Thread: Old Brisbanites

Stanely St,Gabba,then Fairfield, i think

Bloody long time ago

Wooloongabba railway yards were a goods depot, and a locomotive depot for the South Coast Railway. No rail bridge across the river at South Brisbane then. My late neighbour started work there in 1953 as an engine cleaner at 19 years old. He eventually became a driver until retiring at 65 in 1999 from Mayne depot. He said there were 90 "sets" at the Gabba yards. A set was a crew of driver, fireman and guard. The yards were connected to the branch line that serviced the wharves along Stanley St & River Tce. going under Vulture St. between Allen St. and the Merton Rd. extension that no longer exists. The other line out of the yards went across Main St., Stanley St., Logan Rd., Trafalgar St., Jurgens St., crossed Ipswich Rd. near Balaclava St. and paralleled Ipswich Rd. behind the RSL hall and shops to swing behind the hospital through Hancock's timber yard between Park Rd. and Dutton Park stations to join the South Coast Line at Dutton Park station.

Neighbour said a big part of their work was crewing banker locos to assist trains up the grade from Park Rd. to Dutton Park, and from Clapham yards to Dutton Park.

I remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old my mums FJ Holden broke down on the raillines that crossed the road, when a steam train started to cross the road they use to have a man ring a bell that walked in front of the train, my mum and the kids started to freak out as the train got closer, you could see the driver and fireman have a good laught at our perdicament, they stopped the train about a few inches away, they hopped out and looked under the bonnet and got it going for her, will never forget that day, funny how things like that stick in your head...

Ashley

The pubs at the Gabba must have been great businesses then. Around 700 staff at the Gabba yards plus a lot of small businesses leased land from the Railways along the street frontages in Main St. and Stanley St. All gone for years. The major police station across the road in Main St. had a big mob of thirsty coppers employed there. Likewise closed for years.