Eccles Crossing The Signal Box That Watched Over Formby for 82 Years

Eccles Crossing facing West C1912 - Photo by Formby Civic Society

For many decades, the level crossing linking Queens Road and Ravenmeols Lane was a familiar and important feature of daily life in Formby. Known today as Ravenmeols Level Crossing, it was originally called Eccles Crossing and was once fully manned, complete with a signal box and a railway cottage.

While the signal box has long since disappeared, the cottage remains and still tells the story of a crossing that quietly served the village for more than eighty years.

Another old photo of Eccles Crossing C1900 - Photo by Sefton Council Library Records

Exactly where is the crossing?

Eccles Crossing was located where Queens Road crosses the railway line. On the opposite side of the tracks, the road continues as Ravenmeols Lane.

Eccles Crossing in Formby - Photo by Harry Gardner

In railway terms, the next station to the north was Formby train station and the next station to the south was Hightown train station. This placed Eccles Crossing at a key point on the Liverpool to Southport line, responsible for managing both rail movements and road traffic through the heart of Formby.

The cottage that still stands

Beside the crossing stands Eccles Crossing railway cottage, which is still there today. Once occupied by the crossing keeper, the cottage was an essential part of railway operations, allowing staff to live on site and supervise the crossing around the clock.

Although trains are now controlled remotely, the cottage remains a rare and tangible reminder of how the railway once worked and of the people who kept it running safely.

A fixture of Queens Road

For many years, Eccles Crossing signal box was a permanent and familiar feature of Queens Road. It was classified as a Grade B signal box and was typical of many on the Northern Line.

Eccles Crossing /Ravenmeols Crossing C1983 Signal Box MC034 - Photo by Formby Civic Society & Mike Clements

It worked Absolute Block signalling, with trains controlled northbound to Formby and southbound to Hightown. Hall Road was sometimes used instead of Hightown during peak hours.

With the exception of larger and busier locations such as Hall Road, Bootle Junction and Southport, Eccles Crossing was what railway staff described as a straight up straight down box. Reliable and repetitive, it demanded constant attention rather than excitement.

Built in 1912

Eccles Crossing signal box opened in 1912, the same year the Titanic sank. It would go on to serve Formby for eighty two years.

The signal box was a brick and timber structure built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as part of a wider programme of improvements. These works included the rebuilding of Formby station and the provision of a new road over-bridge at the Liverpool end of the station.

Located on the down side of the line, the 1912 signal box was fitted with a twenty lever Lancashire and Yorkshire frame mounted at the front of the box. It replaced an earlier signal box built by the signalling contractor Saxby and Farmer, showing that the site had already seen generations of railway development.

Goods yard control

In addition to supervising the level crossing, Eccles Crossing signal box also controlled a down side goods yard located behind it. This yard remained in operation until the seventeenth of January nineteen sixty, after which the signal box continued solely with passenger train movements and crossing supervision.

Life inside the signal box

Working at Eccles Crossing could be mentally demanding, particularly on late shifts.

Eccles Signal Box Diagram - Photo by Jjm2009 on Flickr

A comment on this photo by Jjm2009 said:

"The flat nature of the track can be seen in the gradient profile on the diagram in the top left. Also the short section to Freshfield is apparent by the diagram showing Formby's Up distant signal being co-located on the same post as Freshfield's Section signal and a similar arrangement on the Down line, with Freshfield's distant signal on the same post as Formby's section signal."

Although the official late shift start time was three in the afternoon, staff usually arrived between one and one thirty. From around one fifteen onwards, the pace was steady and unrelenting, with around eight trains an hour passing through for much of the shift.

Late turns often ran until close to midnight. The work could feel monotonous, and staff often hoped that something would happen simply to break the routine. Despite this, concentration could never drop for a moment.

Photos from 1974, 1979 and 1990 - All Photos by Formby Civic Society

Ravenmeols Level Crossing . Eccles Crossing Signal Box 1983 - Photo by Formby Civic Society

Closure after eighty two years

Eccles Crossing signal box closed on the 11th March 1994 as part of stage two of the Merseyrail Northern Lines re-signalling programme.

Control of the railway and the level crossing was transferred to the Sandhills control centre. The signal box was removed, and the crossing was converted to full CCTV operation.

Ravenmeols Crossing today

Today, Ravenmeols Level Crossing is a full barrier crossing operated remotely. Signallers use live CCTV feeds to confirm the crossing is clear before allowing trains to proceed.

While the technology is modern, the location itself has not changed.

A quiet landmark with a living reminder

Although the signal box is gone, the railway cottage remains, standing quietly beside Queens Road and Ravenmeols Lane just as it has for generations.

It is a surviving reminder of a time when railway safety depended on people, levers and long watchful shifts, and it remains one of Formby’s lesser known but most enduring pieces of railway history.

Eccles Crossing facing West C1912 - Photo by Formby Civic Society