The Rotorua express leaving Auckland, alongside Customs Street East, 1909. Godber, Albert Percy, 1875-1949: Collection of albums, prints and negatives. Ref: APG-0395-1/2-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22713750

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The scene is looking west toward the old Queen Street railway station from the rail crossing on Breakwater Road (now Britomart Place). The most distant buildings are on Lower Queen Street while those on the left are on Customs Street East. The man holding flags at centre would likely have been the crossing-keeper.

Below: A detail from Godber's plate.

Below: The Breakwater Road rail crossing is at centre in this detail from a 1904 Henry Winkelmann photograph looking south (from the masthead of a ship alongside Railway Wharf).

Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W0988 (detail)

Below: A similar view from a 1912 Winkelmann picture, this time with the crossing gates closed. (The building at lower right was that of the Colonial Suger Refining Company.)

Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W1282 (detail)

Below: A panorama of Breakwater Road/Britomart Place as it is today (2025). Click on image for a larger version.

Below: Then, as now, things could go very wrong very quickly at rail crossings, as recorded in this newspaper report.

Auckland Star, 30 October 1900, Page 4