A Photo Essay

While staying in Dunedin with the Cooke family, we went to a weekend farmers’ market outside the Dunedin Railway Station.  In between selecting the best squashes and parsnips to take home, I had a chance to admire this exceptional building.  Vowing to return, I made good a couple weeks later while passing through the city in my Jucy Condo.  The day was perfect and I set up my photo equipment.

Dunedin Railway Station as seen from adjoining Anzac Square

Jucy Visits the Dunedin Railway Station

The Dunedin Railway Station (actually the fourth building to serve this purpose) was designed by George Troup and earned him the nickname “Gingerbread George.”  Construction of the present site began in 1903, and was completed in 1906, within its £40,000 budget.  For a time, it would be New Zealand’s busiest train station handling up to 100 trains per day!

The 37 meter Clock Tower is visable from much of central Dunedin

” The station is constructed from dark basalt from Kokonga in the Strath-Taieri with lighter Oamaru stonefacings, giving it the distinctive light and dark pattern common to many of the grander buildings of Dunedin and Christchurch. Pink granite was used for a series of supporting pillars which line a colonnade at the front of the building. The roof was tiled in terracotta shingles from Marseilles surmounted by copper-domed cupolas.” (Wikipedia)

In other words, the attention to materials and artistic detail is exquisite.  Although the station only handles a few daily trains today, it is still a regional transportation hub for trains, shuttles and buses.  A restaurant and a sports museum share some of the interior space; and as mentioned, it is home to a bustling Saturday Farmers’ Market.

So come inside with me and enjoy this amazing piece of history in all its architectural magnificence.

The mosaic floor consists of roughly 750,000 Minton tiles.

Stained Glass with Steam Locomotive Motif

Throughout the station one is constantly surprised by the abundance of artistic detail and level of craftsmanship.  Check it out the next time you find yourself in Dunedin, New Zealand!

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