In 1914, Queensland Railways launched a garden competition to encourage railway staff to beautify the stations with colourful flowers and plants, and to grow fruits and vegetables.

The Commissioner for Queensland Railways at the time, Colonel Charles Evans, introduced the prize to also allow for employees to demonstrate their pride in their workplaces – not only railway stations but also locomotive depots, railway workshops, and workplaces in general.  

In today’s episode, we chat with Station Master, Glen Currie who is based at Kuranda station in Cairns – one of the last great survivors of this garden competition. Glen shares with us some of the interesting plants on display at Kuranda and the tale of a unique guest who feasted on the station’s garden.