Might & Muscle
Constructing the railway network in Queensland was a major task. It took money, equipment, know-how and hard physical work.
The might and muscle of thousands of men cut away hillsides, filled valleys, erected bridges, dug tunnels and laid sleepers and track.
Once each line was completed, the hard labour of men in small gangs maintained the track in good working order.
Navvy
Railway construction workers were called navvies because many of the early workers on railway lines in Britain had previously worked building canals. The canals were originally known as canal navigations. The canal workers had been known as navvies, short for navigators.
Life of a Navvy
The first men who worked constructing railway lines in Queensland were known as navvies. They came from many parts of the world.
Navvy camps were set up beside the line and moved as the line progressed. Living quarters were very basic - canvas tents or bark humpies. Shanties selling alcohol sprang up beside the camps. Some were glorified with the name 'hotel'.
Some navvies lived with their families. If the conditions were hard for the men, they were just as difficult for the women and children who had to contend with the harsh climate and isolation. Death rates could be high in navvy camps due to disease, dangerous work and unsafe work practices.
Navvy living quarters, like this hut, were very basic.
