Ipswich Railway Workshops

The Ipswich Railway Workshops was an essential part of Queensland Railways.

Here, generations of blacksmiths, carpenters, painters, metalworkers and other craftsmen built and repaired locomotives, wagons, carriages and railmotors.

Come and meet some of the people of The Workshops and discover some of its varied trades and products.

In this displays you can learn about other Railway Workshops in Queensland, Products of The Workshops, the Trades and Occupations and the Apprentices.

Railway Workshops in Queensland

Workshops are an essential part of a railway system. They are required to build, repair and overhaul locomotives, carriages and wagons.

Queensland's major workshops were located at Ipswich, Rockhampton and Townsville. At these workshops, locomotives were totally overhauled and new rollingstock was built. At Ipswich, new locomotives were also built. These workshops employed a large workforce and were an important part of the local economy.

With the introduction of diesel electric locomotives in the 1950s, new workshops were opened at Redbank. By the mid 1990s many of the functions of the Ipswich Workshops had been transferred to Redbank.

Partial overhauls and repairs were undertaken at locomotive depots. These included Mayne, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Mackay, Roma, Cairns and Normanton. Most of these depots have been closed.

With the development of the central Queensland coalfields, major depots have been built at Jilalan, Coppabella, Pring and Callemondah to service locomotives and repair wagons.

Specialist workshops were established at Northgate in 1915 to supply station furniture, bridges, signals and maintenance track equipment.

Products of The Workshops

Workshops employees used their skills, knowledge and experience to make a wide variety of products.

Wagons, carriages, locomotives and railmotors were the main items produced in The Workshops. But many other items were made, some as 'one-offs' for a special purpose or occasion.

It became a motto of The Workshops employees that 'if it could be made, it could be made in the Workshops'. They were proud that The Workshops can produce almost any type of equipment or machinery if requested.

Trades and occupations

The Workshops employed men in a wide range of trades and occupations. All played a part in the construction and repair of locomotives, carriages and wagons.

Some of the trades had centuries of tradition, such as blacksmithing. Other trades, such as boilermaking had developed as a result of rail and the steam engine. The trades were highly specialised and often took years to master.

Foreigners

'Foreigners' was the name given to items made by Workshops employees for outside or private use. These items were often made as gifts.

Apprentices

Apprentices were an important part of the Workshops.

Boys wanting to learn a trade sat the railway apprenticeship exam after they turned fifteen. The students would be interviewed in order of their results and offered an apprenticeship. There was a hierarchy. The top student usually chose the electrician's apprenticeship. The next favourite was often patternmaking. Boilermaking was not the most popular because it was noisy, hard work.

Initially the training was entirely practical with the senior tradesmen passing on the knowledge to apprentices. After 1916 railway apprentices also attended theory classes run by the Ipswich Technical College. Later classes were conducted at the Workshops.

Most apprentices trained for five years before they qualified for a trade. Some apprentices stayed on at the Workshops. Many left to work in industry throughout Queensland.