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according to the efficiency of the mining process, the amount of
coal available, the ease in which it could be transported to ports in
Brisbane and the economic and political climate around the world.
While the coal industry lasted, there were mines at Blackstone,
Dinmore, Swanbank, New Chum, Goodna, Redbank, Collingwood
Park, Denmark Hill, Woodend, North Ipswich, Tivoli, Rosewood,
Walloon and Thagoona. The mining hey day was during the 1960s
when the Ipswich region employed 3000 miners.
Mining is inherently dangerous and many men lost their lives in
the development of the industry in Ipswich. The most disastrous
accident occurred at the Box Flat Mine on 31 July 1972 when in the
early hours of the morning, a number of men died as a result of a
mighty explosion. There is a memorial beside Swanbank Road that
honours the lives lost on that terrible day and the tragedy still
resonates for Ipswichians today.
There is only one open cut mine still in operation within the Ipswich
City Council boundaries and that is the New Hope mine at
Rosewood. This mine still produces thermal coal that is in great
demand in the Asia Pacific region. The company’s headquarters
are still in Ipswich.
1953:
Abermain Power Station
opens at Tivoli. It was the first
power station to be built on a
coalfield.
1959:
The Australian Coal Industry
Research Laboratory (ACRIL) opens
in Ipswich.
1965 – 1970s:
Open cut mining
emerges as a new and significant
element to mining in Ipswich.
1966:
The first stage of the
Swanbank Power Station begins.
31 July 1972:
The Box Flat Mine
disaster killed a number of men in
a massive underground explosion.
1980:
Numbers employed in the
mines dropped from the high
point of around 3000 in the 1960s
to around 1000.
1984:
There were still 13
underground and eight open cut
mines in operation in the Ipswich
region.
1997:
The last underground mine
in the Ipswich region closed.
1998:
End of transporting coal by
barge on the Bremer and Brisbane
Rivers.
2000:
Only around 200-300
people are employed in the
mining industry.
1864:
The first railway workshops were established at Downs Street,
North Ipswich.
1865:
The first train journey in Queensland took place between Ipswich
and Bigges Camp (now Grandchester).
1875:
First train from Brisbane to Ipswich runs on June 14th.
1885:
The railway workshops were relocated to North Street, North Ipswich.
1887:
Springall and Frost at The Terrace, North Ipswich produced the first
locally made locomotive for the Queensland railways. Prior to this,
locomotives had been shipped in as ballast and the very first one had been
assembled in the open air on the bank of the Bremer.
1901 – 1911:
The integrated workshop facility at North Street is built.
Bicycles were the favoured mode of transport for many local Railway
Workshops employees and knockoff time would see a wave of cyclists
heading along Downs Street.
1903:
The workshop built its first locomotive.
1950s:
The change from steam to diesel locomotives took place and the
Redbank Workshops were opened to work on the new type of engines.
1990s:
The railway workshops began their new life as Queensland Rail’s
facility for maintaining its heritage fleet.
2002:
The Railway Workshops Museum opened and became one of
Australia’s premier tourist attractions, winning the 2008 Australian Tourism
Award in the Heritage and Cultural Tourism category.
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