mitchelton

before i begin, i will have to inform everyone who has been reading my blog, that queensland rail and translink have updated their network maps to accommodate the opening of the new springfield line, terminating at springfield central no longer making richlands a terminating station. the thing that makes this change of relevance to you all, is that some of the lines have now changed color on the maps, meaning the colors in this blog will have to be updated. this map is sadly no longer relevant. i am still not sure how i am coping with the biggest of these changes; where the cleveland line has changed to the cleveland line. the changes to the cleveland line mean that now the doomben line is the only line that will be purple on the translink maps. the airport line has also changed to gold to match the gold coast line (a change i fully support). the city stations, such as central and roma street are now represented by grey on station screens, meaning having them appear in black in my blog is no longer consistent, and could lead to confusion. the only problem is, they no longer stand out in the text. i will do what i can to conform to these changes, while retaining the integrity of the visual dynamic i have created for my past blogs. i wasnt going to make the changes retroactive, but since i dont want to confuse anyone, all of my previous blogs have now been updated with this new colour scheme incorporated. changing the purple to blue in the norman park entry was particularly hard, since i had been attached to that station for so long. i miss the cleveland line being purple.

the first time i went to mitchelton station was during exam block of second term, 2013. after a morning of studying in the back of karens store, she asked if i could go to brookside shopping center for her to pick up a book. she said i should look at it as having a break from studying, which i was happy to do. studying is difficult when you are hyperactive. on this particular morning, we had driven in to the city because it was a saturday, and so my first station for the day was actually central, not dinmore. to get to brookside, i was able to catch the ferny grove train to mitchelton station and walk a short distance to the shopping center. awesome! a break from study involving catching the train, and collecting a new station! it didnt get much better considering it was exam block and anything was more exciting than sitting on my bottom reading my notes and attempting practice exams! i really am brilliant at finding new ways to procrastinate!

mitchelton station is located, as mentioned above, on the ferny grove line. when following the ferny grove line outbound, mitchelton is located after gaythorne station, and the next station after mitchelton is oxford park. at this stage i havent yet visited any of the surrounding stations, but i have traveled to ferny grove station twice to see the end of the line and get a few photos.

after disembarking the train at mitchelton, i got a few photos of the station, before hurrying to brookside to get the book (it didnt take very long, the shopping center is very close to the station). after collecting the book and arriving back at the station, i had some time before the next city and beenleigh train was due to arrive on platform 1 of mitchelton station. naturally, i used this time well, to get a few more photos, just for this blog. i then got the beenleigh train back to central and went back to the store to study, putting my fun for the afternoon to and end and heading straight back for the books. 

the second time i visited mitchelton, was also involving books, but this time dropping some off to the brookside store. on this particular day, my multiple station journey began at norman park and had initially been to go from norman park to central to have lunch with karen, then go from central to cannon hill to get the remaining photos for that station that i needed at the time (it has since been published as you all know). however, one can never plan too far ahead, and when i got the the book shop, karen asked if i could drop some books to the brookside store for her. more than happy to oblige, i duly went back to central (my second station for the day) and waited for a ferny grove train to take me to mitchelton. of course, whenever i leave the house these days, i have my camera as you just never know if you will end up catching a train to somewhere new, and this is one of those days. after disembarking at mitchelton, i think i took  very minimal photos, i dropped off the books and returned to the station with the intention of getting a few more images of mitchelton before heading to cannon hill. while photographing, i got a lovely shot of a beenleigh train coming in to mitchelton from oxford park, but alas, wasnt able to catch it. not to be discouraged, i caught the next ferny grove to ferny grove to officially collect the station again, top up my go card, get a few photos of ferny grove station, and jump back on the beenleigh train bound for the city. i rode the same train all the way to park road where i intended changing trains for a cleveland train to go to cannon hill before returning to norman park. however, it was while waiting for a cleveland at park road that a storm decided to roll in and ruin my photo opportunities for both park road and also any potential cannon hill photos. alas, i caught the cleveland back to norman park and drove home to emerald hill. thus ended another 5 station journey, because of course i tagged my card off then on again at park road while i was waiting for the cleveland, just to officially get the station for the day (the journey was free after all!)

i got this shot of the mitchelton station sign when i got off the ferny grove train during my first visit to mitchelton station. the mitchelton station platform is an island platform, which is essentially one large platform with a track running either side of it. this sign is towards the oxford park end of the station, from platform 1 looking across at platform 2.

this photo shows the platform at mitchelton is an island platform, with platform 1 on the right and platform 2 on the left. this shot is looking towards the oxford park end of the station. the path leading from the platform to the car park is visible on the left towards the middle of the photo.

i walked up to the end of the mitchelton platform at the oxford park end of the station to get this shot of the tracks leading away from mitchelton in the direction of oxford park. there is a path joining the platform with the car park, visible in the above photo. i stood on this path to get this photo. the outbound ferny grove line is in the foreground in front of the shot leading away from mitchelton station and the inbound beeneligh line is to the right. this shot was styled on my favorite wulkuraka station photo.

i turned back around to face towards mitchelton station to get this shot of the track as it passes platform 2 of the station. i am still on the path connecting the car park on the right of the image to the platforms. 

this shot of mitchelton station is also from the oxford park end of the station, looking across platform 1 in the direction of gaythorne station.

this is platform 2 of mitchelton station looking inbound towards the gaythorne end. i took this shot from the oxford park end of the station so that i could show the platform and the footbridge which links the platform and the car park on the right. the track of the ferny grove line is visible in the shot.

this is the staircase which links the platform with the footbridge. because mitchelton is an island platform, there is one main staircase on the platform and 2 footbridges either side linking to the car parks and road. this shot was taken from the platform 2 side of the platform, after the ferny grove train had dropped me off at mitchelton station for my first visit. visible behind the staircase is an elevator which allows people with disabilities, people with a pram, the lazy, or people with large items to get to the footbridge.

if i werent so afraid of elevators i would have employed using this facility on my second trip to mitchelton station: after dropping some books to the brookside store, i had to collect some for the city, since we were essentially swapping stock. they kindly informed me i would need a trolly, to which i said that wasnt an option because i had caught the train (i like trains) and thus i had to load my backpack beyond capacity and carry two insanely heavy bags of books back to the station. i swear the total load weighed almost as much as i do!

looking across from platform 2 of mitchelton station at the footbridge, staircase and elevator on the southern side of the station. this staircase and elevator lead to the carpark. while not entirely visible, there are some lovely decorative tiles on the wall of the elevator which were designed by children.

this is the back of the elevator on the platform, taken from the platform 2 side looking across at the platform 1 side. there are some more decorative tiles on display here too, and sadly some graffiti on the wall of the elevator (i dont know what possesses people to do graffiti at train stations. i appreciate art, and i admit i do like a lot of the graffiti i see, but not on trains guys, or on the stations!) i particularly like the little drawing the child did of the train on the top right, not a bad effort! i guess mitchelton station is known affectionately as 'mitchie'.

this shot is from platform 1 of mitchelton station looking across at the footbridge, elevator and staircase on the northern side of the station. there is a bus interchange on the northern side of the station. the track immediately below the platform is the city and beenleigh line (which sometimes terminates at park road). the track beyond the beenliegh line terminates at mitchelton station.

ascending the steps on the mitchelton platform, i attempted to get a shot of platform 1, the beenleigh line and the footbridge connecting the platforms with the northern side of the station and the bus interchange. i think this was a descent effort at capturing all aspects! this shot is looking in the direction of the gaythorne station.

this image was also taken from the staircase on the mitchelton platform, looking across to the north of the station. the beenleigh line is at the bottom left of the shot, and the disused track runs through the middle of the photo. the bus interchange is to the right, out of picture.

i got this shot of the mitchelton station from the top of the staircase on the platform, looking in the direction of gaythorne station. the ferny grove line is visible along platform 2 of the station on the right of the shot. the bus interchange is on the left of the image.

this is a view of the footbridge joining the mitchelton station platform to the car parks on either side of the station. this shot is taken from the northern side looking south.

taken from the top of the staircase on the northern side of the mitchelton station looking along the beenleigh line towards gaythorne station. the bus interchange is visible on the left (no buses though). this shot shows the island platform fairly well, with platform 1 in the foreground and platform 2 in the background.

while not my best photography, at least this shot achieves a few things, you can see the mitchelton station island platform fairly well in this shot, platform 1 is visible on the left of the shot, with the beenleigh line running in front of it. the track adjacent to the beenleigh line terminates at mitchelton station, which is visible as the red light at the end of the track, just near the cars in the northern car park. this shot also, obviously, includes the staircase from the footbridge to the car park and bus interchange on the northern side of the station.

on my first journey to mitchelton station, i did my best to get a descent collection of photos to show off the station, and that included exiting the station to get a photo from the southern car park. this is a descent shot of platform 2 and the ferny grove line as it passes mitchelton station. the path visible at the end of platform 2 is where i got my earlier wulkuraka style photo of the ferny grove line.

i got this shot of the mitchelton station sign on platform 2 from outside the station on my way to brookside shopping center. i thought it would be nice to see the station from the south since i would be coming back from the north. the footbridge and elevators are visible in the photo.

from outside the station on my way to brookside shopping center, i got another shot of mitchelton station so i could include the sign and platform. this is from the south of the station, looking north. platform 2 is in view.

this is something different, so far at the stations i have photos of, none of them have had a translink sign quite like this. mitchelton has both the train station and a small bus interchange, making it a very useful stop on the ferny grove line. this sign is at the gaythorne end of the station, right near the level crossing.

here is mitchelton station from the gaythorne end, looking at the level crossing and the translink sign. the station itself is to the left of the photo. i got to walk across this crossing on my way to brookside.

as i approached the level crossing, i wanted to get a few photos like i did at cannon hill. this is the crossing looking towards the north. the mitchelton station is to the immediate left, gaythorne is further inbound to the right of picture. the ferny grove line is the track in the immediate foreground, the city and beenleigh is the second track visible. like at cannon hill and wulkuraka, the white gates close and a beeping sound alerts humans approaching the crossing that a train is approaching the station. the boom gates also cross the road to disallow cars to pass through while the train is nearby. 

this is mitchelton station from the level crossing, looking towards the station along the ferny grove line (on the left). the city and beenleigh line is on the right. this shot and the next remind me of my journeys to wulkuraka and cannon hill.

turning around to face the inbound city and beenleigh line, i am looking towards gaythorne station, which is not visible here. the beenleigh line is on the left and the ferny grove line is on the right of this shot. the white gates visible serve the same function as the image two photos earlier, to prevent humans walking over the tracks when a train is approaching. i think this is a fantastic idea and will hopefully save many lives. 

this was my last shot of mitchelton before i went to drop off the books. here is the city and beenleigh line as it departs mitchelton station. there are points in the immediate foreground to allow for trains to change tracks to the side track visible in front of the car park. i dont know how much use this track receives, but it is obviously there to serve a function. the ferny grove line is still visible on the left of the photo.

after walking to the brookside chopping center and dropping off the books, i walked back to mitchelton station to return to central and get back to studying for exams. this is the view from the bus interchange on the northern side of the station. platform 1 is slightly visible behind the plants running along the edge of the bus stop. the footbridge and staircase towers are clearly visible linking the buses to the trains at this station.

another view of mitchelton station, this time also from the north, looking towards platform 1 from the bus interchange. the elevator tower is to the right, and the footbridge linking the platforms with the buses is at the top of the photo. i even managed to capture the mitchelton station sign in the shot just for fun.

before climbing the steps to get back to platform 1 and head back to central, i got one last photo of mitchelton from the northern side, this is looking along the bus platform to the west. platform 1 is to the extreme left of the photo, and the track is also visible running in front of it. i think the blue storage crates visible directly ahead are for storing bicycles.

looking at platform 1 of mitchelton station as i descend the stairs to the platform after returning from brookside. the blue bicycle storage crates are still visible. the track in front of platform 1 is the city and beenleigh line.

while waiting for my inbound train, i was lucky enough to see this ferny grove train approaching mitchelton station. i couldnt resist getting a few photos since it was a perfect photo opportunity! here the ferny grove is approaching platform 2.

the train arriving on platform 2 is the ferny grove train. i think this is a great shot of the train itself, look how clean this train looks! i think this little electric multiple unit looks so cute, just a shame it is a touch blurry, though it was traveling fairly fast as it passed me!

this is a shot of the ferny grove train as it waits on platform 2 at mitchelton station. its next stop on its way to ferny grove will be oxford park.

away she goes, the ferny grove train departs mitchelton station, bound for oxford park. the next ferny grove service will be due at mithcelton in about 15 minutes, the trains run very frequently on this line.

platform 2 is empty now the ferny grove train has departed. this shot is looking inbound along platform 2 towards gaythorne; which is the direction the ferny grove had just come from. the booms are back in place now to allow traffic to continue to flow across the level crossing. 

this is me trying to be slightly artistic with my photography of the mitchelton station sign. i was trying to get the green light of the signal and the station sign together, this was my best effort. directly behind the signal, the platform 2 station is just obscured.

while waiting for my inbound train, i had fun taking random photos such as this one, i like the way the station sign and the signal are both visible here in this shot, looking across the mitchelton platform from platform 1 to platform 2.

walking back along platform 1 while waiting for my train, i got a photo of the information panel which shows when the next train is due. on this particular day, the beenleigh and gold coast lines were undergoing maintenance, and so the train was actually terminating at dutton park. if this had been a weekday, it would have been perfect since pace is at dutton park! alas, i needed to return to the store near central station and get back to studying!

this shot shows when the next ferny grove train is due to arrive on platform 2 at mitchelton station. trains run along the ferny grove line approximately every 15 minutes, making it one of the most accessible lines on the network.

here it comes! the train to the city approaches mitchelton station from oxford park. i was a touch surprised to see it labelled as a beenleigh line when it was terminating at dutton park, but since dutton park is the first station on the beenleigh line, it still makes sense.

the beenleigh train (terminating at dutton park on this particular day) arrives on platform 1 of mitchelton station. this particular model of train has free wi-fi, which is particularly useful if i have my laptop with me!

as i board the beenleigh (dutton park) bound for central, i get one last photo of mitchelton station looking towards oxford park so i could get a shot along the train and include the station sign. this would be my last photo of mitchelton station until after exam block was over.

i had to wait until after surviving exam block and result release to get these next few photos! each time i have been to mitchelton station has involved either dropping books off, collecting them, or both from the brookside store. since i dont get paid for this 'delivery service' i always figure i am entitled to do some exploring of the various stations i end up visiting during my travels. on this particular visit to mitchelton station, i managed to get a few more photos from the oxford park end of the station, and made this beautiful discovery as i was leaving the station to get a shot of the level crossing coming in to the station from oxford park. the reverse of this sign has mitchelton station on it in the same style. i love the train on the top! so cool!

this is a shot from blackwood street looking towards the level crossing from the oxford park end of the mitchelton station. the station itself is out of view, but is to the right of this shot.

this is the view from the crossing looking along the ferny grove line towards oxford park. the ferny grove line is in the foreground of the crossing, and on the left as the track leaves mitchelton. the city and beenleigh line is on the right. the mitchelton station is not visible here, but as the tracks continue to the right of this shot they approach the station.

this is the view from the blackwood street level crossing looking towards mitchelton from the oxford park end. i am standing on the ferny grove line itself to get this photo. the city and beenleigh line is on the left.

here is another shot of the blackwood street level crossing, with the ferny grove line on the left and the city and beenleigh line on the right of the photo. the mitchelton station is behind me as i took the photo.

this shot is also looking down the ferny grove line, towards oxford park, i tried to zoom as far as i could along the line, and if you have really good eyes, you can see there is a train approaching mitchelton, the city and beenleigh train (which i really should be waiting for on platform 1 of mitchelton station. oops!)

the alarm sounded, the lights flashed, the booms came down and the pedestrian gates closed, the beenleigh was about to arrive at mitchelton station. no point running for the train now, looks like i will have to wait for the next one, but hey, i have got a few extra photos, so it is worth missing the train for!

here you can see the beenleigh train coming along the tracks on its way to mitchelton station, after leaving oxford park. you can see the boom gates are down across the road and the lights are flashing. the trains are deceptively quite, you cant hear them approaching until they are right on top of you.

look how clean this train looks in the photo! it is at about this point i can actually hear the beenleigh train as it approaches mitchelton station. you can actually read the beenleigh name on it too, so my photography skills for capturing moving trains is improving. ideally i should have caught this little train back to central, instead, looks like i will be spending a little bit of extra time here at mitchelton!

the brisbane city and beenleigh train as it passes through the crossing in to platform 1 of mitchelton station. most of the trains on the network operate as 2 three car trains attached together making them a six car train. the middle carriage of each train is a designated quite carriage (these are particularly good during exam block when you need to do last minute cramming before an exam!)

the train arriving on platform 1 is the brisbane city and beenleigh train stopping all stations. alas, i have missed it, but i have a few photos of the train arriving at mitchelton station, so im happy! trains run fairly frequently on the ferny grove line, so it is no big deal to wait for the next service.

heading back to mitchelton station, i wanted to get another shot of the wooden arch leading to the station, and i focused more on the train on the top of it. how cool does that look!

out of respect for the sign, i wanted to get the entire word in a photo for the mitchelton station, i love the way this has been done, it adds some lovely character to the station. this is the approach from blackwood street which is at the oxford park end of the station.

should i or shouldnt i? the train arriving on platform 2 is the ferny grove train (with wi-fi). i had just got back to mitchelton after getting the previous few photos, and this lovely train arrived on the platform shortly after. it was incredibly tempting!

of course i should! i decided that since i had missed the beenleigh (but got some photos of it arriving at mitchelton) i would reward myself with a ride on the ferny grove train to ferny grove station at the end of the line, and that is exactly what i did. i visited ferny grove, topped up my go card and got a few shots of ferny grove station, then rode the train back in to central. i had been to ferny grove once before not long after starting my blog, and on that occasion had added more money to my go card as well; it seems like that is a going to be a regular thing for me at ferny grove station!! with this train ride to ferny grove, i farewell mitchelton station; but only until the next time i have to visit with books to drop off or collect from brookside!