A few weeks ago I was confused about Notabile station suddenly growing between photos (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Z9XpsEQa6ebKzBae/). I’ve been building an accurate scale 3D model of the station using original drawings and other info, and used it to test two versions of the station building to work out what’s happened.

The original building, as designed in 1883, was low and small, the building shown in a later photo towering above crowds on the platform apparently significant taller. I’ve used the model to reconstruct several original photos to test both buildings. I’m confident now that no single option could explain all photos, so the explanation must be that Notabile station was extended or rebuilt some time after 1905.

For reference, the helmeted soldier captured standing in the doorway on the opening day has been introduced into all views from the 3D model. He’s shown as a 6ft gentleman beneath that hat and the head of the door just above its crown. He’s a useful measure of the relative height of the building and gives a human scale to compare with other photos.

A simple block-counting exercise also adds weight to this theory. Between 1883 and 1967 the building rises by four courses of Malta stone. It’s not possible to discern any historic scars in the stonework that would betray the location of the former archways or cornices; not evidence of a complete reconstruction by aby means, but a possibility.

Notabile would not be alone in substantial reconstruction; Birkirkara is well known to have been rebuilt in 1910. Attard too was completely rebuilt in 1909. Photographic evidence shows Hamrun station was extended upward and eastward from its original diminutive form in about 1900. It’s odd that so little of Notabile Station’s development is documented. Not just the platform building, but other buildings and aspects of its history remain opaque.

If you’ve got any thoughts on this or other information I’d love to know.

This was published first on the Malta Railway Facebook Page in August 2024