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Name: Workshops Rail Museum
Address:
City: Ipswich Australia
Phone:
Price: AUD$199
What's it like?
For a serious change of pace, and another uniquely Ipswich experience, a visit to the Workshops Rail Museum is enough to convince even the cold-hearted of the romance of rail.
Built in 1885, the 60 acre site is the birthing suite of Queensland Rail, which at its peak employed 3,000 people.
Today, it employs 70 people in what will be the only museum in Australia where visitors will be able to see "real railway people doing real work".
On the day we visit, a carriage off the grand Great South Pacific Express is undergoing maintenance while her distant cousins such as the Blue Baby are parked nearby.
The Workshops experience, which takes about three hours to fully appreciate, is a significant feature of the Queensland Heritage Trails Network.
The $20 million attraction includes a 100-year-old timekeeper's office, a range of steam locomotives and a gigantic model railway.
There are few people who live in Ipswich who have not been touched by the railways. The museum is about more that just trains. It is also about the impact of rail and its significance on the community of Ipswich. There is almost not a person in Ipswich who doesn't know someone from the railways or is married to someone who works for the railways.
And that is certainly true for this writer, whose grandfather, uncle, sister and best friend's father, all spilled sweat for Queensland Railways.
The Facts:
- The Workshops Rail Museum is located at North Street, North Ipswich, a 40 minute drive from Brisbane. Parking is free. Bus transfers are also available from Ipswich Station.
- The Workshops open daily from 9.30am-5pm, except Christmas Day and the morning of Anzac Day. Visit http://www.theworkshops.qm.qld.com.au or call +61 7 3432 5100.
- Entry is: Adult $16, Child (3-16) $9, Concession $13, Family (2 adults and up to 4 children) $46. Group entry and annual passes are also available.
- By Christine Retschlag
If you know of a great destination we're missing,
review it for us!!
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