Queensland Museum Rail Workshops

Queensland Museum Rail Workshops Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Queensland Museum Rail Workshops, History Museum, North Street, Ipswich.
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Queensland Museum Rail Workshops will take you on an eye-opening journey through the state's history as seen from the birthplace of rail in Queensland, the heritage-listed Ipswich Railway Workshops. Queensland Museum Rail Workshops administers this page as a forum to exchange stories, information, ideas and images that enhance the richness and variety of the collections and research outcomes of th

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From the first days of Queensland rail travel in 1865, the provision of food and drink to customers was widely endorsed....
31/08/2026

From the first days of Queensland rail travel in 1865, the provision of food and drink to customers was widely endorsed. Railway Refreshment Rooms became popular with travellers, as steam trains stopped regularly to take on water and service the locomotive.

The Toowoomba Station Refreshment Rooms, shown here in about 1930, had one of the best reputations in Queensland. The Toowoomba Rooms continued to operate until the 1980s, long after most rooms had closed with the advent of diesel and electric services which reduced the need for regular stops.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

This view of the Hyne & Sons tramway shows part of the timber industry once active on K’gari (Fraser Island). A small ne...
25/08/2026

This view of the Hyne & Sons tramway shows part of the timber industry once active on K’gari (Fraser Island).

A small network of tram lines carried timber from forests to jetties for shipping until being replaced with motor vehicles in the 1930s. Kauri pine, Hoop Pine, Cypress Pine, Tallowwood and Blackbutt timber from K’gari was used all over the world until parts of the island became national parks in 1971 and logging ceased in 1991.

In 1992, K’gari was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Area and in 2021 the Queensland Government renamed the island K’gari, recognising Traditional Owners the Butchulla People.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

20/08/2026

We're incredibly proud to be part of this exciting partnership with University of Southern Queensland - Australia, inspiring the next generation of STEM innovators.

A huge thank you to the students from Bellbird Park State Secondary College for bringing their curiosity, creativity and enthusiasm to Continuum: Inventing Tomorrow 🚂🔬✨

In 1978, passengers wanting to book travel on one of Queensland’s long-distance rail services called the booking office,...
17/08/2026

In 1978, passengers wanting to book travel on one of Queensland’s long-distance rail services called the booking office, or ‘Reservations Bureau’, at Brisbane Central Station.

The office had multiple call lines and operators, shown here, to take bookings. By the late 1970s, rail booking services more centralised, but remained manual and paper-based until booking systems became computerised during the 1980s.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

On 15 August 1945, Japan accepted the Allied Nations’ terms of surrender, with the date recognised as Victory in the Pac...
15/08/2026

On 15 August 1945, Japan accepted the Allied Nations’ terms of surrender, with the date recognised as Victory in the Pacific Day. The 50th anniversary celebrations included this display at Townsville Station in 1995.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

A new EMU on a ‘special’ visit to the Brisbane Exhibition in 1979. Queensland Rail conducted training runs for the new E...
07/08/2026

A new EMU on a ‘special’ visit to the Brisbane Exhibition in 1979.

Queensland Rail conducted training runs for the new EMUs through August ahead of their official debut on 4 September 1979 and regular passenger services beginning in November 1979.

The electrified connection to Exhibition Station was completed ahead of the 1982 Ekka.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

In 1956, two prototype railmotors, RM1901 and RM1900 were made for Queensland Rail in Granville, New South Wales. The ra...
04/08/2026

In 1956, two prototype railmotors, RM1901 and RM1900 were made for Queensland Rail in Granville, New South Wales.

The railmotors were used primarily on branch line passenger services and special excursions. RM1900 was scrapped, but RM1901 was preserved as part of the Queensland Rail Heritage Fleet.

RM1901 is pictured here at Cecil Plains Station, a branch line from Oakey that operated between 1919 and 1994 to transport grain and other produce.

📷 Photographer RG Henderson, Queensland Museum Collection

While employment for women in Queensland’s rail industry was limited for many decades, from the 1960s training opportuni...
27/07/2026

While employment for women in Queensland’s rail industry was limited for many decades, from the 1960s training opportunities increasingly opened for females in trade and operational roles.

These female workers are using machinery to make a large pile of dog spikes in 1966. Dog spikes look like large nails that secure the rail to a sleeper in track construction. Depending on sleeper spacing, with four dog spikes for each sleeper, there are an average of 7,800 dog spikes used on each kilometre of track.

📷 Queensland Museum/Queensland Rail Collection

22/07/2026

It’s been a wild and wonderful World Science Festival BNE Ipswich Schools Day today at the Rail Workshops!

This photo shows Diesel Electric locomotive 1756 hauling a tanker train and 2000 Class Railmotor near Dirranbandi. A rai...
21/07/2026

This photo shows Diesel Electric locomotive 1756 hauling a tanker train and 2000 Class Railmotor near Dirranbandi.

A rail line from Toowoomba to Dirranbandi was completed in 1913. A mix of passenger and freight services operated on the line until passenger services ended in 1993 and freight services ended after flood damage in 2010.

📷 Photographer RG Henderson, Queensland Museum Collection

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North Street
Ipswich, QLD
4305

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