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Quotes - Famous Artists

JEFFREY SMART (1921- )

I like living in the 20th century.. to me the world has never been more beautiful. I am trying to paint the real world I live in, as beautifully as I can with my own eyes.

Old Railway Station Gallery - Pomona

A Chronological History

Pomona Railway Station Gallery

Unless otherwise stated - all images and text relating to the history of the Gallery are supplied courtesy of Robyn Jones. It was through Robyn's untiring efforts and dedication that the Old Pomona Railway Station Gallery exists today.

The Metamorphosis into the Old Pomona Railway Station Gallery

The North Coast Railway between Yandina and Cooran opened in 1891. Pomona Railway Station closed in 1991. Its disused buildings (the station and the so-called Banana Shed) quickly fell into dilapidation and their future seemed very uncertain. In 1997 they were offered for sale for removal from Queensland Rail land to Noosa Council (now amalgamated into The Sunshine Coast Regional Council), who rejected the offer.

Concerned that the buildings would be sold by tender and lost to the town, in December 1997 Robyn Jones, Secretary of the then Pomona Chamber of Commerce Inc., wrote to Queensland Rail asking that QR consider donating them for use in a community project. To her surprise they received a quick reply from QR offering the buildings to the Chamber on the proviso that they be moved from QR land.

After negotiations between Chamber and the Noosa Council, in April 2000 the buildings were moved on to land, on the Station Street side of the tracks, which was in the process of being purchased by Noosa Council from Queensland Rail.

The Federation-funded restoration project of the Old Pomona Railway Station Gallery, conducted by the Pomona Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (now Pomona Progress.Art.Tourism Inc.) culminated in the opening of the Gallery on March 24, 2001.

It has operated successfully ever since without outside financial support other than 'one-off' not for profit grants. The Pomona Visitors Information Centre started at the Gallery in late 2003. The complex is run entirely by volunteers.

Click on each bar to view slideshow:-

Pomona Railway Station - Early 1900's

Pomona Railway Station and Railway Hotel

Pomona Railway Station 1926Courtesy Noosa Museum Pomona

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1998 - 2005 - Location for the new Gallery

Gallery site circa 1998Taken from next to the rail underpass

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March 22, 2000 - The Journey Begins

The journey begins - Bullocky (now the late) Bob McMurray

Bullocky (now the late) Bob McMurray leads his team bearing building parts from the old QR site to the Gallery site in Station Street, with passengers Robyn Jones, The Hon. Alex Somlyay, Cr. Linley Midgley and Doug Bettens.

At one point Bob didn’t notice he was taking his passengers under a low tree, very nearly scraping them off the high wagon. Alex Somlyay was heard to remark in a shaky voice, “I think we just had a branch meeting”

August 2000 - Positioning the buildings