Kooyong Railway Signal Box and Switch House
432A Glenferrie Road, KOOYONG VIC 3144 - Property No 64264
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Statement of Significance
Relevant themes from the City of Stonnington Environmental History are indicated by TEH.
What is Significant?
The signal box at Kooyong Railway Station is a gable roofed timber framed building erected c1913 to a standard Victorian Railways design. It was built to control the Glenferrie Road level crossing at a time when the electric tram line was extended along Burke Road by the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust.
The switch house at Kooyong Railway Station is a small red-brick building with a gabled terracotta tiled roof. It was built c1922 when this section of the railway line was electrified. The switch house is understood to have contained electrical equipment needed for the operation of the 'tramway square' at the adjacent Glenferrie Road level crossing.
Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include but are not limited to:
- The external form, materials and detailing of the signal box and switch house as originally built.
- The high level of intactness of the building exteriors to their original design.
- The freestanding form of the buildings and their modest scale.
- The siting of the buildings adjacent to the Kooyong Railway station and the level crossing and their close proximity to one another.
- Unimpeded views to the buildings from Kooyong Road.
- The general absence of signage (on the buildings and in their immediate curtilage) other than regulatory traffic signs.
Modern fabric, including signage and fencing, does not contribute to the significance of the place.
How is it significant?
The signal box and switch house at Kooyong Railway Station are of local historical, architectural and technological significance to the City of Stonnington.
Why is it significant?
The signal box is historically significant as evidence of the impact of the extension of the electric tram network through the municipality in the 1910s 4.5 Tramways (TEH 4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust, Criterion A). The switch house is historically significant for its association with the electrification of the suburban rail network (TEH 4.4.3 Twentieth century improvements, Criterion A).
The signal box is architecturally significant as a substantially intact example of standard Victorian Railways signal box (Criterion D). Along with the adjacent switch house, the signal box provides rare evidence of the early character of the Glen Waverley line prior to its duplication in the 1950s and associated modernisation of station buildings. The signal box and switch house, and the matching signal box and switch house at Gardiner Railway Station, are the only pre-World War II railway buildings known to survive on this line (with the possible exception of an altered c1928 signal box at Darling railway station) (Criterion B).
The Kooyong Railway Station signal box and switch house are technologically significant for their ability to demonstrate early twentieth century safe-working practices at level crossings. They are of added technological significance as infrastructure controlling one of only four tramway squares remaining in metropolitan Melbourne (Criterion B, F).
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Kooyong Railway Signal Box and Switch House - Physical Description 1
The signal box at Kooyong Railway Station is located at the western end of platform 2, overlooking the Glenferrie Road level crossing. It was built to a standard Victorian Railway design consisting of a one-and-a-half-storey timber-framed building with a gable roof. External walls have weatherboard panels set between stop-chamfered timber posts. The roof has corrugated iron cladding, stop-chamfered bargeboards and turned timber finials. Six-pane timber-framed windows form a horizontal band along the south and east elevations providing the signalman with a clear view of the level crossing. The windows on the west elevation are shaded by a narrow corrugated iron awning on timber brackets. A pair of small two pane timber framed windows are found on the lower level of the south elevation.
The signal box exterior appears to remain in good original condition apart from some comparatively minor alterations. The glazing bars have been removed from some windows and others have had the upper two panes painted over. The metal stairs on the east side of the signal box appear to be a modern addition.
A switch house is located on the south side of the level crossing, opposite the signal box. It is a small red-brick building with a gabled terracotta tiled roof with scroll finials (one missing), exposed rafters at the eaves and a monitor type roof ventilator. Access to the switch house interior is through a V-jointed timber board door on the south elevation. The north elevation, facing the railway line, is blank apart from a series of terracotta floor vents. The west elevation contains a pair of window openings - one with a six pane timber framed window with figured glazing. The other window is sheeted over. This apart, the switch house exterior appears to remain substantially intact.
Kooyong Railway Signal Box and Switch House - Local Historical Themes
The Kooyong railway station signal box and switch house illustrate the following themes, as identified in the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006):
4.4 Railways (4.4.3 Twentieth century improvements)
4.5 Tramways (4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust)
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - Heritage Places in the City of Stonnington - Heritage Citations Project
Author: Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd
Year: 2013
Grading: A2
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