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Normanton Railway Terminus

Matilda Street, Normanton

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Normanton Railway Station (2010); EHP

Normanton Railway Station (2010)

Normanton Railway Station, Gulflander engine (2010); EHP

Normanton Railway Station, Gulflander engine (2010)

Normanton Railway Station waiting area (2010); EHP

Normanton Railway Station waiting area (2010)

Normanton Railway Station shelter (2010); EHP

Normanton Railway Station shelter (2010)

Normanton Rail yards sheds and crane (2010); EHP

Normanton Rail yards sheds and crane (2010)

The town of Normanton was once an important port, dating to the late 1860s. In 1886, the Queensland Government decided to build a railway from Normanton to the copper mines of Cloncurry. In the interim, gold was discovered at Belmore Station, which was to become the town of Croydon. By the end of 1886, there were 2000 people here, and 6000 by the end of 1887. Transport was an issue, so the line was diverted to service the gold fields. Tenders were called in July 1887 and construction began in 1888. The terminus complex in Normanton comprised a station building with a telegraph office, station master's and traffic manager's offices, clerks' room, waiting room, parcels and cloak room, booking office, and a ladies' room (with a ramp to ladies-only earth closets). Attached to the station building, and sheltering the platform and three tracks, was an arcaded carriage shade with a curved roof. It also had a large goods shed with a crane, tanks, carpenter’s and blacksmith’s shop, timber shed, gantry and engine shed. The terminus now serves largely as a tourist attraction, where the Gulflander 1931 railmotor offers weekly trips to and from Croydon.

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Coordinates: -17.67227641, 141.07152974

Full details of this heritage-registered place are in the Heritage register.

Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last reviewed
1 July 2022
Last updated
28 February 2023