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The Mount Albert Signal Box


Back in the day when railway travel was popular here in NZ buildings like this baby were positioned at most stations. This one originally from Mount Albert use to house the signalman during his working day. Using levers that ran along the side of the building he could control the rail signals as well as as well as movable parts of the tracks called points. By shifting the points the signalman could send trains onto different tracks avoiding collisions.

In 1966 the control of the signals and points was centralized at Auckland Railway Station but signal boxes still remain at some railways around the country.

The building above apparently was built from Rimu, made in 1914 and later on was moved to MOTAT in 1966.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday
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Comments

Graham Edwards said…
In the UK I went to junior school in sight of two railway lines and a signal box so have a great affection for them.
11 December 2019 at 21:47
Sharon said…
A very interesting little slice of history.
12 December 2019 at 04:15
Billy Blue Eyes said…
Looks the same as our here when we had them, they are far and few between now
12 December 2019 at 06:46
Fun60 said…
I remember this type of signal box. There are still a few around but like yours they are no longer in use.
12 December 2019 at 08:43
William Kendall said…
I like the look of the building.
12 December 2019 at 11:57
Pisi Prkl said…
I really like the architecture of that building. Would`t mind living in it.
13 December 2019 at 07:51
Esha M Dutta said…
Nice shot! That's an interesting signal box. Thanks for sharing the history—didn't know about that.
Happy Skywatching!

Cheers,
Esha
https://mysoultalks.com/2019/12/12/across-the-vault-of-heaven-skywatchfriday/
13 December 2019 at 07:55
eileeninmd said…
Hello, the Signalman had a nice place. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend ahead!
13 December 2019 at 08:38
Rhonda Albom said…
These buildings are an interesting part of NZ history. If you get the chance, go to MOTAT on a "Live" day and you can get into the back areas of MOTAT 2. There are some more interesting buildings there as well as a huge storage building with lots of old rail stock.
13 December 2019 at 09:55
DawnTreader said…
Cute building :) My dad was a serious railway enthusiast. He wrote or participated in writing four books on local railways around here (south-west Sweden). Every holiday in my childhood/youth usually also involved not only museum railways but also and/or trying to find places where once upon a time there had been a station (even if both the railway tracks and buildings were long gone by then)...
13 December 2019 at 10:26
Jim said…
The style of station building is familiar.
13 December 2019 at 10:39
Carol @Comfort Spring Station said…
I like the style of the building - almost like a cottage.
13 December 2019 at 13:33
Spare Parts and Pics said…
Interesting history. I hope they preserve these signal boxes... they are historically significant.
13 December 2019 at 18:43
Yogi♪♪♪ said…
That’s a cool building.
14 December 2019 at 10:38
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