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HERITAGE REPORT
The National Railway Heritage Conference
Bobbie Oliver
| The 101 delegates who attended the National Railway Heritage Conference at Tamworth held 28-30 September 2005 included representatives of museums, heritage groups, tourism agencies, universities (Australian and overseas), trade unions, transport authorities, a Labor Senator (Kerry O'Brien), and Tim Fischer, a former Leader of the National Party of Australia. It was evident from the attendance and the papers offered that 'rail heritage' appeals to a wide range of people and covers many different topics. |
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The conference was divided into two streams: the more 'technical' stream offered sessions on 'Operating Rail Heritage', Railways as a vital part of economic and social development, and rail monuments, while the more 'cultural' stream included sessions on 'Preserving and Valuing Railway Heritage', globalisation and heritage, the political and social culture of rail, and the history of rail. New South Wales was the most strongly represented, with almost three-quarters of the delegates representing that state, no doubt an indication of the regional variations in railway heritage, as well as a result of the location. Delegates from the 'peripheral' states, however, may have felt that some of the presentations were a little parochial, lacking the depth gained by drawing comparisons or contrasts to situations in other states and overseas. In this regard, it was pleasing that delegates from Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland presented papers relating to, respectively, the Midland, Launceston and Ipswich Railway Workshops. By the end of the conference, participants were well aware of the preservation work going on in the west, the north and the south, as well as the east. |
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The nexus between labour and railway history was evident, with a significant union presence not only among the attendees, but also in the presentations such as Frank Bongiorno's paper on the emergence of the Labor Party among Victorian railwaymen, Ric McCracken's on workplace cultures at Midland, and Vic Wulf's and Barrie Brennan's respective papers on health funds and mechanics institutes. |
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The conference was given an international perspective by Lucy Taksa who presented a session on globalisation and heritage, and Colin Divall (from York University and the National Rail Museum, York), who gave an excellent keynote address on 'Routes and roots: Australian railways as difficult heritage'. Divall warned against transport museums in Australia remaining in the 'narrow, nostalgic' mould, because the 'visitors' personal agenda visitors dictates much of what they will take away from a museum' and 'steam trains are now on the outside of the personal experience for many of today's visitors'. He distinguished between 'history' (defined by Lowenthal as 'a repetition of the past as it happened') and 'myth/heritage' ('a repetition of the past that reflects current concerns'). Consequently, public historians need to recognise that 'visitors will use the museum as they see fit, but we ... have a duty to provide tools so that [they] can interrogate their own sense of the past'. |
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There were some surprises, too. Who would have thought that John Pickard's paper on railway fences would be so interesting for those uninitiated in railway ephemera – if, indeed, one can classify 'massive cast iron strainer posts' under such a category. This fascinating paper brought to life an entirely new aspect of industrial heritage and the significant challenges faced by those who are attempting to preserve it. Another suite of papers presented the issues faced by (largely voluntary) societies attempting to maintain operational steam railways. |
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The day after the Conference was the occasion of the official opening of the Australian Railway Monument at nearby Werris Creek. Conference delegates enjoyed travelling from Tamworth in a rattling, old railmotor. |
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Dr Bobbie Oliver works at the Australia Research Institute at Curtin University of Technology. She is Chief Investigator of a project researching the history of the Westrail Workshops at Midland.
<bobbie.oliver@curtin.edu.au>
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