Flinders Street Station circa 1953, Public Record Office Victoria.

January 2010 marks the 100th year of Flinders Street Station. Flinders Street Station, Australia’s oldest central railway station located on the South Western corner of Flinders and Swanston Street along side the Yarra River.

The building which stands today is the result of an architectural competition in 1899. The winning design named – Green Light, which includes a large dome and tall clock tower, was the design of railway employees James Fawcett and H. P. C. Ashworth in French Renaissance style. Building works commenced in 1900 and the complex was officially opened in 1910.

The depicted lettering samples can be found on mass in the Degraves Street subway. The system looks to be the original wayfinding signing system developed for the station in 1910, however this statement needs historic clarication. When one first came across this lettering it reminded one of coming across pieces of broken blue china at the bottom of my grand parent’s garden. Hand painted in vibrant cobalt, or China blue, on glassy white porcelain tiles, this now distressed signing system stands quietly, incomplete, broken and somewhat redundant amid the current mix of hanging signs, light boxes, and folded metal panels with vinyl, silk screen and illuminated type.

We hope that the Victorian Department of Transport historic archive, or the Department of Infrastructure has a pictorial record of this signing system as time is taking it toll on its presentation. As it is Flinders Street Station 100th birthday year a comprehensive documentation project may be the perfect birthday present.

Visit the Department of Infrastructure’s modest historic web presence here