Premier launches Midland Railway Workshops book

1/10/04
The history of one of Western Australia's most influential workplaces, seen through the eyes of generations of workers, is the subject of a new book launched by Premier Geoff Gallop today.
'The Midland Railway Workshops', by WAN photographer Nic Ellis and Murdoch University journalism lecturer Chris Smyth, links the theme of workshops families to events in the wider world.
Dr Gallop said the 112-page book, published by St George Books captured the unique atmosphere of the workshops.
"For most of its 90-year operating life the site was the most important engineering establishment in the State," he said.
"The Railway Workshops incubated the industrial skills and innovation that drove WA's development. In its heyday, the site employed more than 3,200 people, including almost 600 apprentices, and the book tells the stories of some of those men and women.
"Collectively, these glimpses of their working lives give us the bigger story of the site itself, and of WA, for almost all of the 20th century."
Launching the book in the 1904 Power House at the workshops, the Premier said it grew from a collection of photographs taken by Mr Ellis in the year before the site closed. St George Books and the new custodian of the site, the Midland Redevelopment Authority, together endorsed the project to commemorate both WA's 175th anniversary and centenary of the workshops.
"Other historic photographs were added from various sources, and the candid studies of faces and figures bring the workshops vividly to life," Dr Gallop said.
"You can almost smell the hot machinery, fumes and sweat, and hear the workers' voices telling stories against the noisy background of their workplace.
"From the days of steam, through World War 1, the Depression, World War II when munitions were manufactured here, the restructuring and modernisation that began in the 1950s, to the decline and closure a decade ago, the history of the Railway Workshops is one of the great WA stories.
"Today, in its centenary year, the Midland Redevelopment Authority is bringing the site back to life."
The Premier said residential and commercial development was planned around the workshops' historic core, and educational, cultural and other uses were planned for the superb heritage buildings. The State Government's $100million commitment over the life of the redevelopment would ensure the legacy of the workshops lived on for many generations to come.
Dr Gallop said like many Western Australians, he had a personal connection to the workshops. His uncle, Bill Gallop - now 85 - started on the site as an apprentice in 1935 and retired as a senior foreman boilermaker in 1979.
The Premier presented the first copy of 'The Midland Railway Workshops' to Kevin Mountain, a man who spent all his working life at the workshops and lowered the flag the day the site closed. These days, Mr Mountain is the MRA's ambassador and a volunteer for the Midland History Project, helping to record the site's social history and collect memorabilia.
'The Midland Railway Workshops' book costs $24.95 and is available from WAN and most bookstores. People can also buy it at the Railway Workshops Centenary Open Day on Sunday, October 24.
Premier's office: 9222 9475