DP NER Distance/Datum Post

[Percy Main]

pic_nerdp.jpg (30.35 KiB) Viewed 4590 times

What were these used for? And why would you need a metal post to do it?

I seem to remember most former NER stations had these.

[PinzaC55]

They denoted a set point to which all distances at a station were to be measured to, normally at the centre of the platform(s).
In the case of a station with platforms staggered either side of a level crossing the DP would therefore be beside thr crossing. My guess would be they were some kind of legal requirement in the same way that stations had to have a clock.

[Percy Main]

Did other Pre-Grouping companies have them (if they were a legal requirement)?

And why would anyone actually need to know the official 'centre' of the station?
Engineering work would be identified by the nearest quarter mile posts eg 'between 6.25 and 6.5' rather than 'so many chains from the DP at Eryholme'.
Goods and parcels payments wouldn't vary between different parts of a station.

The only obvious use I can think of - and the one that takes me back to my stopwatch days - is as an official timing point for passing trains (which otherwise could vary by many seconds), but did terminus stations have them, and would one be sufficient at a large through station?

[50A]

Hello all
In NER Record Volume 1, it says ‘Measurement of the distance along any railway is not only an important aspect of good administration, but also a legal requirement aimed at protecting the traveller by indicating the distance upon which his fare is based.’
‘At “the average centre of the mainline platforms of a through station or the dead end of a terminus”, a “distance point” post was put up...lettered DP. They were also used to mark the end of a given mileage at a junction.’

Hope this helps.

Andy

[Percy Main]

Andy

It certainly looks like it does, thank you. It also seems to confirm what the letters stand for!

And did other companies observe this 'legal requirement' in the same or other ways?

Percy

[50A]

Andy

It certainly looks like it does, thank you. It also seems to confirm what the letters stand for!

And did other companies observe this 'legal requirement' in the same or other ways?

Percy

Apologies - I cannot speak for other companies. I just remembered seeing the picture and diagram in the NER Record.

Andy

[1H was 2E]

Just a little to add. An auction of "The Furniss Collection" on 19th June (can be found on the web) has an NER DP post; this one has a small plate bearing the letters 'Kno Br' below the DP plate. The catalogue description, which refers to Railway Antiques Gazette 1, P70 as its source, states "DP is believed to be Distance Post (or Distance Point) {another interpretation!}, the small Kno Br plate presumably Knaresborough Bridge. These posts were erected on the platform of each NER station to provide a datum for setting rates.
Distance tables and charts used for calculating rates and fares had the miles and chains of each station, measured from the start of each line of route. Presumably the purpose of these particular signs was in relation to passenger fares and parcels and milk rates. Maybe even pigeons...
With regard to the legislation concerning mileposts; this was discussed in the past - from memory on a thread initially concerned with bridge plates. The late and much missed Andy Rush contributed from his encyclopaedic knowledge.
I visit railwayana auctions, not with any intention to buy I'm afraid, but because it gives an opportunity to see interesting stuff first hand. NER '0 miles' mileposts are fairly common. The dealers who buy plates with numbers on are mainly concerned with the market for house numbers, so prices tend to fall as numbers get higher (there are obviously less houses numbered, say, 323 than 23) and, for this reason, zero plates are not particularly sought after.

[50A]

I visit railwayana auctions, not with any intention to buy I'm afraid, but because it gives an opportunity to see interesting stuff first hand. NER '0 miles' mileposts are fairly common. The dealers who buy plates with numbers on are mainly concerned with the market for house numbers, so prices tend to fall as numbers get higher (there are obviously less houses numbered, say, 323 than 23) and, for this reason, zero plates are not particularly sought after.

I must confess to having an LNER bridge plate as a house number, it was acquired many years ago from a reclamation yard, I then painted it to preserve it. It is nearly ready for a repaint.
Andy

[sss750]

It was me that won the DP marker in the Furniss auction, described incorrectly in the catalog as quite a lot of items were because it actually means Knottingley Branch as it was situated at Burton Salmon station I have been informed.