Workshops Rail Museum

Andrew Moritz

Director

The Workshops Rail Museum / Queensland Museum

PO Box 2234, North Ipswich, QLD 4305 North Street, North Ipswich, QLD 4305

www.theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au

North Ipswich, Australia
Australian Tourism Award 2010, Queensland Tourism Award 2010 


The Workshops Rail Museum





Introduction

The Workshops Rail Museum is the newest campus of the Queensland Museum, Australiars"s largest rail museum and winner of the 2010 Australian and Queensland Tourism Awards for Heritage and Cultural Tourism. 

The Workshops Rail Museum delivers an engaging visitor experience that explores the rich heritage and culture of the Australian rail experience at the birthplace of rail in Queensland.  The Museum operates in conjunction with the operational QR (Queensland Rail) North Ipswich Railway Workshops whose charter is to restore and maintain Queenslandrs"s Heritage Train Fleet.

Site significance

The North Ipswich Railway Workshops site was the engine room of rail production in the Queensland since 1865 when the first train to run in Queensland steamed west from the site to Bigges Camp, now Grandchester. Over 10,000 people have worked onsite in its 144 year history, peaking during the 1940s and 1950s with 3,000 employees. More than 200 steam locomotives were built onsite, along with thousands of wagons, carriages and other equipment required for the State railway.

The significance of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops cannot be underestimated. In a national and international context, it is a rare example of a large scale railway workshop. Workshops of a similar scale to Ipswich were built in other Australian states and countries to serve large rail networks, but most have either been demolished or converted into other uses to the extent that the original function is hardly recognisable.

The North Ipswich Railway Workshops rank as one of the most important places of heritage and cultural significance in Queensland. The site demonstrations the evolution and pattern of Queenslandrs"s rail history and the principle characteristics of rail in Queensland with particular emphasis on the vast range of activities which occurred in The Workshops ndash; from designing and constructing locomotives to repairing wagons.

The opportunity to create the Museum came about in the late 1990s when QR decided to relocate a significant component of its Workshops to the nearby more modern Redbank Workshops and Australia was planning to celebrate the Centenary of Federation in 2001 (the coming together of the six colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901). The railway played a significant part in forging the nation. A total of AUD$20 million was committed by the Queensland State Government and QR to create the Museum.

It was recognised from the outset that the very survival and sustainability of The Workshops Rail Museum was linked to building an audience which was much broader than just the rail/train enthusiast.

Research conducted as part of the development phase led to the creation of the Museum centred around the concept of the impact that rail has had on the lives of people rather than a technical or chronological focus.

The Museumrs"s exhibitions include 16 interactive zones that trace the story of Queensland rail heritage and culture and the impact rail has had on the lives of Queenslanders and visitors to the state. These zones include themes such as: ls"Moving Goodsrs" ndash; the major purpose of rail was to move goods around the State and the arrival of a goods train was the lifeblood of many Queensland communities; ls"Platform 9rs" ndash; most visitors come into contact with trains when travelling on a journey; and ls"Diesel Revolutionrs" ndash; the change from steam to diesel in the 1960s and 1970s brought with it significant social change for everyone involved from passengers through to staff.

In addition to these themes, a key visitor experience of The Workshops Rail Museum is a tour of the operational QR Workshops. Visitors are guided through the fully operational industrial site by QR workers and are able to view genuine restoration and maintenance work, up close.

This is one of the largest, if not the largest industrial worksites open to the public in Australia and visitors are enthralled by what they see. What is truly unique about The Workshops is that the work and activity carried out on the site over 100 years ago is still being undertaken i.e. the building, repair and maintenance of steam locomotives and wooden carriages.

The Results

Since opening in September 2002, the Museum has established a reputation for excellence and innovation.  Audience numbers have continued to grow each year and now total over 100,000 per annum.

In order to attract audiences other than the rail/train enthusiast, The Workshops Rail Museum commenced a program of events, activities and exhibits that use popular themes to introduce the rail story.

The range of The Workshops Rail Museumrs"s public programs include our annual signature event, Day out with Thomas (the Tank Engine) which attracts in excess of 35,000 visitors each year for the month long event. The key audience is families and provides the chief communication tool to promote the range of other family orientated events for the next twelve months. These include:

•    Build it! ndash; telling the story of the site and the people who worked there.  The centrepiece of the event is a recreation of ls"wheeling a locomotivers" ndash; the final stage in constructing a steam locomotive when the boiler and frame are placed on the wheel set.
•    Circus Train ndash; all the fun of the fair as the Museum explores the Circus and its inherent relationship to trains and rail, especially in the early years of the Circus in transporting it from town to town.
•    Great Train Robbery ndash; highlighting historical events that have happened in Queensland when trains have been involved.  Visitors can attempt to solve a true crime which occurred in 1938 when the miners wages were stolen from the Duchess to Cloncurry train.
•    Toyland Express ndash; an event that encourages visitors, and especially children, to explore the world of simple toys and the use of trains in early childrenrs"s literature.
•    Annual Workers Reunion and Ipswich Family Open Day ndash; a significant yearly event that invites all past and present workers back to their site and also invites the local community to experience the Museum for free.
•    Queensland Model Railway Show ndash; for the enthusiast audience.

Conclusion

The Workshops Rail Museum delivers a truly engaging experience and insight into the Australian (Queensland) rail experience. Located at the historic North Ipswich Railway Workshops, the birthplace of rail in Queensland, and working with QRrs"s Heritage Rollingstock Maintenance program, the Museum present visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to understand and experience the role and contribution rail has made to the ongoing development of Queensland.
 


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