education on track

EDUCATION ON TRACK

Working in the PastWorking in the PastWorking in the PastWorking in the Past

Purpose

This program of work aims to explore the social history of the men and women of

Queensland Rail. By reflecting on a number of oral history accounts students will develop a picture of both the toil and kinship the railway working environment has

retained throughout the years.

The primary objectives of the program are for students to gain an understanding

and appreciation for:

• the pioneers that contributed to the development of Queensland; their lives, achievements and challenges,

• the impact Queensland Rail specifically had on the development of the state,

and

• the railways as an industry with specialised occupations that shared interdependence with industries of the past.

Activities in this program assist students to investigate the social history of rail

development and the impact technology had on the lives of railway workers. Students are provided with primary and secondary Railway Resources including:

• Book extracts

• Oral histories

• Photographs

Key concepts

Along with the workers living on the line, the Ipswich Railway Workshops was an

essential part of rail in Queensland. Generations of blacksmiths, carpenters, painters,

metalworkers and other craftsmen built and repaired locomotives, wagons, carriages

and railmotors. Through a visit to The Workshops Rail Museum, students will learn about some of the people of the workshops, as well as discover some of the items once

used by early Australian railway workers.

Learning outcomes SOSE SRP 3.2

Students create a representation of occupational specialisation and interdependence in an industry from the past, present or future.

SOSE TCC 3.2 Students create sequences and timelines about specific Australian changes and continuities.

SOSE TCC 3.4 Students organise information about causes and effects of specific historical events.

TECH INF 3.2 Students select and use techniques for generating, modifying and presenting information for different purposes.

ENG CU 3.2 Students, when reading and viewing, select texts for own reading and viewing purposes, make some inferences about characters from directly stated descriptions and actions, identify aspects of the text that indicate the author considered the interests of the audience.

A report about life in the early years and a profile of an early Australian railway artefact student task sheets Students are asked to complete tasks which encourage active participation and maximum engagement. These include tasked activities such as:

• Investigating the working environment of railway workers over time.

• Making connections between the experiences of railway workers of the past and present through writing a research report and artefact profile.

Student task sheets are available from the website as a downloadable PDF. Program outline: Total time: This program could be undertaken over a term. Previous knowledge: No previous knowledge necessary. Description:

• Pre-visit � Students are given a number of photographs depicting life for railway

workers during the early years of track development. Students are asked to interpret each photograph.

� Students consider each oral history story provided, over a series of lessons. During each reading session, student’s record the main points they gleam from the story. After reading all the oral histories, students create a concept map that reflects the changes felt by Queensland railway workers.

� Students are taught the structures of writing a Report. � Students research and write a short report on life in Australia during early

settlement; they specifically document the impact that the coming of the railways had on the early settlers.

• Visit to The Workshops Rail Museum � Students complete a profile of an early Australian railway artefact on

display at the Museum. � Students investigate the roles men and women have undertaken in the

workshops over time and record their findings in the table provided. Students then draw their own conclusions by answering the questions that accompany the table.

• Post-visit � Students collaboratively make a timeline that shows where each of their

chosen artefacts were first used by railway workers. � Students use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and differences

between the changing roles of railway workers over time, both in the workshops and on the line.

Support materials and references

Internet sites:

For Queensland Rail History:

http://www.history .qr.com.au/the_history/section1/default.asp

To obtain information regarding loans kits (for classroom use of early Australian and rail

related artefacts and resources) access the Queensland Museum website:

http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/education/loans/country.asp

For a Queensland Rail Education Officer to attend your school for a Community

Education Talk contact QR on (07) 3235 1624 or log on to www.qr.com.au for further

details.

Book References:

Bitomsky, Marilyn & Mylne, Lee (1995). Living on the Line: A Celebration of

Queensland Rail Workers and their Families. CopyRight Publishing Company Pty, Ltd:

Brisbane.

Concept Map

The changing

role of railway workers

over time.

Details

Details Details

Details

Name: ________________________________________ Date:___________

My report about life in the early years of British settlement

Research and write a short report on life in Australia during early settlement. Include in your report the impact that the coming of the railways had on the early settlers. Use the report plan below to organise your research. Title:

General introduction: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A series of paragraphs each with one aspect of the topic: Subheading 1.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding statement: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: ________________________________________ Date:___________________

Profile of an early Australian railway artefact After viewing the different displays at The Workshops Rail Museum choose one artefact related to the railways and complete a profile of it. 1. What is the artefact? __________________________________________________

2. Sketch the artefact.

3. When was it made? ___________________________________________________

4. What was it used for?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

5. Who would have used it?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

6. Where would it have been used? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

7. What would have been used before this item was invented?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

8. How did this artefact contribute to life in early Australia?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

9. What was this item replaced with in time (only answer this if it has been replaced)?

_____________________________________________________________________

The changing roles of railway workers over time:

Read the “railway workers” stories provided and compare the conditions of the workers

in the early years of the railways to those of the 1900’s & today.

Use a Venn Diagram to record the similarities and differences between their

experiences.

Railway workers of

today

Railway workers of the past

Railways employed many people in many different jobs. Explore Zone 7 “Ipswich

Railway Workshops”, then using the table below, make a list of the places men and

women were employed at the Workshops:

Men Women

What conclusions do you draw from this list?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

What other roles did women have during the early years of railway line construction?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

How does this compare to the roles women had during the early years of railway line

construction?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Photographs:

1.

Photograph courtesy of Queensland Rail

2.


Photographs: 3.


4.

Source: Queensland Rail

Photographs: 5.


6.

Photograph courtesy of Queensland Rail Photographs: 7.


8.


Photographs: 9.


Photograph interpretation key for teachers:

1. Official opening of Ipswich to Grandchester (Bigges Camp). VIPs outside tent

(1865).

2. Fettlers constructing track by hand, with pick and shovels (1880).

3. Surveyors camp, Ipswich-Brisbane Rail (1875).

4. Ipswich-Toowoomba construction cutting, the Fountain family present (1867).

5. Ipswich-Toowoomba construction of a bridge and tunnel (1867)

6. View from a tunnel showing a camp and construction of a formation, Stanthorpe

extension (1882).

7. View showing married quarters and camp life, Ipswich-Toowoomba construction

(1867).

8. A group of workmen, navvies and fettlers, outside a station (1890).

9. View of Holme’s construction camp, Ipswich-Toowoomba construction (1867).

Book Extracts:

“Railway people are a special breed and the pioneering spirit which saw them carve the

lines through often inhospitable country still remains in many hearts. Workers came

from everywhere to build the lines; from England, Ireland, Italy and other parts of

Europe, joining “local” European workers, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to

work under a fierce sun.

Life in the construction camps while the lines were being forged was harsh. The

isolation of those who later served at outback sidings and stations remains today, as do

the loyalty, mateship and tall tales.

Strength and ingenuity were necessary qualities for families living on the line. Workers-

in those days principally men- took their wives and families with them, moving their

temporary “home” along the line as work progressed. Life was hard but they coped.

Camp life did not end with the completion of the main lines. Until the 1940s, fettlers’

camps-either tents or primitive huts- remained part of life conditions not dissimilar to

those of their pioneer predecessors.

There were other hardships besides lack of facilities and the enduing isolation. The

Depression of the 1930s, two World Wars, and several major strikes took their toll.

Railway workers took the bad with the good, thankful they had mostly secure jobs and

that Queensland Rail was an employer which “looked after its own”.

Women played a major, but unsung, role in railway life, both as workers and in keeping

family life going. The demands of railway work often forced men to leave home for long

stretches, often many months at a time. The women stayed behind or endured greater

hardship to be with their men. As workers from the late 1800s onwards, they have

endured the same kinds of hardships as the men.

From positions as gatekeepers and station mistresses, women have developed an

expanded role in QR and today are employed in a wide range of jobs, including non-

traditional occupations in trades and senior executive positions, as well as being

represented on the QR Board.”

From “Living on the Line” by Marilyn Bitomsky & Lee Mylne, 1995, pages vii and viii

Railway Worker’s Story:

Don Warn: stationmaster I joined the railways in 1955. For 12 years I was on the Brisbane relief which meant I worked at stations where the stationmaster was on leave or ill. I worked on all stations between Helidon and just south of Gympie, except Roma Street and Central. I became stationmaster at Station in 1967. I enjoyed smaller stations like this where there wasn’t a crew of driver, fireman and guard as I had a lot to do. It was my job to work the signals, hand up the staffs and make sure the train passed through the station. I was also the ticket seller and collector. I delivered and accepted freight and livestock and sold parcel stamps. I also shunted trains. I had a lot of bookwork to do. I filled in forms for the freight and entered departure and arrival times for trains in the stationmaster’s books. Each month I had to balance the books to account for all the revenue raised from freight, parcels and ticket sales. Until the mid 1960s stationmasters had to be qualified in morse code which we used to communicate within the railway. As each train arrived I talked to the control clerk, who was called “the man on the wall”, and asked permission for the train to proceed. I then rang him with the train’s departure time. The stations were open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and we each did an eight hour shift.

From a wall mounted graphic panel at The Workshops Rail Museum, Ipswich


Carson McLaughlin: guard

I was a guard at Gayndah from 1957 until 1998. I had to do everything. I was a jack of all trades. At Gayndah we had mixed trains, passenger trains and rail motors. I delivered mail bags, loaded freight and collected 10 gallon cream cans from the sidings. I assisted passengers and collected tickets. Most of my time at stations was spent shunting wagons and carriages. I had to detach and attach wagons at most sidings. The sidings were about ten minutes apart which entailed a lot of shunting time. Once on board, the guard had an enormous amount of paperwork to do. I had to write an advice slip for all goods collected. I also had to fill out guard’s and driver’s sheets. These recorded the arrival and departure times of trains, the time taken for shunting and taking on water for steam. Every minute had to be accounted for. The guard travelled at the back of the train in the guard’s van. This is where I ate my meals.



George McHugh: locomotive driver I was a steam and diesel fireman and locomotive driver at Mayne from 1955 until 1966. I drove both passenger and goods trains to Toowoomba, Gympie and Kilcoy, but most of the work out of Mayne was suburban running. The three of us worked as a team of the driver, the fireman and the locomotive. If the driver worked the engine too hard, the fireman couldn’t keep up the supply of steam and the engine would struggle. We had to work together to keep the locomotive running efficiently. We all had a regular mate to work with. For three out of four weeks you worked with the same fireman and you got to know the way he worked. The fourth week you did “specials”, that is relieving men who were on leave or sick, or working on unscheduled trains. For the first half hour of the trip you had to work each other out. Some drivers were hard on engines and much more coal had to be shovelled into the firebox. Others were light drivers and as a fireman it was easy to overfeed the fire.



Noel Condon: locomotive driver Every locomotive driver carried his own tool box on the engine. Mine was made at the Townsville Workshops and issued at Cloncurry. It was the job of the driver to keep the engine and train running in the event of a locomotive or train breakdown by effecting repairs with the tools out of the box. The tool kit contained spanners, hammer and chisel, boiler water gauge glasses and packing rings, a coil of string and wire, a tar bond rope, split-end taper pins, worsted and pin trimmings, corks, eight detonators and red and green tags. If a train failed it would be protected by detonator signals and a red tag or lamp from a following train while the repairs were underway.



Dulcie Barthowski: refreshment room worker I started work as a refreshments room girl in 1952 at Toowoomba. In those days we were very busy serving meals to railway passengers in the refreshment room, tea bar or milk bar. We would serve meals whenever the train arrived, breakfast, lunch or dinner. During floods, the Sydney Mail from Wallangarra increased to full capacity, sometimes 400 passengers. As soon as the train left Warwick we would get the call to go to work, sometimes at 2 am. When the train arrived it was like a stampede. The dinning room, which seated 112 people, was often full. The tea bar could be four deep and the milk bar would be backed up to the train with people waiting to be served. We had twenty minutes to serve passengers. I lived in the quarters above the refreshments room with 11 other girls. We lived three to a room, with the manager and his wife on the other side of the hallway. It was like one big happy family.



Bill Morrows: railwayman

(Recalling the working conditions for railwaymen during the late 1800s) “In those early days the country for miles around was but one vast unexplored bush and scrub and very sparsely populated. Even around Brisbane itself it was all bush with very little clearing. All camps had to be formed in a suitable picked spot at the nearest waterhole or creek. This meant the camp was sometimes six or seven miles from the head of the works and the men had to walk to work in their own time for a start at 6 am. A typical day: Up before daylight, walk for four miles or so to work for a 6 am start. At 8 am a break of one hour for breakfast, another of one hour for dinner, work until night. Knocking off at 6 pm he would have to walk for his meat and supplies. In bed by 8:30 pm. On Saturdays, they knocked off at 4 pm. This meant a workman would be up for 93.5 hours a week in connection with his work. Shifting camp was always done on a Sunday, without pay or overtime of any kind. Employed on the line were some 300 navvies*, who were specially brought out from England by contractors. These men, although purely and simply navvies, were all able, reliable and honest workers. It was about the beginning of summer when these men arrived and I can well remember the tortures some of them suffered with sunstroke.” *”Navvies”, the term for workers, was adopted from England where labourers who built the canals were jokingly called “navigators”.

From Living on the Line by Marilyn Bitomsky & Lee Mylne, 1995, pages 16&17


Rosemary Hannay: station master Living at isolated sidings in the north west during the ‘60s probably hadn’t altered much since the line opened. I went to Marimo in 1960, and approached it with a sense of adventure, and that’s what it certainly was. My husband Danny had a bridge gang which worked between Mt Isa and Hughenden but was based at Julia Creek or on the branch lines to Dajarra or Kajabbi. Often he wasn’t able to get home even for the weekend so the children and I were alone most of the time. Our house was the only house at the siding so it was lovely to have the company occasionally when the bridge gang was working in the area. It was a lonely, isolated and hard life. No electricity, only roadside water, very harsh climate, and the only communication was the railway circuit phone which served the whole line between Cloncurry and Mt Isa. Because of distance and poor communication the Department required someone at these sidings to give line clears for the crossing of trains. Especially during the stock season sometimes things became quite hectic and some nights very little sleep was possible arranging these line clears. I was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and always had to have the controller’s permission to go away and give a return time before leaving.

From Living on the Line by Marilyn Bitomsky & Lee Mylne, 1995, page 49


Gladys Braden: ganger

(Gladys Braden became Queensland’s first female ganger in 1993, at Duchess, a tiny railway town between Cloncurry and Mt Isa in northwest

Queensland…Initially she found the going tough in a traditionally male preserve). Gladys started working as a fettler in 1988: I was given all the (horrible) jobs. Like any other woman doing a man’s job, I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to prove myself. But after a while, when they knew I could hold my end up, it was alright. I was one of the blokes. Two years later, after passing a Queensland Rail examination to become the first female ganger in the state’s history, she found she had to break down more barriers: If you’re a woman in charge of a gang, there are blokes who don’t like it and will test you out to see how far you can go, so you’ve got show them who’s boss. But I don’t have any real problems. I wouldn’t say I’m a tough boss. I give everyone a fair go. I only expect them to do what I do.

From Living on the Line by Marilyn Bitomsky & Lee Mylne, 1995, page 60&61


Mary Ann Ward

(Mary Ann was the daughter of George Ward one of the men employed in the construction of the Cairns-Mareeba Railway line in 1885).

Our family first lived in tents at Edge Hill, somewhere near the Cairns North Station… We had a bark house made with big sheets of bark for the roof and sides. Mother lined them inside with cretonne which you could buy for about three shillings and sixpence per dozen yards. It had an earth floor but stretched Hessian over it and pegged it down tight. Of course it was dusty, so Mother used to save all the tealeaves, scatter them around to pick up the dust, then sweep it all out. She had a little sewing machine and used to make mats with small pieces of material. Of course she made all our own clothes too as there was no other way of getting them except when she went in to Cairns, which was very seldom.

From Living on the Line by Marilyn Bitomsky & Lee Mylne, 1995, page 1

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