corinda

corinda is a very large station with 5 platforms which is part of both the ipswich and springfield lines. the station is preceded by sherwood station inbound on the ipswich and springfield lines and followed by oxley outbound on the same two lines. it is also preceded by tennyson station, which is now a disused station that linked corinda to yeerongpilly on the corinda via south brisbane line. the freight trains and coal trains often pass through corinda and take the corinda via south brisbane line through tennyson to meet up with the beenleigh line at yeerongpilly before following the beenleigh line inbound past pace at dutton park.

this station has often given some interesting experiences, such as the night during second year of pharmacy not long before exam block (it must have been early october 2012) when karen as i were on the train home from central to ipswich (this is before we decided on dinmore as our primary station) and for some reason the train broke down here at corinda. people in the carriages were getting restless, some were angrily talking on the phones, others sighed heavily and did the usual knuckle or neck cracking ritual they do on trains when bored. karen decided to read the paper and munch on some twisties (yes we know we arent meant to be eating, but it is self contained food, and it was dinner time and she was hungry). i was lucky, thankfully that day we had had a drug discovery lecture and i had my notes in my bag which were thankfully up to date (a rare event, i must say!). so here i am sitting in a broken down train at corinda reading my notes about schizophrenia to keep me sane in the crisis (i later told our lecturer about this and for memory she found it amusing; hi jacqui!)

about a year later in october 2013, the train on the ipswich line broke down again, and again ironically karen was stranded at corinda. this time sadly i wasnt with her, i was home studying because we were about to commence our third year exams (it must be an annual event, october 2014 will be interesting!). i got a call from her that the train was stuck at corinda with a chance to get to darra, and that i should try to pick her up from there instead of our trusty dinmore - as trains couldnt get any further than darra due to a train earlier bringing down the wires somewhere along the ipswich line. 

figuring this wouldnt be too difficult, i had been to darra before, i jumped in emmy and away we went. on the way, karen text saying they will now be able to get to wacol and a change of plans, i was to meet her there. so since wacol is on the way, that was no problem, and i drove to wacol. i had no sooner pulled up at wacol, when another text came through that she was still at corinda and it was unlikely she could get to wacol now, and to try to find corinda station. i figured 'ive got this' and decided to try to find the station. bear in mind if you will, i had no map, i had no gps, no smart phone with a mapping facility on it, actually not even really a phone since i can only text on my mobile - the speakers dont work (and no i am not updating my phone!) - but i knew the general direction to get to corinda, and figured how hard could it be? when leaving wacol, i had to drive over the rail crossing and ironically, as i was approaching the red lights came on and the boom started to lower and all i was thinking was 'how is this possible!? the trains arent even running yet now one decides to come while i am on the tracks!' it was an inbound train, as i saw it approaching wacol from the gailes direction as i forced emmy through the crossing at a velocity greater than i was meant to.  it wasnt even a diesel carrying coal, it was an electric train heading inbound! what the! it could only happen to me!

talk about an amusing journey. i went past the exit to get to darra, knowing full well i could get to that station but that karen couldnt get there, so i went on and met up with the beenleigh line near moorooka, which i figured i could follow and it would lead me to yeerongpilly where i could turn left and follow the old train line along past tennyson station, since the line meets up at corinda. i found tennyson (in the dark, without a map - i thought that was an achievement -and hopefully i can find my way back there as i really want to visit that station). i followed countless roads with large green signs directing me to suburbs that are on the ipswich line: graceville, sherwood, oxley - yet no signs saying corinda. i have always found that when you are lost, the rule of 'follow the green signs' to be almost as foolproof as the rule of 'use latin and greek' to figure out words oyu dont understand (particularly useful in pharmacy, i assure you!). however, there were no green signs saying corinda! beginning to despair, karen texts asking if i am lost. i replied back that i had found the train line again which linked tennyson to corinda, but wasnt sure how to get closer to the corinda station. i realised as i sent the text that there was a police car behind me and figured if they pull me over to fine me i can at least ask for directions. instead, karen texted that she was on a rail bus and to meet her at wacol. *sigh* i then had to navigate to wacol again from somewhere near corinda, which i did, and it wasnt long after i got there that her rail bus pulled up. what a saga! i have since looked at how to get to corinda on a map - and am amazed i got as close as i did. it is far much easier to get to corinda via the train when you dont live near the station! 

i simply have to include the map showing where corinda station is located in relation to the ipswich and beenleigh lines, to highlight the journey i went on to try to find the station by car. on the right hand side of the map is fairfield road, i followed that inbound (from bottom of map to top) past moorooka station, almost as far as yeerongpilly station, turned left at the blue 48 and followed that road past the tennis centre to king arthur terrace, tennyson station is not marked as it is disused (i think that is sad, poor tennyson) but it is right where the road goes over the tracks near the tennis centre. king arthur terrace became graveville avenue, though it didnt take me to graceville, turning in to oxley road didnt help but did get me a touch closer. sherwood road intersection had me thinking i must have been close to sherwood station, sort of true, but as for corinda, the closest i got was where the blue 35 is as the track joining the ipswich and beenleigh lines goes over the road. it was near here that i sent karen the text when she asked if i was lost; and her reply was that she was on her way to wacol on a rail bus. so near, yet so far!! i didnt think i would be back to corinda any time soon after all of this! i was wrong...
 

i mentioned in my cannon hill entry that the day i left the station after getting a good series of photos to be able to finish my blog, i caught a train inbound with aim of going to central, then heading home after lunch. on the way, as the train passed through park road, i saw an ipswich train heading along the tracks towards dutton park. thinking that was either a mislabeled train, or a train heading to ipswich via tennyson, i tried to see how the ipswich was represented on the overhead screens when our train got to roma street. unfortunately, i couldnt see it, so stayed on my shorncliffe until central. it was at central that i saw that the ipswich was indeed running express to corinda from roma street; meaning that the trains were running via tennyson. oh my god! tennyson! i simply had to catch the ipswich now, and that was exactly what i did! we duly went through park road, and i got to travel further than dutton park for the first time (how ironic it would be on an ipswich train!! this was perfect blog material!) we went as far as yeerongpilly then changed lines and went past tennyson (yes, i got photos! not many, but i got them!) and met up with the ipswich line again at corinda. it was here that i disembarked and officially collected corinda station for the first time. and how lucky was this; a diesel was passing the station at that very moment. it really was the most perfect hour of train travel! here is the diesel as it passes corinda station, on its way to meet the beenleigh line (it too will be going past tennyson). in my rapid excitement to get my camera ready again, i missed the front of the diesel as it approached, though i did manage to capture most of it as it chugged past corinda.

because of a bridge strike at milton station while i was at cannon hill getting the last few photos for my blog, the ipswich and richlands (now springfield) trains were diverted through park road to corinda. after all of my previous experiences with corinda station, i was finally on the platform, and had arrived there by train: a train that got to take me past tennyson. it couldnt get much better than that could it!? here the train is about to depart platform 2 of corinda to continue its journey.

the ipswich train dropped me (and other passengers) off at corinda before continuing along the ipswich line to oxley station. this was my first photo of the corinda station platforms, taken from where i disembarked the train on platform 2. the station has two island platforms and one side platform. 

the corinda station, like mitchelton, has elevators, and this station sign was on the side of one of the elevators on platform 2. like dinmore, corinda is in italics. i still dont really get this, it is a pretty major station, why not use a nice bold font so that the name stands out on the sign? even the westlander stops at corinda station. it runs express from roma street to rosewood stopping only at corinda and ipswich before continuing on its journey out west.

i had to get a shot of the corinda station sign on the platform. i still dont know why the font is so small and written in italics, it makes so much of the area of the sign redundant. (especially when compared to a station like darra or south brisbane and how well the station sign area is utilized) the diesel is running behind me as i am taking this photo across the island platforms.  

here is another shot of the diesel as it heads towards tennyson before joining the beenleigh line at yeerongpilly. australia must export a hell of a lot of coal, as i am forever seeing the coal trains along the ipswich line now that i use it so much, and when we are at pace we hear them passing dutton park station when we are in the library.

this is the view of platforms 3 and 4 of corinda looking across from platform 2. platform 5 is in the background. inbound trains travel to the right of the picture, outbound trains travel to the left of picture. platform 3 and 4 are an island platform (so are platforms 1 and 2).

i really like this shot for some reason. this is the view north from the end of platforms 1 and 2. platforms 3 and 4 are also visible to the left, but for me the real highlight of this photo is the track veering around to the right of the shot. this is the line that goes through tennyson to yeerongpilly! the train i arrived at corinda on had traveled through tennyson, and thus had arrived at corinda station via this track. not a bad effort really, my first time at corinda was courtesy of tennyson.

taken from the end of platform 2 looking back at corinda station from along the platform. platform 3 is also visible on the right. the ipswich train i caught to corinda had earlier arrived on platform 2 after passing through tennyson station. if you look super closely, the ipswich train is actually still visible as it leaves corinda on its way to the next station south: oxley.

the view of platforms 3, 4 and 5 from platform 2 of corinda station. the outbound trains travel to the left of the shot, inbound to the right. corinda used to be the terminating station on the corinda via south brisbane line (also known as the tennyson line or corinda yeerongpilly line), which is no longer in operation. sadly i never actually got to officially catch this train. it ceased to operate in june 2011, and we moved to emerald hill in october 2012 (easily remembered, because i missed out on doing halloween since we had so many boxes around our house, i couldnt find anything other than my large glow in the dark skeleton). i did however get to travel to corinda on this particular day on the tennyson line because of the bridge strike at milton station (seriously the bridge strikes are milton are actually rather common and very dangerous, imagine if your train is going over the bridge as it gets struck!!)
visible in this shot is the ramp on platform 5 and the elevator also on platform 5 which links up with the covered footbridge.

diesel aside, this shot was intended to show the covered footbridge, how it is enclosed to protect commuters from the weather. im standing on the sherwood end of platform 1 here to get this shot, looking south in the direction of oxley station. the diesel is passing corinda on its way towards tennyson to join with the beenleigh line at yeerongpilly.

looking along platform 1 from the sherwood end of corinda towards the oxley end. this time sans diesel passing the station. at the top of the photo is the footbridge which provides a lot of shade when waiting underneath it. no i am not breaking any rules by taking this photo, just held the camera out as far as i could in my left hand.

further along the island platform, platform 1 is on the left, platform 2 on the right. this is getting further towards the oxley end of the corinda station. the island platform of platform 3 and 4 is visible on the left of the shot. the freight trains pass corinda station on the left of the shot on the tracks which dont have a platform.

towards the oxley end of corinda station, on platform 1 and 2 i found these lovely quaint wooden seats, the appear to have been recently painted up to look fresh and new. i am looking at them from platform 1. they are double sided, with the seats pictured facing platform 1 and the reverse side facing platform 2. in the background platform 3 and its track are visible.

taken from the extreme end of platform 1 and 2 looking in the direction of oxley station. the ipswich train has recently left corinda. this shot reminds me of my wulkuraka shots from last year. the track leading away from platform 1 is in the bottom left corner. the diesel tracks for the freight trains are on the far left of the shot. on the bottom right is the track leading in to platform 2. tracks leading to and from the remaining platforms 3, 4 and 5 are on the right of the shot. i also ventured over to platforms 3 and 4 to get a similar shot, which appears further down the page.

turning back around to get a shot of corinda station from the oxley end of platforms 1 and 2. this shot mainly looks along platform 1 and the freight train tracks. platform 2 is on the left.

from platform 2 looking across at the island platform of 3 and 4, and the side platform 5 at corinda station. the station signs at the oxley end of the station are visible in this shot. i love the mural on platform 5. its a shame i cant capture more of it in the photos. while not quite as impressive as norman park, it is still nice to see (though seriously can any station rival norman park for having a beautiful mural?) the end of platforms 3 and 4 is almost visible on the far left of this shot.

from platform 2 looking across at platform 3, showing the covered waiting area with the old wooden seats. in the background along platform 5 the mural is visible. while not quite as cool as the mural at norman park, the one at corinda is still lovely to look at. this shot was taken towards the oxley end of platform 2, between the end of the platform and the middle.

this shot was taken from platform 1, looking along the platform from towards the oxley end of the station, showing the tracks that the diesels and freight trains use. the walkways and footbridge are visible in this shot as well. this shot is looking towards sherwood, with trains heading through tennyson turning to the right as they travel past corinda station. i got some lovely photos from the ramp, which are coming up shortly.

the staircase on platforms 1 and 2 of corinda. which leads up to the station office and footbridge linking all of the platforms. platform 3 is visible to the left of the shot.

the corinda station office is located above the platforms, at the top of the stairs. as you can see, there are vending machines and phone facilities. there is a descent sized waiting area and a large overhead display of upcoming inbound and outbound train services.

i always find these displays incredibly helpful, and this one at corinda is a beauty, with the next three inbound and outbound services all listed with times, destinations and platform numbers. after getting a few photos, i ended up finding my way to the caboolture train on platform 5.

these next few photos were taken from the ramp which runs alongside the diesel tracks near platform 1. platform 1 and 2 is the island platform in the foreground on the left, with platform 3 and 4 the island platform behind that one, and is significantly longer. platform 5 runs along the back behind the island platforms. the tracks in the immediate foreground are for the diesels as the freight trains travel from corinda to yeerongpilly via tennyson. hopefully tennyson will reopen some day so i can get some photos of it. this shot is looking in a somewhat northerly direction from corinda to sherwood. it is almost wikipaedia worthy, dont you think?

looking north along from the ramp which runs alongside platform 1, you can see the diesel tracks veer around to the right to link corinda with tennyson. the end of platform 3 and 4 is visible on the far left of the shot. sherwood is the next station from corinda when heading inbound. if you have a descent zoom on your computer or ipad when reading this, if you look closely at the signals overhead the tracks between corinda and sherwood (red, green, red) there are two small white lines either side of the third red signal, these lines are the platform at sherwood station. i havent visited sherwood yet, but will get there some time for this blog.

this is a similar shot to the one above, just from a different position along the ramp to get a different angle of the tracks that take the freight trains from corinda through tennyson. as it turns out, this shot gives a far better view of sherwood station. again, if you have a descent zoom function, zoom in to the middle of this shot, and you will be able to see sherwood station fairly well. platforms are visible, so is the station office. this proves to highlight the proximity of the two stations.

again from the ramp near platform 1, this time looking across at corinda station itself. the island platform in the foreground is platforms 1 and 2. behind this is the island platform of 3 and 4, with platform 5 running along the back in front of the mural. platforms 3 and 4 are a longer platform than 1 and 2.

again from the ramp running alongside the diesel tracks at corinda station, this time looking back at the station in the direction of oxley. the tracks in the immediate foreground are the diesel tracks for the freight trains which pass the station and follow the tracks along past tennyson on their way to yeerongpilly. the island platform 1 and 2 runs alongside of these tracks, which is visible in the foreground. just behind this platform, the second island platform is 3 and 4 which is the longer of the two island platforms. platform 3 and 4 extend further than 1 and 2 in the direction of sherwood station.

i got this shot from the oxley end of the ramp that runs along platform 1. i mainly wanted to capture the tracks themselves leading away from corinda station in the direction of oxley. platform 1 is on the right. i think this is a nice photo of corinda.

from the ramp again, this time looking over at the platforms at corinda station, with the island platform of platform 1 and 2 in the foreground, platforms 3 and 4 in the middle and platform 5 running along the mural in the background. while maybe not the most legible, i have managed to capture the station signs on the platforms in this shot. perhaps if the name corinda were in a larger regular font it would be easier to read?

i got this shot of the elevator at corinda station which is on the same side as the ramp which runs along the freight train tracks in front of platform 1. this elevator links the sidewalk to the footbridge joining all the platforms. corinda really goes a long way towards catering for people with disabilities or who require mobility aids because of the ramps and elevators. i must prefer staircases though!
a friend of mine is due to start working at the corinda day and night pharmacy located on oxley road very shortly. when i told him i had finished my blog about corinda, he said the pharmacy is right near the train station, so i had to mention in here since oxley road is on the same side as platform 1. if you ever visit the pharmacy, say hi to richard for me!  

from the top of the ramp, looking in the direction of oxley, this shot was designed to show the sheer vastness of the corinda station. i got this shot as a train approached. this is the petrie train which was arriving on platform 4.

from the same position, this time the petrie train is just a little bit closer to the platform. 

when combined with the previous two shots, these photos hopefully prove to highlight how large the corinda station really is. on platform 4 is the petrie train. another possibly wiki worthy shot perhaps?

ok, so this one is definitely wiki worthy! this time i am on platform 3, looking along the platform in the direction of oxley station. this is a great shot looking along the platform of corinda station. platform 2 is visible on the left of the shot.

looking along platform 3 of corinda station in the direction of sherwood. platform 2 is on the right of the photo. the station office is actually above the platforms, and is accessed by ascending the stairs or riding the elevator (if you trust them. i dont, but you might. i have never liked elevators). the station office (which is partially pictured at the top of the photo) and footbridge adjoining it create some cover at the sherwood end of the corinda station.

this was my attempt at capturing the mural along platform 5 at corinda station. at least this was a partial success. this shot was taken from platform 4 looking across at platform 5.

i got this shot on platforms 3 and 4, looking in the direction of the oxley station. i wanted to show the undercover areas and the old style wooden seats which i think add character to the corinda station.

this shot was taken from the extreme oxley end of platforms 3 and 4 at corinda looking at the tracks as they come in to corinda.

taken from the oxley end of the platform, turning around to get a shot looking along platform 4 of corinda from the very end of the platform. platform 5 is on the left. this is actually a half descent effort to show the corinda station mural as well. wiki worthy maybe?

on the platform 4 side of the island platform, looking across at platforms 1 and 2. platform 3 is in the foreground, with platform 2 just behind it. in the background is the ramp (diagonal white thing) that i got some photo from looking in the direction of oxley.

still on platforms 3 and 4, looking across at platform 5. the end of the mural is visible on the left.

the richlands train arrives at corinda, approaching platform 2. you can see by the curve of the train, that it has come in from sherwood and not tennyson. this means that the earlier bridge strike at milton has been resolved and trains are running as per normal again. at the time i visited this station, which was just before my cannon hill blog was published, richlands was the terminating station on the richlands line. that line has now been extended by an extra two stations: springfield and springfield central. i have so far visited richlands and springfield central, but as yet, not been to springfield. it is because of the springfield line that i have had to code corinda the way i have in this entry, since it is a station on both the ipswich and springfield lines. when richlands was a terminating station, it was initially represented in green like the ipswich line. i got this photo from platform 3 of corinda station at the sherwood end of the platform.

still on platform 3, this is a reverse angle of the richlands train arriving on platform 2. this time i am looking in the direction of oxley.

the richlands has arrived on platform 2. this shot shows how much longer platforms 3 and 4 are than platforms 1 and 2. you can also see on the left of the shot the white ramp which i ventured over earlier to get some photos of the tracks leading away from corinda station, as well as some overview shots of the station to show its size.

from platform 3, looking in the direction of tennyson station. tennyson was closed as a station before we moved to emerald hill, so i never had the pleasure of collecting the station. i hope some day it is reopened, or at the lest, i am allowed in by queensland rail staff to get some photos of the station for my blog. tennyson station was a short platform, only long enough for a single 3 carriage train to fit at a time. i believe eudlo is of similar length. traveston on the other hand, can only fit a single carriage, it must be insanely small and cute. it is still at the top of my list of stations i really want to visit.

taken from the extreme end of platform 3 and 4 at corinda, looking in the direction of sherwood station. if you have a descent zoom on your computer, you can actually see sherwood station from this photo.

i got this shot on my way from platforms 3 and 4 to platform 5 since the caboolture train would be arriving soon. the yellow box is the translink reader where you hold your card at the beginning and end of each journey to register each station. i love collecting new stations on these things, since there at usually a few at each station. on this journey i managed to get from central to cannon hill, cannon hill to corinda (via central again without recollecting it, and also via tennyson because of the bridge strike at milton), then corinda back to central. all of this was classed as 'continuation' so it was all one journey. thus, it was mostly free. brilliant!!

from the top of the ramp leading down to platform 5 of corinda station, i got this shot as one last overview shot of the entire station in the direction of tennyson and sherwood. platforms 3 and 4 are running through the middle of the shot, with platforms 1 and 2 pretty much in the center.

looking up at the st aidans girls school which is right near the corinda station, this is taken from platform 5. i like the way the rock wall has been landscaped.

i do love my station signs, even when they are in small italicized fonts. this is one last shot of the corinda station sign on platform 3 and 4 towards the sherwood end.

the train arriving on platform 5 is the brisbane city and cabooolture train, stopping all stations. my time at corinda was almost up. i am sure i will be back again some time, you just never know! 

with the arrival of the caboolture train, i bid farewell to corinda station. after having traveled through it so many times, it was great to finally get to stop there and enjoy the station. though i think for me, the best part about this station was the journey i took to get here. after wanting to visit tennyson for so long, i at least got to pass through it on my way to corinda for the first time. for me, that was the perfect way to arrive at this station.