Place:

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Date:

1886

Historical Information:

This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection held at The National Archives UK.

The construction of a railway station on Roma Street was part of a plan to extend the Main Line to Brisbane. An iron station building designed by Sir Charles Fox & Sons was to be imported from the United Kingdom for this purpose, but economic problems in Queensland led to the order being cancelled. In 1873, the Superintendent of Public Buildings Francis Stanley designed a smaller station for the site, with construction beginning in the same year under John Petrie. The station was officially opened on 14 June 1875 in Brisbane at the same time that the Main Line opened to Indooroopilly.

A goods and carriage shed were added shortly after. In 1882, Roma Street became a junction station with the North Coast line opening to Sandgate. With the opening of Central station as Brisbane’s principal station on 18 August 1889, the station was renamed Roma Street. [Wikipedia]

Description:

Showing Brisbane “Roma Street” Railway Station, from the south-west, Queensland, Australia. Original photo published 1886.

From the collection of:

The National Archives UK Flickr