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VIADUCT JUNCTION
Victorian Railways

by John Hinson

Photograph from the collection of Dr J W F Scrimgeour

Viaduct Junction was a sturdy brick-built power box at the Flinders Street end of the through platforms of Spencer Street station in Melbourne. It controlled the junction of the goods lines with the passenger lines; there were only four tracks between here and Flinders Street "A" for all traffic. All goods trains for the eastern side of Victoria had to pass through Flinders Street.

Photograph by Dr J W F Scrimgeour, 3/10/67

The box contained a McKenzie & Holland electro-pneumatic frame installed when the cabin opened in 1925.

Notice that this type of frame has no catch handles on the miniature levers. The lever numbers are displayed on circular discs behind the levers, but there is no sign in this view of how the signal and point indications are displayed.

The plate on the right-hand end of the frame reads:

DESIGNED & MANUFACTURED
BY
McKENZIE & HOLLAND
MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

Mounted on top of the frame is a most splendid telephone concentrator with a huge range of selector keys, plus two dials and handsets.

Hanging from the ceiling is the "illuminated" diagram, on which track circuits are shown and lit from behind when clear. The layout can be seen clearly, with the six passenger lines through the station and the goods lines (bottom) funnelling down to four lines towards Finders Street. The terminal platforms controlled from Spencer Street No1 cabin are not shown on the plan, but are above the top left running lines and platforms.

Today, the box is nothing but a memory. The signalling of the through platforms are controlled from the Metrol Control Centre in Melbourne.