HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mitchell railway station is located on the Western line in the
Maranoa Region Maranoa Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. The town of Roma, Queensland, Roma is the administrative headquarters of the region. In the , the Maranoa Region had a population of 1 ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. It serves the town of Mitchell. The station has one platform, opening in 1885. The station has a number of heritage-listed buildings, including the passenger station in Oxford Street, the goods shed in Alice Street, and the station master's house in Sheffield Street. The buildings were added to
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
on 8 September 2005.


Services

Mitchell is served by Queensland Rail Travel's twice weekly '' Westlander'' service travelling between
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and Charleville.


History

Mitchell railway station was opened on 17 January 1885 as part of the Western railway line built to service western Queensland. Buildings of heritage significance on the site include the passenger station, goods shed and station master's house. The station complex reflects the historic role of Mitchell as a regional centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It provides good examples of typical railway architecture from this period in south western Queensland. Similar to other Australian colonies, the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the country and providing social benefits. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers. An added incentive for rail development in Queensland was the very poor state of the roads. In wet weather especially, this hampered the transport of freight. Railway development became the province of government because of the doubtful economics of building and operating private rail services for the widely distributed, sparse population of rural Queensland. In most cases the capital costs were high in relation to the potential revenue likely to be raised from passengers and freight. These economies imposed a natural limit on the expansion of railways into remote areas. The government initially gave priority to developing a railway west of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. As well as providing graziers and farmers with a more efficient transport link to the coast, railways were seen as a key to encouraging closer settlement west of the
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
. The first section of rail, opened on 31 July 1865, was between
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
and Bigge's Camp (now the heritage-listed
Grandchester railway station Grandchester railway station is a heritage-listed former railway station at Ipswich Road, Grandchester, Queensland, Grandchester, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1875 to 1876. It is also known as Bigge's Camp. It was a ...
), west of Ipswich. By February 1868 the rail was extended to Dalby in the
Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...
. With a railhead provided for the squatters in this region, extensions further west ceased while the railway was developed elsewhere. A line south to
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
was opened in 1871 and in August 1872, approval was granted to extend the railway in
Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...
and to start an Ipswich to Brisbane rail link. It was 1876 before construction of the railway westward from Dalby recommenced. The rail was opened to
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
in 1880 and to East Mitchell in 1883. The region surrounding Mitchell was explored by Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell in the mid-1840s. The explorer spoke highly of the country's pastoral potential and within two years,
squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
had occupied runs in the vicinity of Mount Abundance to the south of the present township of Mitchell. Eurella, Amby Downs, Mitchell Downs and Forest Vale, four pastoral runs in the vicinity of Mitchell, are believed have been taken up in 1861. The head station for Mitchell Downs was located on the site of the present town of Mitchell on the banks of the
Maranoa River The Maranoa River, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is a river situated in South West Queensland, Australia. Course and features Formed by the confluence of the west and east branches of the river, the Maranoa River rises on the Consuelo Table ...
. Mitchell Downs homestead was located on the western side of the Maranoa River, near the place where teamsters from Charleville, Bollon and
St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
crossed the river and was the logical site for a settlement to develop. One of the first settlers in the region recalls that after the Mitchell Downs homestead was damaged by flood waters in 1864 and had been moved to a nearby location, the remains of the original homestead were converted into the Maranoa Hotel. This was the township's first building. In 1876, Mitchell became a stage on the
Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century ...
route from Roma to Charleville. Coach routes opened from Mitchell to Bollon in 1900 and to St George in 1905. The rail reached the eastern bank of the Maranoa River across from the township of Mitchell in 1883. The river formed a natural barrier and until a bridge was constructed, a temporary terminus at East Mitchell was established. This was opened on 8 October 1883. A public holiday was proclaimed and a free "excursion train" ran from Roma to the new terminus, but no formal ceremony was held owing to the lack of notice given of the opening. With the opening of the East Mitchell terminus, the departure point of the Roma-to-Charleville Cobb and Co route was moved to Mitchell. Coaches ran to Charleville three times weekly. The Maranoa River bridge was completed on 10 September 1884 as part of the contract for the next rail extension. The bridge extends almost and is made up of three spans on concrete piers with timber approaches. It is reputedly one of a small number of rail bridges built with continuous girders. Contracts were let in 1884 for a goods shed (still partly extant), engine and carriage sheds, booking offices, station master's house (still extant), cattle and sheep yards and three gate keeper's cottages at the site of the planned new terminus in Mitchell. On 17 January 1885, the rail link between East Mitchell and Mitchell was opened by a ministerial party, which included Hon. William Miles ( Minister for Public Works), Hon. Charles Dutton (Minister for Lands), Franics Curnow (acting Commissioner for Railways), JF Thallon (Queensland Rail Traffic Manager), P McLean (Land Commissioner in Chief) and C Adam (Railway Traffic Inspector). At this time, the main station building and platform was almost complete and the goods shed, carriage shed and engine shed were in the process of construction. The opening of the rail to Mitchell brought increased commerce to the township due to its role as the western rail terminus. Outward bound wool statistics for stations during the period when the western railway was being built shows that as the rail arrived at a township, that centre enjoyed a brief period of high goods traffic until the rail moved further west. Thus, in 1882, the year before the opening of the East Mitchell railway station,
Roma railway station Roma railway station is located on the Western line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the town of Roma. The station has one platform, opening in 1880. Services Roma is served by Queensland Rail Travel's twice weekly '' Westlander'' servic ...
recorded the highest quantity of outward bound wool on the Western Line at 6,687 bales. In 1884, this figure dropped to 1,308 bales with the new terminus at East Mitchell recording 9,545, the largest quantity on the western line. However, as the rail opened to places west of Mitchell, the wool traffic through the station reduced. After the opening of
Morven railway station Morven railway station is located on the Western line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the town of Morven. The station has one platform. the present structure was built in 2008 with the original building being repurposed by the Murweh Shi ...
in March 1887, wool leaving Mitchell Station dwindled to 774 bales. The extant passenger station is the third to occupy the site. The first building was destroyed by fire on the night of 13 December 1887. It was replaced by a shelter shed comprising a waiting area, office and lavatory. In about 1901, refreshment rooms (no longer extant) were erected comprising a bar, dining room and semi-detached kitchen. The second shelter shed burnt down on 29 June 1933. The present station was erected probably later that year utilising a shelter shed from Evanslea railway station and a storeroom from Silverwood railway station. The architectural style of the buildings suggests that probably they date to no earlier than 1910. The core of the goods shed appears to date to 1884–1885. Originally long, the shed was quite large and this is indicative of the high goods traffic passing through the station initially. In February 1963, approval was given to reduce the length of the shed to . Material recovered was used for repairs to the building. A contract for the station master's house, still extant on the site, was let on 19 July 1884 to Warren Brothers, the well-known building and architectural firm based in Roma and was likely completed by the time the Mitchell Station was opened in January 1885. Warren Brothers erected many government buildings in the Roma district including the Roads and Lands Office at Roma (1878), the Court House at
Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
(1878–1879) and the railway buildings at Roma (1880). The Mitchell station master's house may be a prototype for a later Queensland Rail standard design since its design is similar to Queensland Rail's architectural standard for first class station masters' houses in 1889. By as early as 1894 this standard had changed and in 1917 the Mitchell residence was recorded as a third class station master's house. The architect responsible for the standard design for first class station master's houses was Henrik Hansen. Born in Denmark in 1843, Hansen had emigrated to Australia by 1877, when he was practicing as an architect in Maryborough. Between October 1877 and 1904, he was employed in the Chief Engineers Branch of the Queensland Railway's Southern Division. In this position, he was responsible for the design of many standard railway buildings including station masters' residences. Minor modifications to the station master's residence in the 20th century included the removal of the original brick chimney and replacement with an iron stove recess and extension of the awning over the northeastern side verandah in 1963. After Charleville Station opened in 1888, the carriage and engine sheds at Mitchell railway station were moved to Charleville. Of these two buildings, the engine shed remained intact until 2003 when it was blown down in a severe windstorm. Since the station was first opened in 1885, accommodation for train and maintenance crews has been erected on the site. In the 1950s, train crews were quartered at Mitchell to relieve crews travelling from Roma and Charleville. A modified goods shed and two fettlers' cottages were moved to the site to accommodate crews. By 1961 there were 12 residential buildings on the site providing accommodation for maintenance and operations staff. Currently, there are only three residential buildings, comprising the station master's house and two more recent houses.


Description

Mitchell railway station is located on Oxford Street, on the western edge of Mitchell township. The buildings and structures of cultural heritage significance include the passenger station ( moved to the station ) the goods shed (1884–1885 with substantial later modifications) and the station master's house (1884). The passenger station is located on the southern side of the railway tracks and faces Oxford Street. The goods shed is immediately opposite the passenger station on the northern side of the tracks. Over away from these structures towards the north, is the station master's house located on a separate allotment accessed from Ann Road.


Passenger Station

The passenger station is a narrow building, timber-framed and clad in weatherboards, set on concrete stumps. It has a
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d roof of
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
. A small extension to the south west of the building has a
skillion roof A shed roof, also known variously as a pent roof, lean-to roof, outshot, catslide, skillion roof (in Australia and New Zealand), and, rarely, a mono-pitched roof,Cowan, Henry J., and Peter R. Smith. ''Dictionary of Architectural and Building Te ...
. The south eastern elevation of the building faces the road. A set of double, framed and boarded doors provide the only access through this elevation. These open out onto a small loading platform and give access into the store room at the south western end of the building. Four timber framed, vertical sliding windows are distributed along the elevation to the east of the doors. A fifth window opening into the lavatory at the north eastern end is louvred. The ends of the building are each provided with a single window. A vertical sliding window is located roughly in the centre of the north eastern end and a small louvered window is fitted in the middle of the other end near the top. The platform extends along the length of the north western elevation. A series of doors and openings give access onto the platform. The waiting room is enclosed on three sides only. The fourth side is open to the platform and this forms the largest opening on the platform elevation. Single doors provide access to the records room and the male lavatory, two single doors open into the station office and a double door opens into the store. With the exception of the door into the male lavatory, the single doors are paneled, with the top panels of the doors into the office glassed. The double doors into the store are framed and boarded. Two vertical sliding windows open into the office. Access into the women's lavatory is via a single door from the waiting shed. The roof of the building extends over the platform. A series of horizontal timber members extend from the wall out to the
rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...
s over the platform. The space between the members and the rafters is in-filled with vertical slats. Short straight timber
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
extend from the midpoint of the horizontal member down to the wall at an angle of approximately 45°. With the exception of the store room and men's lavatory, the internal rooms of the station are all lined. The women's lavatory, store room and waiting shed at the north eastern end are lined with vertical boards and the office with fibro or plaster board. Timber benches are fixed to two of the walls in the waiting shed.


Goods shed

The goods shed is a large timber-framed structure, clad in corrugated iron. It has a gabled roof with wide
eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...
. On the northwestern elevation, two large ledge and brace sliding doors provide road transport access to an internal loading bay. A raised timber platform fills most of the interior of the shed. The concrete floored loading bay is the only section of the floor which is at ground level. Outside the shed on the southeastern side, a raised timber platform runs along the rail tracks almost the full length of the elevation. Two large ledge and brace timber sliding doors open onto this platform.


Station Master's House

The station master's house is a timber-framed building clad with weatherboards, sitting on short concrete stumps. It comprises an L-shaped, five-roomed core with a central hallway; a separately roofed, semi-detached kitchen; and a later skillion-roofed laundry along the southwest side, between the kitchen and the main house, resting on a concrete slab. All the roofs are clad with corrugated galvanised iron. The core of the house has a gabled roof over the front four rooms with a
hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...
extending at the back of the house along the northeast side, to accommodate a fifth room and a passage leading to the kitchen. There are separately roofed
veranda A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...
hs to the front and sides of the core. These have a two-rail
balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
and simple timber
brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...
to the verandah posts. The verandah along the southwest side has been enclosed at a later date to accommodate a bathroom and toilet. The northwestern elevation is the front of the house. Access is gained to the verandah via a short, centrally positioned staircase opposite a four-paneled front door. On either side of the front door is a double-hung sash window with four lights. The northeastern verandah roof is extended by a skillion, approximately one metre wide, running the full length of the elevation. The extended roof is supported by a series of horizontal members extending from the verandah posts out to the rafters. Short straight timber brackets extend from the midpoint of each horizontal member down to the posts at an angle of approximately 45°. The space between the members and the rafters are in-filled with vertical slats. Two double-hung
sash windows A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...
and a set of
French doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...
(which open into the rear bedroom) are spaced evenly along the elevation. The kitchen at the rear of the house has a projecting stove recess, clad with curved corrugated iron, in the southwest elevation. Rear access to the house is gained through a door in the centre of the southeast elevation of the kitchen building. The approach to the door is via a short staircase running parallel to the wall and ending on a small landing covered by a skillion roof. There is a double-hung sash window with four lights to the right of the door and a single set of later louvres to the left of the door. A corrugated iron tank on a tank-stand is located adjacent to the northeastern end of the kitchen. The interior linings and fittings of the house appear to be of fairly recent origin. In the laundry, the northeastern interior wall (formerly an external wall of the house) is clad in weatherboards. The kitchen is fitted with built-in cupboards, sink and stove of fairly recent origin, but there is also an early wood stove in the iron stove recess. The house is located on a separate allotment to the rest of the station buildings. A weld-mesh fence encloses the block. The allotment is almost bare of vegetation except for an assortment of small shrubs and trees growing mostly at the rear of the block. A steel
carport A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from rain and snow. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures, a carport does not have four walls, and u ...
and garden shed of recent origin are located to the south west of the house. These are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.


Heritage listing

Mitchell railway station was listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
on 8 September 2005 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Mitchell railway station, opened in 1885, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, providing physical evidence of Mitchell's role as a regional centre in the late 19th century. The station master's house and the core of the goods shed date to this period. The establishment of a railway station at Mitchell was consistent with the town's historic role as a node on southwestern Queensland's transport network, being located at the junction of roads to Roma, Charleville, Bollon and St George. As the western rail terminus for about two years after its opening, Mitchell was one of the busiest stations on the Western Line. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The station master's house, constructed in 1884, is a substantially intact and now rare early example of a mid-1880s station master's residence. The earliest identified Queensland Rail standard drawing of this type of station master's residence dates to 1889, five years after the construction of the Mitchell house. The design was superseded by the beginning of the 20th century. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The station complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of railway stations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the importance of the rail link to the west was fundamental to the region's economic development. The station retains a number of principal elements from this period including the station master's house (1884), the goods shed (1884–1885) and the passenger station ( moved to the station ). The station master's house is important in illustrating the varied work of Queensland Railway's architectural office during the tenure of Henrik Hansen, the Danish born architect who was responsible for the design of many standard Queensland Rail buildings of the nineteenth century. The passenger station is a composite of two buildings transported from Evanslea and Silverwood Stations in to replace the previous building which had burnt down. This is a good example of a Queensland Rail practice, common until the 1960s, of recycling railway buildings and structures. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The station is a small, attractive railway landmark on the route of the "Westlander". The complex, including the station master's house, makes a strong aesthetic contribution to the townscape of Mitchell.


References


Attribution


External links


Mitchell station
Queensland's Railways on the Internet {{Queensland Rail railway stations, Westlander=y, state=collapsed Queensland Heritage Register Railway stations in Australia opened in 1885 Regional railway stations in Queensland Listed railway stations in Australia Mitchell, Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Western railway line, Queensland