Sunday Selections #78
Welcome back to Sunday Selections!
Brought to us by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, Sunday Selections is a way to show off some of the many photos you've taken, but not yet used on your blog.
Here are the rules->
1. post your photos under the Sunday Selections title
2. Link back to Kim somewhere in your post
3. Add your name to Kim's linky list
4. Leave Kim a comment
This is such an easy meme, why don't you join us?
This week, I bring to you photos of the Adelaide City Railway Station.
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Sited near the corner of King William Street and North Terrace, this used to be our Interstate railway Station. As far as I'm concerned it should still be.
But no. Now this is where all of our suburban trains come and go from.
The interstate lines now come and go from Keswick Station, quite a long way out of town and not nearly as pretty. Oddly enough there is no connecting line between Keswick and the City...
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Entering through the North Terrace doors, this is what we see. A wide flight of stairs to the left, taking us down to the main floor. On the right, just past the red coke vending machine is a ramp/walkway that takes you back up to the street again. This used to be lined with many interesting little shops, in particular, one which sold continental goods such as cheeses, salamis, Dutch licorice. A little further past that on the left are the turnstiles leading to the platforms.
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These two big windows with a door either side used to be a huge cafeteria.
Bustling, noisy, warm and cheerful, entrance was through the left door, exit through the right.
We'd come into the station from Port Pirie and head straight to the cafeteria where we'd get a window table if one was available. We three kids would sit there and wait while Mum and Dad went to the long serving line getting trays and selecting lunch for us all. Usually sandwiches, then jelly (jello) for dessert, with milkshakes for us kids and coffee for themselves.
This was our "once a year" trip to the city. We'd be dressed in our best clothes and leave home very, very early.
Then we'd go shopping in the city. Mum always brought a big empty suitcase with her and on the return trip it would be full of new clothes for us, things for the house and Christmas gifts, to be hidden away until December 24th. (We always received our gifts on Christmas Eve).
A smaller case would be filled with Continental goods from the Central Market.
This cafeteria section is now part of the State Theatre Company.
The entire upstairs levels, accessed by flights of stairs, were huge ladies rooms with sumptuous bathroom fittings and sitting areas, and gentlemens rooms, probably with similar fittings although I never did see inside.
There were shops up there too, although I don't remember what they were, and a very large sitting area with plush carpets and lovely shiny brass light fittings that I loved.
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This is the ceiling, long and slightly arched. On the left you can see the lovely windows which I think are the originals. On the right, the upper level houses the Casino.
I don't see why this beautiful station couldn't have been kept as our Interstate connection, with lines to the suburbs as well. It's a lovely introduction to the City of Adelaide.
(Keswick used to be just the goods trains area).
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This is the entrance to the ramp/walkway which takes you back up to North Terrace. Just past the two windows you'll see an opening with stairs leading down to toilets and lockers.
Brought to us by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, Sunday Selections is a way to show off some of the many photos you've taken, but not yet used on your blog.
Here are the rules->
1. post your photos under the Sunday Selections title
2. Link back to Kim somewhere in your post
3. Add your name to Kim's linky list
4. Leave Kim a comment
This is such an easy meme, why don't you join us?
This week, I bring to you photos of the Adelaide City Railway Station.
But no. Now this is where all of our suburban trains come and go from.
The interstate lines now come and go from Keswick Station, quite a long way out of town and not nearly as pretty. Oddly enough there is no connecting line between Keswick and the City...
Bustling, noisy, warm and cheerful, entrance was through the left door, exit through the right.
We'd come into the station from Port Pirie and head straight to the cafeteria where we'd get a window table if one was available. We three kids would sit there and wait while Mum and Dad went to the long serving line getting trays and selecting lunch for us all. Usually sandwiches, then jelly (jello) for dessert, with milkshakes for us kids and coffee for themselves.
This was our "once a year" trip to the city. We'd be dressed in our best clothes and leave home very, very early.
Then we'd go shopping in the city. Mum always brought a big empty suitcase with her and on the return trip it would be full of new clothes for us, things for the house and Christmas gifts, to be hidden away until December 24th. (We always received our gifts on Christmas Eve).
A smaller case would be filled with Continental goods from the Central Market.
This cafeteria section is now part of the State Theatre Company.
The entire upstairs levels, accessed by flights of stairs, were huge ladies rooms with sumptuous bathroom fittings and sitting areas, and gentlemens rooms, probably with similar fittings although I never did see inside.
There were shops up there too, although I don't remember what they were, and a very large sitting area with plush carpets and lovely shiny brass light fittings that I loved.
I don't see why this beautiful station couldn't have been kept as our Interstate connection, with lines to the suburbs as well. It's a lovely introduction to the City of Adelaide.
(Keswick used to be just the goods trains area).
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It is a decent walk from the interstate terminus to catch a suburban train and bad luck if you are in a wheel chair as there is no access to Keswick from the interstate station. The problem with Adelaide Station is that it is a dead end which the interstate trains can't seem to cope with. Sounds a bit odd to me. I think the gov went for a cheap option and just stopped bringing interstate trains right into town.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful art deco building.
ReplyDeleteNo rail line between suburban and interstate trains? That's outrageously stupid.
ReplyDelete(I'd have said "unacceptable". It's replaced outrageous but is still too pissy for me.)
Andrew; when I was very little it wasn't a dead end station. I vaguely remember a train ride to Sydney with my dad and one of his "girlfriends" soon after my mum had left us. The north side of the station, where the Festival Centre is, had lines running to the Eastern states.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; it is a beautiful building still, in spite of what thye've done to it.
R.H. Way back when Keswick was just a goods yard, there was a connecting line. goods trains would come in from the East, bypass the station and continue to Keswick. In my opinion that system should have been kept.
It's a gorgeous station, but Andrew raises a good point - largely useless now and should somehow connect up with Keswick.
ReplyDeleteI also did a Sunday Selection this wee. :)
This is lovely. Really lovely. Like you I used to catch the train from Pirie for day trips. Once or twice a year as a teenager buying up records, books, going to the cinema, chatting up girls with my mate and the Adelaide station always felt so very cosmopolitan. Later I realized it that it reminded me of Grand Central Station in NY as seen in the movies. High arching ceilings, Sunlight flooding through huge windows such a feeling of spaciousness and, somehow, mysterious to me. Even now my local station here, the incredibly beautiful St Pancras doesn't give me the feeling of going somewhere or arriving somewhere that Adelaide Station did.
ReplyDeleteAnd Keswick? What a bloody travesty that was/is.
Such a good post.
Kath Lockett; a connecting line to Keswick would be a good start. there are "improvements" going on there at the moment, more access gates to the platforms for faster access for all the passengers and the new ticketing system....I didn't fully read the notice. I saw your Sunday Selection, really love the statuary.
ReplyDeleteHeptaparaparshinokh; I only came down to the city with my parents when I was 5-6-7. Never as a teenager. I was too busy being lazy I suppose.