Historical information

Photograph shows uniformed MTOC signalman standing under a canopy operating two large levers (which may be the reason the newspaper mistakenly described him as a switchman). He stands under a canopy supported by poles with a partial curtain at the rear along with his overcoat. The canopy was located on the footpath on the southeast corner of the intersection of Collins and Swanston Streets. This was the busiest cable tramway intersection in Melbourne and one of the busiest for pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The tram tracks crossed each other at right angles with no curved tracks to permit turns. The signalman's job was twofold: to directed which trams had right of way by use of mechanical signals and to depress the Collins Street cable so that the upward incline did not cause the cable to rise out of the slot onto the roadway. The depression gear was located under both Collins Street tracks adjacent to the Town Hall and was only released momentarily to allow a Collins Street tram to pass over it.

This was a demanding job requiring constant vigilance: working with the policeman controlling the intersection, trams approaching from four directions, horse and motor traffic and pedestrians. The signalman's rules provided a specific order of steps each time the signals and depression gear were reset, which occurred many times per hour. He was also authorised to stop trams with the use of his whistle and a red hand lamp and to report gripmen who disobey his directions. Traffic lights were gradually introduced to Melbourne from 1928 after cable trams were replaced in Swanston Street and just before they were replaced in Collins Street. This is a photograph taken of a newsprint photograph from an unnamed newspaper.

Significance

Yields information about signalman's work.

Physical description

Black and white photograph with note below photograph.

Inscriptions & markings

Printed below photograph: "Switchman [sic] at the intersection of Collins and Swanston Streets."