
Photo by Bill Shillcock courtesy of the Cumbrian Railways Association [CRA SH1072]
North Lonsdale signal box looking south-east c 1960. The striking design of this structure can be appreciated, including the detail of the chimney flue with its dark, smooth quoins to contrast lighter rock-faced stone of the wall from which it projects.
Photo by Bill Shillcock courtesy of the Cumbrian Railways Association [CRA SH1073] 
he site of North Lonsdale Crossing station looking north-east c1960. The signal box is still in good repair although its nameboard is in need of some paint. The Glaxo pharmaceuticals factory stands in the background. The single-storey brick building with shaped bargeboards and partly obscured by the crossing gates is of interest. Its position and design suggest that it might have been the station building..Photo by George Taylor from the Peter Robinson collection, courtesy of the
Cumbrian Railways Association [177b10]
 The signal box at North Lonsdale is seen c1960 in a derelict state.
Photo by Alan Headach courtesy of the Cumbrian Railways Association [HEA074] 
On 27 August 1961 the ‘Furness Railtour’ organised by the Stephenson and Manchester Locomotive societies from Lancaster is seen at North Lonsdale Crossing just after noon, allowing passengers to stroll and take photographs before going on to visit some other outposts of the railway network, including Ramsden Dock and Island Road stations in Barrow and the Hodbarrow and Coniston branches. The locomotive is Johnson Class 3F 0-6-0 No.43282 built in 1891 by Neilson & Co of Glasgow. She would be withdrawn from 8B, Warrington Dallam shed in October 1962.
Photo by D J Mitchell
The ‘Furness Railtour’’ at the site of North Lonsdale Crossing station on 27 August 1961, looking north from the level crossing. The splendid signal box, sadly in a state of disrepair, and the extensive Glaxo pharmaceuticals factory compete for attention with the locomotive which is Johnson Class 3F 0-6-0 No.43282.
Photo by D J Mitchell 
North Lonsdale signal box on 27 August 1961. The faded nameboard still in BR(LM) colour complements the red slates.
Photo by D J Mitchell  Another view of Johnson Class 3F 0-6-0 No.43282 on the ‘Furness Railtour’ of 27 August 1961 at the site of North Lonsdale Crossing station. It was commonplace for railway enthusiasts in the ‘pre-anorak’ era to dress smartly for such occasions: a suit or sports jacket and ‘flannels’ and possibly a tie were considered appropriate for the men. Women and even young children were seldom seen on these excursions. In the days before obsessive health and safety concerns enthusiasts were trusted to walk on the trackbed and adjacent land and even to clamber up signal box ladders and scale walls to obtain vantage points for photography. We can be grateful that such behaviour was permitted because many valuable photos were taken which we can now enjoy.
Photo by Ron Herbert courtesy of the Cumbrian Railways Association [HER-025] 
Looking north at the site of North Lonsdale Crossing station c2010
Photo
by Len Nolan
Sunset over North Lonsdale Crossing on 2 July 2019. The view is looking north at the site of the level crossing and shows a completely transformed landscape which was completed in 2015. On the former trackbed here is the GSK Memorial Garden resplendent with wild flowers. A broad service road (its lamp standards visible to the right) gives access to the Glaxo-Smith-Klein pharmaceuticals factory whose chimneys are seen in the background. The firm has fashionable modern buildings in contrast to the structures, fashionable in their day, which were seen on the 1950s and '60s photographs.
Photo
by Alan Young
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