DescriptionCooroy Railway Station was designed by the Office of the Chief Engineer of Queensland Rail and opened in July 1891 with the extension of the North Coast Railway line south from Cooran to Cooroy. A railway line opened in 1881 from Maryborough to Gympie to provide access to the goldfields. The railway line was extended south to Cooran in 1889 and to Cooroy by 1891, supporting the region’s emerging timber industry by enabling transport of timber by rail to the Brisbane markets, where previously timber had been transported by sea. The station building is one of only nine nineteenth century timber country railway station buildings remaining on the North Coast Line which extends from Brisbane to Cairns. Of these, only two of the stations also have an extant goods shed and crane.
The town of Cooroy itself was not surveyed until 1907. Its prosperity was initially dependent on the local timber industry and banana cultivation. By 1915, dairying became prominent with the opening of a butter factory in Cooroy. The railway line not only facilitated the extraction of timber from the North Coast area from the late nineteenth century, but also allowed for the expansion of agricultural
settlement. The Cooroy Railway Station was also a focal point for the region’s developing tourism industry with passengers able to alight in Cooroy and transfer to either horse-drawn coach or motor vehicle to travel by road to Tewantin, and motor launch to Noosa Heads.
The 1890 building, consisting of an office and shelter shed each 3.6m in length, was extended by a further 3.6m in 1895 to include a goods shed at the north end. By 1897 Cooroy railway station consisted of a station building, siding, telegraph, 10cwt scales, loading bank, and a timber-loading stage. In 1899 a ladies’ room was added to the northern end of the station building, taking the total length of the building to 14.6m.
The station building was again extended in 1916 with the addition of a signal cabin to the south of the office. By this time the building no longer had a goods shed section and was instead divided into a ladies room, waiting shed, and an office. The station building was also moved southwards to its current position opposite the goods shed.
Since 1916, the only extensions to the station building have been a small skillion alcove at the north end of the east side of office, where a water tank was once located, and a ramp has been added to the eastern entrance of the waiting shed. The former ladies’ room has been divided into men's and women's toilets. The signal cabin is now used for storage. The platform was extended in 1913, and in 1915 a loop siding was added to service the new Cooroy Butter Factory. The overhead timber pedestrian bridge to the north of the station was built circa 1985, to replace the 1961 footbridge.
A 1988 plan of the railway complex at Cooroy shows an inspector's house, inspector's hut, and fettler's hut to the west of the line, south of the road bridge, and an assistant station master's house north of the bridge. Most of these buildings were sold and removed in the 1980s and 1990s.
See also Queensland Heritage Register ID 602381Address 14, Myall Street, Cooroy
