Bendigo Workshops
Encyclopedia
Bendigo Workshops is a railway workshop located in the provincial city of Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. They are located in the north of the city and occupies 10.3 hectare of land beside the junction of the Swan Hill and Echuca railway lines.

History

The workshops were opened in November 1917 by the main rail operator in Victoria, the Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

. They were opened in response to political pressures from provincial groups for decentralisation, with the Victorian Railways preferring the cheaper option of expanding the existing Newport Workshops in suburban Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. Furthermore, unemployment had risen in both Bendigo and Ballarat due to a decline in mining operations. The main work carried out was repairs and maintenance of existing wagons and locomotives, however during 1919-22 thirteen new steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s were also built - eight Dd class
Victorian Railways Dd class
The Dd class was a passenger and mixed traffic steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1902 to 1974...

 (Dd 1033 - 1037, 1047 - 1049) and five A2 class
Victorian Railways A2 class
The A2 class was an express passenger locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1907 to 1963. A highly successful design entirely the work of Victorian Railways' own design office, its long service life was repeatedly extended as economic depression and war delayed the introduction of more...

  (A2 1078 - 1082).
From the 1950s onwards, numerous steam locomotives were scrapped at the workshops. During the years immediately following nominal dieselisation
Dieselisation
Dieselisation or dieselization is a term generally used for the increasingly common use of diesel fuel in vehicles, as opposed to gasoline or steam engines.-Water Transport:...

 in 1968, they were, at times, cutting up locomotives at the rate of one every two to three weeks.

The workshops was also the site of the first VR brass foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

, which was transferred to Newport by the 1960s. Also throughout 1965 VLX louvred vans were constructed at the workshops, at a rate of one a week. Other tasks included spring
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...

 manufacture, construction of stainless steel footwarmers, and assembly of pantographs
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...

 for electric trains, with a staff of 720 employed during 1966. By the 1980s refurbishment work was also being carried out on Melbourne suburban electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

s.

The 1980s were also a time of restructuring, and on the breakup of the Victorian Railways the workshops passed to the State Transport Authority
State Transport Authority (Victoria)
The State Transport Authority was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body which operated country passenger and freight trains in Victoria, Australia. It was established under the Transport Act 1983, succeeding the Victorian Railways...

 and then the Public Transport Corporation
Public Transport Corporation
The Public Transport Corporation was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services in Victoria, Australia....

. With privatisation the workshops were closed, with the loss of 262 jobs. The site was used to store excess rolling stock, with 12 Hitachi
Hitachi (train)
Hitachi is the name given for one of a set of electric multiple unit trains that operate on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Australia. Introduced to service in 1972, the trains are the oldest in the city's suburban fleet still in revenue service...

 suburban trains being stored there and becoming heavily vandalised, until they were returned to Melbourne in 2006.

The workshops were redeveloped in 2002 at a cost of $6.5 million - $4 million from VicTrack
VicTrack
VicTrack is the Victorian Government agency which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other related rail-related infrastructure in the state of Victoria, Australia....

, $2 million from the State Government Regional Infrastructure Development Fund and $500,000 by the City of Greater Bendigo
City of Greater Bendigo
The City of Greater Bendigo is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the central-western part of the state. It has an area of 3,048 square kilometres...

. The redevelopment was officially opened in 2004, with Empire Rubber (a division of Nylex) the major tenant, producing rubber vehicle components. The site covers 10.3 hectares of land and has 31 separate buildings, including a 10,000sqm main workshop building and 6 kilometres of railway track.
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