down to the bay

While the station today makes the perfect terminus of the line, it was a very different story forty-five years ago.

Before Raby Bay was filled in to make way for an up market canal estate, a different station stood near here, and it was known as Raby Bay.

Situated directly in front of the current Cleveland station, It was little more than a waiting shed and slightly raised platform, but most trains stopped here as it served the Cleveland shopping precinct.

While this is the location of the current terminus, Raby bay was the second last station on the line when it opened in 1914. The station's only purpose was serving passengers, and at night, any passengers wishing to board a train, would use a peculiar system of moving a red glass plate in front of a white lamp, that hung from the waiting shed awning.

The actual township of Cleveland was more than a kilometer away from here, and was serviced by a station called Cleveland central.

When the line opened in 1889, this was the terminus, and it was known simply as Cleveland.

As part of a plan to see the line extend right down to the point, the tracks were extended to a new terminus in 1897.

The new terminus was named Cleveland, and the original station was renamed Cleveland West, but from 1925 it was known as Cleveland Central.

Cleveland Central retained its forkline, goods yard, and loco shed, while Cleveland had a simple run around loop. Trains would arrive at Cleveland, the loco would detach and run back to Cleveland central, turn on the fork line, and then run back to Cleveland, attaching to the train to make its journey back to South Brisbane.

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