THE signal box at Frankston Train Station has turned 100.
The century-old signal box is one of the oldest pieces of infrastructure still operating in Frankston. Metro Trains Melbourne CEO Raymond O’Flaherty said that the signal box “plays a critical part in our network operations and continues to stand the test of time as we bring our network into the future.”
MPs, councillors, Metro Train officials, and a representative from the Frankston Historical Society attended a celebration event for the signal box last week. Historical Society president Glenda Viner said that the railway is an important link to Frankston’s past.
“An old photograph of the Frankston Railway Staff in 1926 shows a staff of 20 people, when the population of Frankston was only about 1000, so it was a good employer,” Viner said. “Mains water was only installed to Frankston in 1922, sewerage was still a long way off and the newly opened Palais Picture Theatre was playing The Veiled Adventure and Gentleman Rider. The town was just rising after World War One and the railways were a big part of that. Without the railway, we would have been unable to have one of its main tourist attractions in the World Wide Scout Jamboree in 1934.
“The electric rail was able to move large amounts of tourists to Frankston. Rail has always been a large part of Frankston’s history. The signal box was the mover and shaker of all rail transport that went through Frankston.”