June 2026
Glenferrie Station – part of my teenage school years, and not much changed ! Built 1916 as part of regrading the line to Camberwell, it was designed with very generous proportions, in a bold but simple Edwardian style, designed by Victorian Railways architect Edward Ballard, under JW Hardy.
I love the huge arches, the switchback ramps with their little cast iron columns, the way you go along shopping lanes either side, then under, then up to the very wide canopy over the island platform. Auburn Station is a pretty exact match. Malvern and Toorak are very similar, whereas Caulfield Essendon and Camberwell are slightly different styles.
Next to the station is another Edwardian landmark, built as The Don department store in 1910, which features great swirls of Art Nouveu (in the old pic you can just see the previous level crossing).
I assume the shops between the tracks and just either side were part of the whole project.
Storey of Melbourne 