Pre 1922 No Information

1922 Switchlock Siding at Melling

1927 Melling converted to an Unattended Crossing Station

1940 Prepare To Reduce To Medium Speed indication introduced at Lower Hutt

1954 Melling Loop Closed

1958 Control Transferred to Petone Signal Box.

1983 One Signal Remains

1996 No signals

Single Line Automatic.

In 1922 Single Line Automatic Signalling (SLA) with upper quadrant semaphores was commissioned between Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.

Melling was a switchlocked siding approximately 1700 yards north of Lower Hutt in the Lower Hutt - Pitcaithly's section. The siding was equipped with safety-trap points and points indicators at each end. Lower Hutt was a permanent signal-cabin with a ground frame at the north end.

Points Indicators. Note that according to the list of symbols in Semaphore To CTC an open square is a Woods sleeper lock. However, S & I 395 (September 1922) states that:

At service, private or ballast sidings, and sidings off loop lines, points indicators will work with safety-trap points at both ends of all such sidings......

I have therefore interpreted the open square symbol as a points indicator.

Comments And Questions

• Up intermediate 872 was normal clear (usual practice) but Down intermediate 873 was normal caution because the normal position of 2 Lower Hutt Down Home Main Line was Stop. Was 873 electrically interlocked with the Down Home signal?
• Did the Lower Hutt signalmen have any indication of an approaching Down train? Unlike Tablet or Lock & Block territory a signalman did not know if a down train was in the adjacent section - it could have been anywhere between Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt.
• The Lower Hutt Down Home signal may have been a power operated two position semaphore. The diagrams are unclear.
• Trains could cross at Melling if one was locked in the siding. The train in the siding could not leave until the other train was clear of the Lower Hutt - Pitcaithly's section.
• Signal 32 was called an Advance Starter - the term Departure must have come into use later.
• There were more than one set of intermediate signals - was the installation more correctly described as Automatic Permissive Block (APB)?

Unattended Crossing Station. In 1927 Melling was converted to an unattended crossing station in Single Line Automatic territory. The Lower Hutt - Pitcaithly's section was split into two: Lower Hutt - Melling and Melling - Pitcaithly's. Intermediate signals 872 and 873 were dispensed with.

Melling Ballast-Pit. The 1927 S & I shows a siding off the loop at Melling. The following instruction is in the 1947 Working Timetable (WTT):

Traffic will be worked to and from the siding on behalf of the Maintenance Branch and Hutt Rver Board. Loaded wagons are to be drawn from ballast-pit. The ganger of the length will advise the Stationmaster, Lower Hutt, if at any time the pit is unsafe for working.

The 1947 WTT also included the following instruction:

Special Push Plunger at Melling A special push plunger marked "A" is provided in a lock-up box on the releasing switch box standard, located near the "Down" main line points, at Melling for the purpose of allowing the "Up Departure" signal at Melling to be replaced from the "Clear" to the "Stop" position, thus allowing the "Down Departure" signal at Andrews (Pitcaithly's) to go to the "Clear" position after a train or engine has shunted outside the "Down" main line points at the former station. Guards of all trains terminating at Melling must, after the engine has run from the main line to the loop or vice versa, in the process of reversing, use the plunger. The opening of the switchlock door will cancel improper use of the plunger.

Lower Hutt Changes. In 1940, as a result of road construction, the Lower Hutt signal box was replaced with a power frame in the station building. The mechnical two-position semaphores were replaced with three-position Upper Quadrant semaphores and the points were converted to power operation. 32 Up Advance Starter and the ground frame and cross-over were removed.

New Indication. 1 Up Home at Lower Hutt was able to show the new indication Prepare to Reduce To Medium Speed. Signal 1 displayed medium speed to the loop so I assume the new indication was for the scissors crossover (not shown).

Departure. The up signal controlling entry into the single line section was classed as a Departure signal, rather than as a Starter. Low speed lights replaced the mechanical shunting signals. Pilot keys and telephones were shown on the diagram.

Melling Loop Closed. Melling loop and the section north to Haywards was closed; colour light signals installed; a new Melling passenger station built to the south and the branch was electrified. 9 Down Departure (Melling) was controlled from Lower Hutt. 24 Up Home (Melling) worked automatically - the low speed indication was cleared on the approach of each train whether the Melling platform is occupied or not.

Instructions from S & I 690 (February 1954):

For the purpose of lifting disused track north of Melling by work trains "All Trains Stop" boards have been provided for trains in both directions. Permission to pass these boards must be obtained by telephone from the Lower Hutt Signalman.

For the time being the loop and other track connections at Lower Hutt not shown on the diagram will remain and turnouts not in use wil be secured for the running road.

Lower Hutt Signal Box Closed. In 1958 control of Lower Hutt and Melling transferred to the Petone Signal Box.

Station Limits. Melling was now within Petone Station limits so the down Departure signal was reclassified as an Outer Home. The practical effect of this was that it was no longer necessary to issue a Mis.59 Authority To Pass Departure Signal At Stop to authorise a train to depart Melling on a Stop signal.

The Lower Hutt yard remained (points at Wellington end of station) but the Lower Hutt to Hutt Valley Junction section was now single track.

Melling Up Home Removed. The Melling Up Home signal was removed, leaving just 80 Down Outer Home. This change coincided with the removal of all structures at Lower Hutt and the closure of the Lower Hutt yard. In 1927 there had been nine semaphore posts with ten arms in this section.

Melling, Lower Hutt and Petone were one interlocked station under the control of the Signalman, Petone. Petone was a switchout signal box and it was not possible to signal trains to or from the Melling Branch when Petone was switched out.

I remember many years ago seeing a push button on the up platform at Petone to set the route for Melling. I cannot remember the year.

Last signal removed. Sometime between 1983 and 1996 the last signal at Melling was removed. This may have been defined in S & I 2142 (date unknown), which I cannot locate. 2142 was cancelled by 2500 of October 1996.

Track Circuits. All track circuiting was removed from the Melling Branch. The signalling at Hutt Valley Junction was modified so that a train was "checked in" as it entered the Branch and "checked out" as it returned to the main line. This was based on the setting of the points at the main line crossover and the occupancy of certain track circuits.

All telephones were removed - a change which was also made in the rest of the network following the introduction of radio.