Cast iron summit board on metal posts, Stainmore Summit. Height 1370 feet

Cast iron summit board on metal posts, Stainmore Summit. Height 1370 feet.

This summit board stood at Stainmore Summit on the Stainmore railway route across the Pennines in northern England. The line was built by the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway to connect the Stockton & Darlington Railway, near Bishop Auckland, with the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway at Tebay on the west coast main line between England and Scotland.

The Stainmore route opened in 1861 and the summit was the highest point on a railway in England. It was originally believed to be at 1378 feet above sea level, but a survey later revealed its height to be 1369 feet and 3 inches (420 metres).

This board was one of two, installed on either side of the line to mark the summit by the London & North Eastern Railway in the 1930s. It was removed in October 1962, shortly after the line had closed. A replica was re-erected on the site in 2011 by the Stainmore Railway Company, a volunteer group that cares for Kirby Stephen East station and runs a steam railway.