The Marshalite was a form of rotary

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

that was designed in 1936 by an Australian Charles Marshall (1864 -

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, New Zealand - 3 April 1953,

Mornington, Victoria Mornington is a seaside suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located on the Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. It is the most populous locality in the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government ...

, Australia), founder of the Fitzroy firm of Charles Marshall Pty. Ltd. The Marshalite signal consisted of dials facing each street at an intersection, with a rotating hand pointing to coloured sections that denoted whether traffic in either direction should proceed, prepare to stop, or stop, and how much longer that phase had to go. Variations existed for

pedestrian crossings A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...

, with additional text instructing people to "Walk" or "Don't Walk". The first experimental model was erected in 1937 at the corner of Gertrude and Brunswick streets, Fitzroy, but was removed when its legality came into question. After 1945, Mashalite signals were installed at a number of locations in metropolitan

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, starting with the intersection of Brunswick and Johnston streets, Fitzroy At the intersection of

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

and Union roads, Surrey Hills, the clock was used in conjunction with conventional traffic lights, so that the point of change was absolute and unambiguous. The last Marshalite to operate was situated on the

Nepean Highway Nepean Highway is a major highway in Victoria, running south from St Kilda Junction in inner-southern Melbourne to Portsea, tracing close to the eastern shore of Port Phillip for the majority of its length. It is the primary road route from ...

. A similar system was used in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In Germany it was called " Heuer-Ampel", after the engineer Josef Heuer, and was used in a number of places until 1972, when a change in traffic laws outlawed them. For historic reasons, an unused one is still in place in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

References

External links

Marshalling Melbourne's traffic One of the world's first traffic lights, the Marshalite
Information Sheet No 10345, October 2000, Museums Victoria
Traffic Control Signal - Marshalite, 1940-1960
Museums Victoria Collections
Negative - Marshalite Traffic Signal, Clifton Hill, 1960
Museums Victoria Collections
Vintage Melbourne - Marshalite Traffic Signals
April 22, 2016, By Sarah, Zinc Moon, ''If you head into the city (Melbourne), and along Burke Street to the RACV Club, you may notice an interesting structure in their courtyard.''

image of pedestrian crossing Marshalite. Transport in Melbourne Traffic signals {{road-stub