Emerald Railway Station Complex

General

Classification

State Heritage

Register status

Entered

Date entered

21 October 1992

Type

Transport—rail: Railway station

Themes

5.3 Moving goods, people and information: Using rail

6.1 Building settlements, towns, cities and dwellings: Establishing settlements and towns

Construction period

1900–1901, Emerald Railway Station Complex (1900c - 1901c)

Historical period

1900–1914 Early 20th century

Style

Classicism

Location

Address

Clermont Street (Capricorn Highway), Emerald

LGA

Central Highlands Regional Council

Coordinates

-23.52807495, 148.15382245

Request a boundary map

A printable boundary map report can be emailed to you.

1. Email *

Significance

Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.

The Emerald Railway Station Complex, established in 1879, as a major railhead on the Central Railway line, is important in demonstrating the evolution of the railway network in Queensland. The station was vital to the movement of goods and passengers to and from the Central West to the port of Rockhampton, and facilitated the success of Queensland’s lucrative wool industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a railway repair and maintenance depot from the 1870s to the 1970s, it played an important role as a major employer in the Emerald district for a century.

Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

Emerald Railway Station Complex is an important and intact example of a regional railway complex from the turn of the 20th century in Queensland. The complex demonstrates the principal characteristics of its type including: a prominent passenger station building with adjacent platform and platform shade; guards’ room; weighbridge and associated cabin; toilet facilities; storage areas; sheds and inspection pits for maintenance and repair of rolling stock; railway lines and sidings; and the facilitation of safe pedestrian access across railway lines (in this case, an underpass).

The Passenger Station Building (1901) is a fine and distinctive example of the work of architect Henrik Hansen (1843-1931), who made an important contribution to the design of Queensland railway buildings during his employment with the Queensland Railways Department from 1877 to 1904. Externally intact and retaining a high degree of integrity, the Passenger Station Building demonstrates the principal characteristics of Hansen’s railway station designs, which include: a long, narrow timber station building prominently fronting the street; a decorative street elevation incorporating a projecting central entrance portico with verandahs to either side; a central vestibule providing access from the street to the railway tracks at the rear; a curved platform shade; and the use of decorative cast metal columns, valances and brackets, and decorative friezes.

Criterion EThe place is important because of its aesthetic significance.

The Passenger Station Building has aesthetic importance for its beautiful attributes and streetscape contribution. Featuring a well-proportioned and symmetrical form, enhanced by a projecting entrance portico and end pavilions, the building’s intact exterior demonstrates architectural design quality. The fine composition is enriched by a complementary material palate of timber and cast metal, and the use of ornamental filigree details. 

Visually distinctive and prominently fronting Clermont Street (Capricorn Highway), the building makes an important contribution to the townscape of Emerald, and shares a similar scale to its setting of commercial buildings opposite. Through its form, scale and design, the place is a focal point in views from Clermont Street and is a landmark of Emerald.

History

Emerald Railway Station Complex (opened 1879) forms part of the Central Railway Line from Rockhampton and was the impetus for the establishment of Emerald, a town situated 242km west of Rockhampton in the Central Highlands region. The station complex was constructed over the few years following the establishment of the Central Railway Line, with lines extending to the rich pastoral lands to the west, north and south of Emerald. The station became the centre for the transit of goods and passengers to and from the port town of Rockhampton and played a role as an important regional railway repair depot. In 1901, an earlier timber station building was replaced by the decorative timber station designed by Queensland Railways architect, Henrik Hansen. Associated infrastructure, including platforms, a guards’ room, amenities, a weighbridge, storage areas, and sheds and inspection pits for maintenance and repair of rolling stock were gradually added to the site complex. As a central feature of Emerald’s main street, the station has played an important part in the town’s events. It continues to have a strong presence in the townscape.

Emerald forms part of the traditional land of the Kangoulu People.[1] It was first settled by Europeans in the 1860s as large pastoral runs were established in the Central Highlands, including Peter MacDonalds’ ‘Emerald Downs’, from which the town’s name is derived. Following a portion of these runs being opened for selection from 1879, a thriving wool industry was established in the Central West with some of the biggest sheep stations in Australia producing large amounts of wool. This lucrative industry provided employment for many in the shearing sheds and wool scours constructed on and near the stations. Small townships began to appear throughout the district.[2] The construction of the Central Railway from the port town of Rockhampton to the Central West proved a facilitator for this success. The district’s burgeoning agricultural industry also relied on the railway.[3]  

Originally known as the Northern Railway, the Central Railway from Rockhampton to the Central West was first approved by the Queensland Government in 1864. It was to be the second railway line constructed in Queensland.[4] This followed lobbying by Rockhampton residents for the construction of a railway line to their hinterland, where copper was being extracted in the Peak Downs area. It was believed that a railway was necessary to ensure the development of the interior. The first length of line was opened to Westwood, approximately 50km from Rockhampton, in 1867.[5]

The founding of the town of Emerald differed from most other 19th-century towns in Queensland, in that settlement was preceded by the coming of the railway. In 1878, prior to the construction of the western extension of the Central Railway, the Railways Department’s surveyor, Willoughby Hannam, surveyed the future site of the township of Emerald and drew plans. It was to be located beside the Nogoa River, providing a reliable source of water for both the town and the railway. In these plans, the railway reserve was dominant on the southern side of the main road (Clermont Street (Capricorn Highway)), with the commercial and residential area located on the northern side.[6] The Central Railway extension from Comet to Emerald was completed in May 1879.[7]

Emerald was chosen as a point for branch lines to Clermont (1884) and Springsure (1887) to save building separate lines to each and to enable the main line to be extended due west. In 1877, the Rockhampton Bulletin reported that ‘branch railways are to be carried to Springsure on the south and Clermont on the north. Springsure … is about thirty-eight miles due south of the site chosen for Emerald Downs railway station, while Clermont is about sixty-five miles north westerly’.[8]

With the completion of the line to Emerald, construction of buildings and structures within the railway complex was underway. A small passenger station building, a Railways Department standard design for a timber shelter shed, with frontage to Clermont Street, was completed by the early 1880s.[9] There were also various sheds, a water tank, pumping station, coal stage, sheep yards, rail tracks, sidings (including a turning triangle) and signals erected.[10] The Morning Bulletin reported on the progress being made in the fledgling town of Emerald with ‘the station buildings and offices for extension staff and other officers … in course of erection … The first store at the Emerald township was opened last week … a number of others are in more or less advanced stage of completion’.[11] By 1885, Emerald had become a bustling regional town with several butchers, bakers and stores, a chemist, milliner and five hotels. The railway complex had become the major railhead on the Central Railway at this time due to its confluence of three lines, as well as an important railway depot for the repair and maintenance of trains, their carriages and the line. [12]

With the branch lines to Clermont and Springsure almost complete, and the western extension of the Central Railway progressing, further improvements were made to the railway complex in 1882-83, including the construction of a new engine shed, inspection pit and sidings, repair shop, blacksmiths and a new coal stage to replace the older one. There were also sheep yards.[13] Innovative gas lighting for the time was installed at the station in 1885, ‘besides the lights outside the premises there are three in the Station Masters office, three in the telegraph office, and one in the ladies’ waiting room, and when the whole station is illuminated the effect is brilliant and pleasing’.[14] Unfortunately, one night in March 1892, whilst two staff members were attempting to refill the light’s gasometer (whilst holding a lit kerosene lamp), a large fire broke out and the entire station building was destroyed. The two men and a child (the son of one of the men) were hurt quite badly but recovered.[15] In the same year, a new Fairbank weighbridge was constructed at the station, with tenders being called for the construction of the ‘concrete, brick and stone’ foundation in February.[16]

Soon after the fire, a replacement station building was moved to the Emerald Station from the recently closed Fernlees Station.[17] This was, however, an inadequate structure and was described as being ‘too small to swing a cat, being only 25 feet [7.62m] in length and twelve [3.66m] wide’.[18] Although Emerald residents lobbied the Railways Department for a new, commodious station building, this makeshift timber structure served as the station for the remaining part of the 1890s.[19] Further improvements to the complex were made with the construction of a large tank stand close to the engine shed to provide water for the engines in 1893, a carriage shed in 1897 situated east of the passenger station, parallel to Clermont Street, and refreshment rooms in 1896.[20] 

Finally, in response to Emerald residents’ and the Rockhampton Chamber of Commerce’s appeals, the government approved the construction of a new railway station building in 1900, with an approximate expenditure of £3000.[21] The successful tender was awarded to Thomas Moir, who, at the time was also building several other buildings in Emerald. The new station was designed by Railways Department architect, Henrick Hansen, and was described at the time as ‘a handsome building, with all the up-to-date requirements’.[22] The station was to be ‘200ft. [60.96m] long and 40ft. [12.19m] wide and there will be a platform 500ft. [152.40m] long in front of it …The station will be on the same side of the railway as the building now in use. In the centre there will be a vestibule leading to the platform … on one side of this will be the ticket, telegraph, and parcels office … ladies room … mail room … station master’s office … on the other side of the vestibule will be a bar … dining room … serving room … kitchen’.[23] The new station building, designed in the Victorian Filigree style, with dominant frontage to Clermont Street, opposite the commercial side of the main street, became the focal point of the town.   

The architect responsible for the design, Henrick Hansen (1843-1931), was a Danish architect employed by the Queensland Railways Department from the late 1870s until 1904. He designed numerous utilitarian structures and railway stations, of which his five country stations were the most elaborate – each prominently sited pieces of public architecture that announced the railway’s presence in important towns. He was responsible for designing similar railway station buildings for Mount Morgan (1898) (QHR 600752), Archer Park in Rockhampton (1899) (QHR 600777), Cunnamulla (1898) and Winton (1898) and Longreach (1916/17) (QHR 601970).[24]  Emerald Railway Station was the largest and most elaborate of these five stations.

Hansen’s station designs typically included a long and narrow station building, which prominently fronted the street, and provided access via a central vestibule from the street to the railway line at the rear. The street-facing elevations were highly decorative, and featured central entrance porticos that were flanked by verandahs to each side. Ornamentation included the use of decorative cast iron columns, valances and brackets, and decorative friezes. Unlike Hansen’s other station designs that incorporated an imposing curved carriage shade over both the platform and the rails, the station designs at Longreach and Emerald only provided a shade over the platform.[25]

The passenger station building at Emerald was completed by July 1901, with the furnishings for the station made by the Railways Department.[26] Initially, the older station building was temporarily moved to the east of the new 1901 building whilst the new building was constructed. This, however, was removed from the site in 1903.[27] The small timber guards’ room beside the passenger station is likely to be contemporaneous to the passenger station.[28]

The prominent siting of the grand station in the town and the arrival point for visiting dignitaries ensured the station played a central role in Emerald’s civic life. Visiting dignitaries such as the Governor, Sir William MacGregor in 1911, and Catholic Archbishop, James Duhig, in 1931 were welcomed and farewelled at the station.[29] In August 1915, as World War One (WWI) raged, the Queensland Government, in conjunction with the Queensland Recruitment Committee, orchestrated a campaign involving a series of trains that would travel on the state’s major lines and stop at each station in an effort to encourage men to join.[30] The Central Railway’s recruitment train arrived at the Emerald Railway Station on the afternoon of August 17 where it was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd, ‘the train was brilliantly decorated, the engine bearing the royal arms, and posters calling for recruits … at Emerald, another characteristic western welcome was received … when some eight or 10 men volunteered’.[31]

In December 1924, a war memorial was erected outside the front entrance of the station in Clermont Street. In early 1925, it was officially unveiled by Major General Sir Thomas William Glasgow and attended by a large number of Emerald residents. The memorial commemorated the 24 men from the town who were killed in the war.[32] Throughout the years, Anzac Day commemoration ceremonies have been held at the war memorial, all well attended by the town and district’s residents. The Emerald Railway Station played a consistent role as a stately backdrop at the ceremonies.[33] In recent years, the war memorial has been relocated to Anakie Street.[34]  

In 1926, the station complex was electrified and an electrical plant constructed.[35] During the Great Depression, the Emerald Railway Station became the centre of a shearers’ strike, when wages were reduced by 10% due to the economic downturn. Shearers employed on stations in the Central West walked off the job in protest in early 1931, and in-turn the government, mindful of the economic importance of the wool industry to the state, recruited several trainloads of shearers from New South Wales and Victoria and railed them up to the Central West shearing stations under heavy police guard in February.[36] On arrival at Emerald, angry strikers attempted to attack the incoming trains at the station, with the incident being reported at the time: ‘This morning at an early hour a big body of strikers at Emerald railway station, attacked the police guards in an attempt to get at a train carrying southern shearers … when it arrived at Emerald a crowd of more than over 400 … was lined up on the platform’.[37] As the threat to the interstate workers heightened, strikers hurled stones and smashed the carriage’s windows; police began firing above their heads. Fleeing the station, the incensed strikers then threw a barrage of stones and fired at the police from the opposite side of Clermont Street. Thankfully, no one was badly injured. Several arrests were made and eventually the train carrying the interstate shearers left the station.[38] The strike ended in April 1931 with the strikers capitulating.[39]   

A roof was constructed over the ramp between the passenger station building and the guards’ room in 1931, creating an area subsequently used for unloading parcels (known in 2020 as the ‘bull ring’). Further improvements were made to the maintenance area in 1938 when a substantial locomotive repair shed was erected over the drop pit south of the 1880s engine shed. This structure was a bowstring truss shed consisting of material recycled from an earlier 1895 shed (known in 2020 as the Wintergarden shed).[40] The entrance to the passenger station was improved in 1939 with enclosed garden beds placed on both sides of the front steps.[41]  

In 1945, after requests were made to the Railways Department by the Emerald Shire Council, improvements to the passenger station building were undertaken to improve the comfort of waiting passengers. A heated general waiting room was introduced and the ladies’ waiting room was shifted to another part of the station building, enabling direct access from the platform. Improvements to the toilet facilities in both the passenger station and the workshops were also carried out at this time.[42] In the early 1950s, a concrete underpass was constructed from Clermont Street to the southern side of the railway tracks, thus enabling improved access to the main street for the railway workers.[43]

Further improvements were made to the station complex in the 1960s, including the construction of a Hawke & Company Ltd. double weighbridge with timber cabin in 1963, to replace the earlier one, opposite the passenger station. Fire damaged the western section of the passenger station building in 1968 and subsequent repairs to the refreshment rooms modernised them. A new entrance to the bar from Clermont Street was also added.[44]

In the 1980s, the refreshment rooms were closed, due to reduced passenger numbers at the station, and offices for the railway station staff were subsequently fitted into the spaces. The 1880s engine shed over the inspection pit was demolished in 1983 and replaced with the current structure. It was also at this time that the platform shade was reduced by one meter away from the railway track. In the 1990s, the 1897 carriage shed was removed.[45] In the 1990s, other structures have been erected in the depot area including an office adjacent to the ‘Wintergarden shed’ (c1991), a diesel servicing shed (1991) and a rolling stock depot store c2007.[46] 

The Emerald Railway Station Complex, established in 1876, has played a pivotal part in Emerald and district’s history and has provided employment for hundreds of people over the years.[47] With the expansion of coal-mining in the Bowen Basin from the 1970s, Emerald became the dormitory town for employees of the mines, and consequently has grown and prospered. The railway station remains one of the most prominent buildings in the town.

Description

The Emerald Railway Station Complex occupies a large site, located on the southern side of Clermont Street (Capricorn Highway), at the south end of the commercial precinct in Emerald, a town in the Central Highlands Region. The elongated site aligns east-west along the Central Railway Line, which runs through the site and connects Rockhampton to Longreach. The site is bounded by Clermont Street (to the northeast), and residential, commercial and industrial properties (to the south, west and northwest).

A Passenger Station Building stands at the eastern end of the site, prominently fronting Clermont Street. A platform at its rear (southwest) allows for the boarding and disembarkation of rolling stock, and is separated by railway sidings from a weighbridge and cabin to the south. To the east of the Passenger Station Building is a Storage Area, former Guards’ Room and a Men’s Toilet Block. At the western end of the site, a Pedestrian Underpass runs under the railway line, connecting Clermont and Sullivan streets. Further to the west, a railway line branches north toward Clermont, and railway sidings branch south and form a triangle shape. Within the triangle are working sheds and areas, including an Inspection Pit and a Drop Pit Shed.

Features of Emerald Railway Station Complex of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Passenger Station Building (1901)
• Platform and Platform Shade (1901)
• Former Guards’ Room (c1901)
• Storage Area (c1931), including ‘Bullring’ and Storeroom
• Men’s Toilet Block (c1952-60)
• Weighbridge and Cabin (1963)
• Pedestrian Underpass (early 1950s)
• Railway Lines and Sidings
• Inspection Pit (1882-83, extended 1900)
• Drop Pit Shed (former, also known as Loco Repair Shed, and Wintergarden Shed, 1938)
• Layout and spatial relationships between significant features

Passenger Station Building (1901)

The Passenger Station Building is a symmetrical, single-storey, timber-framed and -clad railway station building used to accommodate office administration and connect railway passengers to the platform on its southwest side. The building has a hip roof, and is rectangular in plan, with southeast and northwest end pavilions, and additional rooms attached to the northwest pavilion. The building is a prominent and attractive landmark of Emerald, and makes an important visual contribution to the townscape.

The front (northeast) elevation is highly decorative. Its symmetrical composition comprises a central entrance, separated from projecting end pavilions by flanking open verandahs. The central entrance is defined by a projecting, arch roofed, arcaded portico, featuring a timber lunette gable-end and the date ‘1900’ in raised lettering. Accessed by a central stair, the portico has paired columns and a cast metal filigree valance that forms a wide central arch and narrower arches to either side. The projecting end pavilions have gabled dormers with timber louvre lunettes, and windows with pedimented window hoods.  

The interior layout of the building includes a central passenger vestibule (a thoroughfare from the entrance portico to the railway line), and adjacent offices and amenities to the southeast and northwest sides. With the exception of the vestibule, the fabric and configuration of most interior partitions are recent replacements (some early timber framing may survive behind recent fabric where partitions are in the early locations). These recent partitions and a southern storeroom addition to the western pavilion are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.

Features of the Passenger Station Building of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Location and orientation, with prominent presence to Clermont Street
• Views of the street elevation from Clermont Street
• Lowset, single-storey, hip-roof form, with a curved roof to central entrance portico and gable-roofed dormers to the projecting end pavilions
• Corrugated metal sheet roof cladding
• Timber fascias, spaced batten eaves, eaves brackets, turned finials (to entrance portico, dormers, and window hood pediments), and decorative friezes
• Timber louvre lunettes to dormers
• Projecting front entrance portico, including: paired cast metal posts with decorative capitals and bases; delicate filigree cast metal lace valance that forms a wide central arch and narrower arches to each side; and timber lunette with the date ‘1900’ encircled at its centre
• Curved profile of front entrance stair
• Front open verandah, including: paired cast metal posts with decorative capitals and bases (original downpipe sockets survive to two posts); concrete floors; and cast metal lace brackets
• Timber chamferboard exterior wall cladding
• Early window and door locations, and timber joinery, including: panelled doors; French doors; fanlights; double-hung windows; fixed windows; timber-framed vestibule entrance, with arched fanlight
• Window hoods to projecting end pavilions, with central pediment, rib-and-pan profiled metal sheet cladding, and cast metal brackets
• Vestibule, including: V-jointed (VJ) timber ceiling and wall linings, moulded timber cornices, central circular lattice ceiling ventilator, timber floor (replacement), open portal accessing platform with timber architrave and cast metal fretwork brackets
• VJ timber ceiling linings (some may be concealed by recent suspended ceilings)
• Timber bench seats, marked with lettering ‘EMERALD’ located in vestibule

Features of the Passenger Station Building not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Quad gutters and PVC downpipes
• Fibre cement sheets to ceilings of verandah (originally unlined) and entrance portico (originally lined in VJ timber boards)
• Concrete to front entrance stair and access ramp
• Recent suspended panel ceilings
• Plasterboard partitions
• Vinyl, carpet and tile floor linings
• Glazed door and fanlight to eastern wall of vestibule
• Aluminium-framed windows
• Flush panel doors
• Kitchen and bathroom fit-outs
• Skillion roof office addition south of former kitchen
• Adjacent garden beds and flagpoles

Platform and Platform Shade (1901)

The Platform and Platform Shade run parallel to the south elevation of the Passenger Station Building, adjacent the north side of the railway tracks. The Platform Shade has an arched roof, which has later been truncated on its south side to provide clearance for rolling stock on the railway tracks. The platform extends to the northwest and southeast beyond the Platform Shade.  

Features of the Platform and Platform Shade of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Arched roof, clad in corrugated metal sheets, with timber end fascia
• Metal rafters and purlins
• Cast metal posts and decorative cast metal lace brackets
• Timber sign reading ‘EMERALD’, attached to end post
• Concrete railway platform
• Timber bench seats, marked with lettering ‘EMERALD’

Features of the Platform and Platform Shade not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Flat sheets to end fascia (originally VJ timber boards)

Guards’ Room (former, c1901)

The Guards’ Room (former) is located east of the Passenger Station Building. It is a rectangular, lowset, timber-framed structure with a gable roof. It is entered via the western side, and has a window in its north elevation that has been enclosed.

Features of the Guards’ Room (former) of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Gable roof, clad in corrugated metal sheets
• Timber chamferboard exterior wall cladding
• VJ timber board-lined ceilings
• Timber floor boards
• Timber-framed double-hung windows to east and south elevations
• Door opening (excluding leaf) in west elevation and its timber frame

Features of the Guards’ Room (former) not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Flat sheet lining to interior walls (originally VJ timber)
• Enclosure of window to north elevation
• Flush panel door to west elevation

Storage Area (c1931) including ‘Bullring’ and Storeroom

The Storage Area is located between the Passenger Station Building and the Guards’ Room (former) and was originally used as an unloading area. The area is sheltered by a skillion roof and is divided into two sections: the ‘bullring’, and the storeroom. The bullring is a single-volume space, surrounded and defined by buildings, gates and walls. The storeroom is a rectangular, timber-framed structure attached to the eastern elevation of the Passenger Station Building.

Features of the Storage Area of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Skillion roof, clad in corrugated metal sheets
• Unlined ceiling
• Single-skin walls to the storeroom, lined externally with timber chamferboards
• VJ timber door to south side of storeroom
• Corrugated metal sheet cladding to south wall of bullring
• Timber chamferboard cladding to north and east walls of bullring
• Braced and ledged, batten sliding gates to the north and south elevations of bullring
• Concrete slab floor of storeroom and bullring

Features of the Storage Area not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Concrete slab floor and raised timber floorboards to storeroom
• Plywood wall cladding
• Plywood floor lining and timber shelving to storeroom
• Recent light fittings

Men’s Toilet Block (c1920-1966)

The Men’s Toilet Block is located east of the Passenger Station Building and the Storage Area. It is a rectangular, timber-framed amenities building with a skillion roof. It is entered from the south and includes three cubicles, urinals and sinks. The building has been extended with a storeroom to the east (1979-85, not of state-level cultural heritage significance).

Features of the Men’s Toilet Block of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Skillion roof clad in corrugated metal sheets
• Timber weatherboard cladding to exterior walls
• Timber-framed louvre windows to south elevation
• Plasterboard interior wall and ceiling linings
• Tile floor lining

Features of the Men’s Toilet Block not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Fixtures and fittings, including toilet pans, urinals and sinks
• Storeroom extension (1979-85) to east, with its extent identified by a vertical line in weatherboard cladding

Weighbridge and Cabin (1963)

The Weighbridge and Cabin stand to the south of the Passenger Station Building. The Weighbridge is part of the railway sidings, and standing immediately south of it is the Cabin, a timber-framed, skillion-roofed structure, facing the Passenger Station Building. Rectangular in plan, its interior features a weighbridge mechanism (now partially dismantled). A large bank of windows on its north elevation provide views of the railway tracks and Platform.

Features of the Weighbridge and Cabin of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Skillion roof, clad in corrugated metal sheets, with a quad gutter on the north side
• Timber-framed walls, single-skin clad externally in timber chamferboards
• Timber-framed sliding windows to the north elevation, which wrap around to the east and west elevations
• VJ timber board door to east elevation
• Timber board, dual-door access hatch to east elevation
• Flat sheet ceiling lining
• Concrete slab floor to Cabin
• Concrete slab floor with railway tracks to Weighbridge
• Double rail Hawke & Co. Ltd weighbridge mechanism and scales (1963)

Pedestrian Underpass (early 1950s)

The Pedestrian Underpass is a narrow, arched, concrete tunnel that provides pedestrian access between the Capricorn Highway (Clermont Street) and Sullivan Street, under the railway line.

Features of the Pedestrian Underpass of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Ached form and underpass extent
• Concrete vault and portals

Railway Lines and Sidings

The Central Railway Line bisects the site, and primarily runs east-west. At the western end of the site, branch lines (1884) run north toward Clermont, and a triangle of sidings (pre-1952) branch to the south.  

Features of the Railway Lines and Sidings of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Central Railway Line alignment, running from the east and west extents of the site
• Clermont branch lines alignments, running to the north
• Southern sidings alignments, forming a triangle
• Alignments of two sidings running through the triangle, providing rolling stock access to the Inspection Pit and Drop Pit Shed

Features of the Railway Lines and Sidings not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Railway tracks and sidings materials
• Other railway lines and sidings not previously mentioned

Inspection Pit (1882-83, extended 1900)

The Inspection Pit is located within the triangle of southern sidings, at its northeast corner. It is a long, open pit that runs under a railway track and allows for the maintenance of railway stock. An adjacent, smaller pit is filled-in.

Features of the Inspection Pit of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Concrete base
• Stone block and brick walls, capped with timber members and metal rails

Features of the Inspection Pit not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Wagon Shed sheltering the Inspection Pit (1983)
• Smaller, filled-in inspection pit

Drop Pit Shed (former, also known as Loco Repair Shed, and Wintergarden Shed, 1938)

The Drop Pit Shed forms part of the rolling stock depot at the centre of the triangle of southern sidings. It is flanked on the north and south sides by recent buildings. The metal-framed building has an arched roof, is open-ended on the east and west sides, and is seven bays long. It is bisected internally by a railway siding.

Features of the Drop Pit Shed of state-level cultural heritage significance also include:

• Arched roof, clad in corrugated metal sheets, with arched ridge ventilator
• Metal bowstring trusses (recycled from 1895 carriage shed at Broadmount)
• Metal posts forming seven bays
• Corrugated metal sheet cladding to wall between roof and roofline of adjacent building and to fascia of east and west elevations
• Open east and west elevations
• Railway siding running east-west through the centre of the building

Features of the Drop Pit Shed not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Concrete slab floor
• Fabric of recent adjacent buildings

Features Not of State-Level Cultural Heritage Significance

Features of Emerald Railway Station Complex not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:

• Gardner’s Lean-to (post-1979)
• Communications Equipment Building (1979, brick)
• Sand Furnace Concrete Floor (pre-1990)
• Features of the Rolling Stock Depot not previously mentioned, consisting of:
  • Diesel Servicing Shed and Office (1991)
  • Wintergarden Office (c1991)
  • Large Metal Shed (c2007)

References

[1] ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, Queensland Rail, November 2017, p.6.
[2] Helen Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, 8 May 2017, p.9; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B4.
[3] Queensland Government Intelligence and Tourist Bureau, Central Queensland: its Marvellous Pastoral and Mineral Resources, its Unbounded Agricultural Possibilities, and its Scenic Beauties, Brisbane, 1914, p.123.
[4] The first section of the Queensland railway network was opened between Ipswich and Bigges Camp on 31 July 1865, and later extended to link the towns of Warwick, Dalby and Toowoomba with Ipswich; Entry on the Queensland Heritage Register, Grandchester Railway Complex (QHR 600729).
[5] Entry on the Queensland Heritage Register, Archer Park Railway Station (QHR 600777); ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B2.
[6] ‘Plan of Sections 1 to 10, Township of Emerald, Willoughby Hannam, 8 September 1878’, Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.30; Morning Bulletin, 20 February 1879, p.2.  
[7] Rockhampton Bulletin, 11 April 1876, p.2; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.27.
[8] Rockhampton Bulletin, 28 August 1877, p.2.
[9] Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.63; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B5; C.Gunton, Emerald Railway Station Conservation Management Plan, Queensland Railways Architectural and Buildings Services Section, February 1996, p.3.3.
[10] Morning Bulletin, 20 February 1879, p.2; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.63; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B5.
[11] Morning Bulletin, 19 March 1879, p.2.
[12] Pugh’s Queensland Almanac, 1885, Gordon and Gotch, Brisbane, Queensland, p.444.
[13] The Capricornian, 26 may 1883, p.15; The Capricornian, 27 January 1883, p.15; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.64; In 1886 distant semaphores were installed; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B5.
[14] Morning Bulletin, 15 June 1885, p.5.
[15] The Daily Northern Argus, 28 March 1892, p.4; The Telegraph, 30 March 1892, p.7.
[16] The Daily Northern Argus, 19 February 1892, p.1; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B6.
[17] Morning Bulletin, 6 February 1892, p.5.
[18] The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, 11 December 1894, p.7.
[19] Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.64.
[20] The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, 20 April 1897, p.7; The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, 8 September 1896, p.3; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B6.
[21] The Northern Miner, 31 August 1900, p.3.
[22] The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, 4 December 1900, p.9; The Capricornian, 19 January 1901, p.10.
[23] Morning Bulletin, 3 October 1900, p.5.
[24] Entry on the Queensland Heritage Register, Mount Morgan Railway Station Complex (QHR 600752).
[25] Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.67.
[26] The Week, 26 July 1901, p.23; Morning Bulletin, 20 July 1901, p.5.
[27] ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B7; it is believed that this station was moved to Raglan and Bajool.
[28] ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.8.
[29] Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.68.
[30] Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.68.
[31] Telegraph, 23 August 1915, p.2; Morning Bulletin, 17 August 1915, p.6; Morning Bulletin, 20 August 1915, p.6.
[32] The Daily Mail, 4 December 1924, p.6; The Capricornian, 7 February 1925, p.12; Townsville Daily Bulletin, 11 February 1925, p.11; ‘Sir Thomas William Glasgow’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, ANU, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/glasgow-sir-thomas-william-6397, accessed 3 June 2010; ‘Emerald War Memorial’, Queensland War Memorial Register, Queensland Government, <https://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au/memorial?id=512>, accessed 3 June 2020.
[33] Morning Bulletin, 28 April 1928, p.9; The Central Queensland Herald, 1 May 1930, p.29; The Central Queensland Herald, 2 May 1935, p.23; ‘Emerald War Memorial’, Queensland War Memorial Register, Queensland Government, <https://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au/memorial?id=512>, accessed 3 June 2020; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.68.
[34] Emerald War Memorial, <https://www.queensland.com au/en/things-to-do/attractions/p-56b2633d7b935fbe730e2d9b-emerald-war-memorial>, accessed 5 June 2020.
[35] The Capricornian, 13 February 1926, p.8; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B9.
[36] Brian Costar, ‘Two Depression Strikes, 1931’, The Big Strikes: Queensland 1889-1965, Ed. DJ Murphy, University of Queensland Press, 1983, pp.186-192.
[37] Sunday Mail, 1 February 1931, p.1.
[38] Sunday Mail, 1 February 1931, p.1; Brian Costar, ‘Two Depression Strikes, 1931’, p.190.
[39] Brian Costar, ‘Two Depression Strikes, 1931’, p.191.
[40] ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B10; ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.5.
[41] Morning Bulletin, 7 November 1939, p.3.
[42] Morning Bulletin, 8 May 1945, p.6; The Central Queensland Herald, 1 November 1945; ERM, Emerald Railway Station, Conservation Management Plan – Final, p.B10.
[43] ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.9.
[44] ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.22.
[45] ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.22; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.72.
[46] ERM, Built Elements Heritage Review, Emerald Railway Station Complex, Queensland Rail, March 2017, p.11.
[47] Bennett states that the complex provided employment for up to 200 people; Bennett, Central Line Stations, Emerald to Winton, Assessments of Potential or Amplified State Historical Significance, Report for Queensland Rail, p.31.

Image gallery