Women working in the Ipswich Railway Workshops dining room, 1920s – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich
The Ipswich Railway Workshops was the centre of rail construction, maintenance and technology in Queensland for decades. Over 200 steam locomotives were constructed there and during its peak over 3,000 people worked on the site.
Timber buildings were purposely built to house the timekeepers, administrative and drafting offices as well as a dining hall. The Ministerial head Mr W. T. Paget put forward a proposal from the late Commissioner for Railways, Mr J. F. Thallon, to build a dining hall and ‘to provide the men employed in the workshops with a substantial luncheon at a minimum cost’. The cabinet adopted the decision and a main dining hall with a smoke room, pantry, and store room was built with a verandah. The cost of the whole building was 2250 pounds. The kitchen was also fitted up with the latest appliances and new crockery which brought the total cost up to 2750 pounds. In 1911, at the time of the hall being built there were 1,400 men employed at the Ipswich Workshops.
The Dining Room was officially opened in January, 1912 by the Commissioner Mr Charles Evans, and the Minister, the Hon. W. T. Paget. Around 650 employees were present at the opening which saw dignitaries including the Deputy Commissioner, Mr W. Pagan; the Chief Engineer Mr N. G. Bell; the Traffic Manager for the Brisbane District Mr J. G. Brown and the Secretary to the Commissioner Mr A. J. Crowther attend. The three course meal menu for the day was Tomato soup, roast beef, olives, boiled potatoes, green peas, apple tart, lemon jelly, tea and rolls. The average cost of a daily meal per week was 1/9. A dining hall committee was set up to manage the halls operations such as staffing and other concerns.
In 1943, with the election of a new committee of management, the Ipswich Railway Workshops Dining Room space was increased to meet the growing demand of employees for meal services. Two refrigerators were installed as well as an ice-cream box, cash register, scales and other essentials. The sale of pasteurised milk was introduced and sales amounted to 30 to 35 dozen bottles of milk daily. About 10 gallons of ice-cream was sold daily. With improved services the number of diners increased by 25%, necessitating an increase in the staff to 19 waitresses.
In 1944, about 390 employees from the workshops dined each day in the dining hall. The Queensland Times newspaper reported in January, 1944 that the theft of cutlery from the Ipswich Railway Workshops Dining Room was of some concern. Many spoons were taken from the tables in a matter of months. Two of the tables had been stripped of dessert and soup spoons each branded with “Q.G.R.” No more spoons were taken after a sign requesting whoever was responsible for the theft to return the articles.
Over the years the dining hall was also used for dances and social outings. In 1946, after a lapse of 30 years since the last social occasion the Ipswich Railway Workshops Dining Room was once again a scene of gaiety when dancing recommenced on its spacious floor. Around 400 dancers spent a very enjoyable evening with streamer dances and confetti battles the source of some merriment. The venture was so successful that a decision was made to hold the dances weekly.
The operations of the North Ipswich Railway Workshops were officially closed in 1997. The Railway Workshops Dining Hall is now part of the Railway Workshops Museum.
Lunch room, Ipswich Railway Workshops, North Ipswich, 1987 – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich
Information from ‘Railway Dining Room – Opened 25 Years Ago – Hot Meals for 4d. a Day’, The Queensland Times, 2 January, 1937; ‘Spoons Stolen – Workshops Dining Room Suffers’, The Queensland Times, 21 Jan, 1944; ‘Dining Hall Dance a Success’, The Queensland Times, 21 October, 1946; Four Waitresses walk off the job’, The Queensland Times, 11 October, 1944; ‘Modern Kitchen – Installations at Workshops Dining Room’. The Queensland Times, 11 August, 1944; Picture Ipswich