Signal Tower’s in South Africa were normally only found at many of the larger stations and shunting yards. Most of them have disappeared as a result of CTC working closed down many stations. Today, Signal Towers are mostly found in the Metropolitan areas like Pretotia, Germiston and Johannesburg and a few at some of the remaining larger stations.

Bloemfontein Signal Tower is a double story building, isolated by a street passing between the building and the railway yards. Space on the top floor is limited and houses a Panel for controlling the entire Bloemfontein area, and a table with the normal telephones etc. The bottom floor serves as the Relay room for controlling the color light signaling system, and also the Signal Technician’s office.

A few years back Bloemfontein was a very busy center handling up to Three hundred trains in a twenty four-hour period. Increasing Road transport has resulted in severe cuts to the train services, and today the number of trains remaining has reached a level where even Bloemfontein control tower closes down between certain hours on Sundays and many public holidays.

Common practice in South Africa was to build an extension onto the front of the station buildings, in which the mechanical signal frame or panel in the case of color light signaling, as well as the train working instruments would be installed. This would then be the Signal cabin. A rare exception is Modderpoort station, situated on the Bloemfontein to Bethlehem line, and is also the junction for the branchline to Ladybrand.

Modderpoort station is a beautiful wood and corrugated iron building built round about 1900. Unlike other stations, it has a signal cabin protruding from the roof of the building, reached by means of a wooden zigzag staircase inside the building. Space inside the cabin is very limited, being barely enough for the mechanical frame, and makes the taking of photos impossible.

Another exception at Modderpoort is the fact that unlike the majority of stations, it does not have a platform for passengers boarding or disembarking from trains.