Yeppoon railway station

In 1867, residents of Rockhampton signed a petition asking the Surveyor-General to mark out a town at the nearest point on the central Queensland coast where they might be able to enjoy a day at the beach. Although Yeppoon, then known as "Bald Hills", was proclaimed as a Town Reserve, as a watering place for Rockhampton on 30 April 1868, for many years access to it was difficult, the first road with culverts being built in 1878. It suffered in its rivalry with Emu Park (declared a Town Reserve on 9 January 1869), where land was taken up by influential Rockhampton businessmen and squatters from further west who built holiday houses there. These two resort towns were among the first in Queensland and the first on the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. The passenger station, engine shed and a carriage shed were built in 1909. A parcels and luggage room were added in 1910. By 1943 the complex included a goods shed, station master's house, guards' quarters, drivers' quarters, forkline and loading ramp. The goods shed was relocated within the railyard in 1966. In March 2022, the Livingstone Shire Council announced it would be building an outdoor undercover area with landscaping and parkingin the railway precinct. It would be used as both a community recovery hub during disasters, and otherwise be available for markets, entertainment, and other community events. The proposed development does not involve the re-use of the railway station buildings. == Description ==

The station complex is located on the northern side of James Street at the western end of the main commercial precinct. The passenger station is a long gable-roofed chamferboard building with a corrugated galvanised iron roof with square "fascia" gutters. On the street side, the roof extends to form a shade supported on timber posts by solid timber brackets. Large decorative brackets are spaced at regular intervals under the eaves. The lowset building is set on concrete stumps. Concrete steps lead up to doorways, a small timber landing is situated adjacent to a boarded up window of the ticket and freight office. Several metres from the building, two long sandstone block steps, topped with concrete run along half the length (western end) of the building. Some panelled doors remain, but the door to the ticket and freight office has been replaced with a flush sliding door. Windows are 4-pane colonial sash. The platform side has a curved shade supported on timber posts with plain struts and concrete bases. A section on the eastern end is enclosed with battens to form a storage area for a forklift. The platform on which the station building sits is concrete edged and is of compacted soil topped with blue metal gravel and is furnished with a single timber bench seat bearing the word "YEPPOON" in black letters. Two similar seats are placed on the street side of the building. On either end of the building a timber sign is mounted off the wall at an angle, painted dark green and with raised letters painted beige to match the building bearing the name "YEPPOON". The ticket and freight office, located at the western end of the building is a large rectangular space with walls and ceiling lined with tongue and groove boards. A set of cupboards is built into the western end of the room to waist height. It has four doors and a safe located in the centre, below the window to the waiting room. Wall- mounted timber shelving is located to the right of the window. The room contains a mix of modern and original furnishings and fixtures. Two panelled timber doors with square fanlights above open to the platform. Two windows open to the platform and two to the street side. The former waiting room is adjacent to the ticket and freight office and is enclosed to the platform side by timber battens with a door offset to the eastern end. It has a window opening to the ticket and freight office. The parcels room is a large open space with centrally located double timber doors opening to the outside of the building on either side. The western wall is lined with four shelves. The roof and walls are lined with tongue and groove boards. The floor is of timber boards. The wall to the platform side has exposed framing. At the eastern end of the building are male and female toilets with doors opening to the platform side. == Heritage listing ==

Yeppoon Station Building was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 April 2008 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' Yeppoon Railway Station is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. The terminal of branch line opened in 1909, it is important surviving evidence of a rail service to a seaside resort. Passengers from Rockhampton and throughout Central West Queensland used the service to Yeppoon. The line also contributed to coastal development serving mining, agricultural, educational and pastoral interests in the area. In particular it was important in the establishment of Yeppoon as a centre for boarding schools to service Central Queensland. It recalls an era when the railway played an important role in conveying day trippers to the seaside and complements Archer Park (Archer Park Rail Museum), the principal point of departure for passengers on this railway. '''The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.''' The Yeppoon station building is important as a rare surviving and substantially intact seaside resort station, comparing with Shorncliffe and Pialba and others including Urangan, Cleveland, Southport, Tweeds Heads and Coolangatta since demolished. The extant earth platform is also rare in Queensland. == References ==