Ghost Station

Our monthly sketch meet this month was the 'Old' railway station on Beach Road. Since it was wet and windy we all sketched inside, which of course means attempting to sketch some form of perspective. In situations like these perspective drawing is almost unavoidable, with most of us attempting to sketch the vast entry foyer.

The spooky thing about the foyer is that it is eerily almost devoid of people! Once a busy hub for commuters to central Auckland until the powers to be deemed that the almost 1km walk to Queen Street was too far for our soft JAFA legs. The old Central Post Office was converted into the new railway station and the old railway station was converted into student accommodation. I got confused just typing that, and I'm sorry but it's also just plain weird.

Funny too, because it recently came to light that The Northern Explorer — that's the premier train service between Wellington and Auckland — the one that showcases our beautiful country to overseas tourists, doesn't even use the new Britomart station because they charge too much! So what are they do instead? They use one of the old train station platforms with a couple of containers plonked on it to service the tourists before they make the 1km walk to town with all their baggage.


Comments

dinahmow said…
Good grief! Talk about cart before horse!
My memories of the old station are of coming up from Tauranga on a Friday night.And the old Station Hotel, of course. Are you old enough to remember 6pm closing time?
Murray Dewhurst said…
I was looking at the Station Hotel on my way out, boy is it looking rough! I recall it seemed to have a different bar on each level from Beach Road up to Anzac Ave but it doesn't look like much happens there now. My recollections are post 6 o'clock closing though.
dinahmow said…
In the days before extended hours the Station Hotel maintained a "diners' register" in the bar.You signed in and sat waiting and drinking until a table was available!It was a way of getting around the law.
Anonymous said…
Awesome drawing. When is the next group meeting?