Episode description
An encounter with the South Brisbane railway system during the 1960’s was truly a step back in time to the early 20th century. On our latest episode, we’ll talk about how the Gabba depot came to be, why it disappeared, and how a ‘flag and bell man’ was such an iconic part of the old streetscape and railwayscape of inner-city Brisbane for many decades.
We’ll also talk with Greg Rooney, General Manager of the Rail Management Centre (or ‘RMC’) and South East Queensland Operations for Queensland Rail. Greg shares his story of his father working various trains over to Wooloongabba depot and why he’s excited about the new underground tunnel that will again change public transport on the south side of Brisbane.
Listen to the episode
Podcast transcript
Introduction
Annette: Good day, and welcome to Episode 9 of the Queensland Rail History Podcast. As always, I’m Annette and I’m here with Greg, Queensland Rail historian, to talk about Queensland Rail’s rich history. Today, we’ll talk about how the Gabba Depot came to be, why it disappeared, and how a flag and bell man was such an iconic part of the old streetscape and railway scape of inner-city Brisbane for many decades. An encounter with the South Brisbane railway system was truly a step back in time to the early 20th century. With the advent of Cross River Rail, the Gabba will again have its own trains, although not having to negotiate with traffic, trams, and pedestrians as it did from the 1880s up until the late 1960s. We’ll also talk with Greg Rooney, General Manager of the Rail Management Centre and South East Queensland Operations, for Queensland Rail, who has his own family stories of the Gabba.
“I think Woolloongabba was an essential and important part of Queensland Rail back in the day because it was the Southside Railway.”
“Be that as it may, we, in common with the whole community, hail with pleasure the inauguration of the railway in Queensland.”
“An old woman in our carriage was very proud of this little bit of railroad.”
So, I’m pleased to welcome again Greg Hallam, joining us today.
Greg:Thank you, Annette. Lovely to be here again with you, and oh well, have a good talk about the Gabba today. Looking forward to it.
Annette: Right, I’m going to kick straight in for you, Greg. Can you tell us, how did the first railway to Woolloongabba come to be?
Greg: Good opening bat, in a way, talking about the Gabba, ha ha. Well, the railway from Corinda to Woolloongabba, it was built principally to provide a means of bringing West Moreton coal to a wharf beside the river, the Brisbane River. Now, that enabled the collieries to develop a trade in coaling steamers, steamships bunkering coal, they used to call it. The South Brisbane line was an extension running from Corinda to South Brisbane. It ran via Tennyson, Yeronga, Fairfield, Dutton Park and Vulture Street. Now, the Government of the day had stipulated that it was to be used in cost-cutting measures in the awarding of the contract and the construction of the railway.
So the railway line was surveyed to run along part of both Fairfield and Ipswich roads. The Woolloongabba Divisional Board, which was a precursor to the shire, town councils and things like that, it wasn’t too pleased with the prospect of trains running along such major thoroughfares. So they called tenders for the construction of the South Brisbane Wharf in November of 1882. The contract for construction of the line and the railway wharf, it was awarded to Acheson Overend at the beginning of 1883 for £11,000. And the contract completion date was scheduled for the 1st of November of 1883.
The wharf wasn’t completed until June of 1884, primarily because of the difficulties in getting supplies of timber from Sydney and Maryborough. They also included two 10-tonne steam-operated cranes that were also included as part of the contract.
Annette: So $11,000 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, even for back then.
Greg: Well, $11,000, but £11,000, it was a considerable amount of money back then anyway, Annette, yes.
Annette: And I know we don’t encourage the conversion of costs from now to then and back and forward. Can you advise how it compared to other projects of the time?
Greg: I think you’ll find that other railway projects going on in Queensland were considerably more. But because this was a cost-cutting exercise, I think you’d find it might be a bit more of a middle-tier infrastructure project anyway.
The first South Brisbane railway station
Annette: When the line finally opened to the original South Brisbane station at Stanley Street and the Gabba, was it busy?
Greg: Well, Stanley Street, yes, it was the original South Brisbane station. It opened on the 2nd of June, 1884. Now, in the original timetable, there are three mixed trains which carry goods and passengers that ran each day. The trains departed from Stanley Street, they arrived at Woolloongabba, then they stopped at Fairfield, Yeronga, Logan Junction – that’s today’s Yeerongpilly – and then South Brisbane Junction, which is today’s Corinda. Three return services also were provided. The line was extended to Stanley Street, that’s at South Brisbane, beside the South Brisbane dry dock; that was primarily to attract passengers. As a result, the first South Brisbane station was located at Stanley Street in the area today of the Maritime Museum or the Goodwill Bridge.
The early train services
Annette: Greg, can you tell me, a mixed train, would that have actually been nice for passengers?
Greg: It would have been slow because you’re carrying everything. You’re carrying produce, you could be carrying pigs, you could be carrying cattle, anything. And you also have a couple of passengers wagons attached. Probably very much not a, shall we say, an enjoyable journey for all, but a mixed train, again, part of basically providing a common service, yes.
Annette: Only three trains a day doesn’t seem too busy. Did the timetable get busier?
Greg: Oh, yes. Within two years, up to a dozen trains a day, they departed or terminated at the station. The facilities were very hard pressed to cope with all this traffic. And things were so tight that when the Cleveland branch opened in 1889, trains had to set back to Woolloongabba to be out of the way for other engines or trains.
Annette: Can you explain what a setback is?
Greg: Yes, that’s quite easy. Basically, it’s a return to sender situation, where the trains would have to, literally, have to back back to Woolloongabba from out of the Stanley Street station. So, as you’d get an idea, very, very crowded and getting very, very busy.
The coal export wharves at Kangaroo Point and South Brisbane
Annette: I know that you’ve mentioned before that it was very much a freight or coal export area at South Brisbane, and not really built for passengers. Can you give me an idea of how busy it was with coal exports?
Greg: In 1888 alone, some 6,000 tonnes of coal were exported. That was just in one week, however. But within 10 years, they were looking at about 170,000 tonnes per year were being shipped to the wharves from the West Moreton Coalfields. In 1894, actually, the Parliament authorised the extension of the dry dock siding. That went through as far as Victoria Bridge. And that was to service the wharves and the commercial hub along the riverbank at South Brisbane. And that line was actually opened on the 30th of March of 1897.
Annette: So, what we think of as the Gabba really was a railway operation centred on South Brisbane, wasn’t it?
Greg: Hmm.
Queensland Railways unique way of spelling Woolloongabba
Annette: One thing I noticed when reading up on this podcast was that Queensland Railways had their own unique way of spelling Woolloongabba.
Greg: Yes, Annette. Southside’s goods traffic was Wooloongabba. And how it was spelt by the Queensland Railways, we only had one L, thank you very much. Now, originally the spelling also carried two Ls; there were three Os. But despite the more recognised version being spelt today as Woolloongabba, with two Os, two Ls, two Os, the Railways went with one L. That was the Queensland Railways.
Annette: Is there any record of why we changed the spelling? Was it simply because the depot was adjacent to Woolloongabba?
Greg: That’s a really good point, and it’s a little bit lost in the Railway archives and things like that. I think it was just a case of the Queensland Railways going the way they thought best and continuing with it for many years. But, yes, that was simply one L, thank you very much. And that was until 1969, or even until 1971.
A very busy railway operation in the inner city area
Annette: You are starting to paint a picture here of a very active and bustling railway location in what is today an inner-city part of Brisbane. So, what sort of railway was centred on the Gabba?
Greg: So, the Woolloongabba depot and railway yards, they arose from very humble beginnings. Originally, the depot featured a passenger station, goods shed, carriage shed, engine shed, and also a small turntable. There was a small workshop area. There was also goods facilities. They were catered for with the provision of a weighbridge and a crane.
Annette: Just interested, the crane that you’re talking about here, was it a steam crane?
Greg: In the early part they were, but later they were electric. Now as a result of the central location, the Woolloongabba railway yards was the most convenient goods depot for all those businesses over on the Southside. As well, the yards handled most of the traffic for the network of railway lines that were centred on South Brisbane.
Our interviewee Greg Rooney, General Manager for the RMC, Rail Management Centre and Operations Projects at Queensland Rail
Annette: I’m here in Brisbane today talking with Greg Rooney, General Manager for the RMC, Rail Management Centre and Operations Projects at Queensland Rail. Greg, thanks so much for joining us on the podcast here today.
Greg Rooney: Thanks very much for having me.
Annette: Greg, your office at Bowen Hills has a real collection of pictures and memorabilia from the Gabba Railway. Can you tell us a bit about this?
Greg Rooney: Yes, so on the ground floor at the RMC, the Rail Management Centre, we have – well, I’ve created a bit of a wall to the Gabba and the Southside Railway. So I’ve got various photos and I’ve got some old books, again, dating back to the late 1800s, linked to the Gabba. It talks about shunting at Stanley Street, light engine to Woolloongabba, all those type of operational little bits and pieces that really resonate to me about – similar to virtually what we do today, running trains. I think we need to remember our history. I think probably because I’ve spent such a long time on the rail, my family spent so much – a long time on the rail.
I’ve just come back from the UK and Europe, they still remember their – where they come from; there is plenty of artefacts from days gone by at those particular railways. So I do think it’s important to Queensland, Brisbane’s history, to remember where we came from and what the railway used to look like and there was a history before today.
Annette: Do you think it’s interesting we’ll be opening a railway again at the Gabba?
Greg Rooney: Yes, it’s a funny thing with where the Woolloongabba is situated now, and where it was back in the day. I mean, when I was a kid going to school, I can remember the bus route took over where the tunnel’s there at Vulture Street through to Woolloongabba Five Ways. That was actually – the tunnel that the buses went through was actually the railway tunnel under Vulture Street. I always remember going past there at Woolloongabba and seeing the Railway Hotel, but there was no railway there in the ‘70s. I thought it was ironic, having a Railway Hotel with no railway around back in the day; and then eventually it became the Chalk Hotel. But it remained the Railway Hotel for many, many years at Stanley Street, with no railway around, just like the pub with no beer. But it was one of those things.
And so, it is a bit ironic that after all these years since 1969, when it closed up, that we’re going back there; and just shows that it was a pivotal point for transportation back in the day, because it connected – where it connected there, it connected with a lot of tram lines to Cleveland, to Mount Gravatt; it used to connect around Gabba Five Ways there. It was a busy place.
The Rooney family and their association with the Queensland Railways
Annette: Does your family have any history in Queensland Rail?
Greg Rooney: Okay, so my grandfather joined in Townsville in 1912 and worked his way – started off, as they did back in the day, as a cleaner; then he progressed to fireman, then to a driver. And he worked on the Great Northern Railway, as it was known at the time. And my father then joined in 1943 and he also worked on steam trains on the Great Northern Railway. He got classed in Hughenden as fireman and driver at Roma, and then ended up here in Mayne, where he retired in 1990. Dad was able to – and he was quite proud of it actually – he was able – by the time he retired, he could drive anything that was available.
I remember in the 80s, mid-80s, that the Commissioner for Railways, Doug Mendoza, retired and he asked for Dad to take him home. He lived out Indooroopilly way. He asked for Dad to take him home on a loco with his grandkids, and Dad drove an old DH. So I remember him pulling up at Roma Street and getting his photo taken with the Commissioner and his family and then taking the train, taking the locomotive out to Indooroopilly. And it was an old diesel hydraulic locomotive. Dad, yes, Dad was proud he could drive anything. He drove steam trains, he drove diesels, he drove the early diesels, he drove all the rail motors, the RMs, the 1800s, the 1900s, the 2000s.
Then he drove the electric trains, the EMUs, when they came, and he drove the ICE. And he tested the electric locos. When the electric locos were introduced, some of them never worked down here; they were the 31s and 32s. They were sent straight to the coalfields; they were designed for the coalfields. But the 39s, he tested the 3900 locos, which were used here hauling ‘silver set’ SX carriages, and also for the long-distance mail trains; we used to put an electric loco on the, say, for instance, the Capricornian, back in the day, and run it up to Rockhampton with an electric loco on it, or the Sunlander with an electric loco on, and then they used to change locos at Rockhampton because that was the end of where the overhead line went to.
When I was younger, I used to travel around. I was quite familiar with Mayne and the rail motor depot and the diesel depot when I was only a young fellow. And the highlight for me was going up to Toowoomba and Helidon on the rail motors, and hanging out and picking up the electric staff hoop to the station masters on the way. It was fantastic. I loved it as a kid. I’d hang out with my arm out the side and pick it up. And obviously it was still staff sections, so that meant you had the authority for the single-line section.
Annette: Greg, did your dad ever share any stories about what made Woolloongabba a special place for him?
Greg Rooney: Dad worked various trains. Obviously, still back in those days, there was different depots and they could only work to certain points. So, for instance, the Brisbane guys could only work to Gympie, but they did go over to Woolloongabba and vice versa. Dad relieved over at Woolloongabba a few times. He had a good friend, which he got on very well when he used to go over that way. And I think they had many a drink over at the Railway Hotel across the road there in Stanley Street afterwards. So, yes, so he enjoyed working out of Woolloongabba.
The Falg and Bell man at Woolloongabba
Annette: Greg, I have seen photos that really seem like something from another century. Trains being escorted by a railway worker waving a red flag and ringing a bell across the streets of the Gabba. What’s all that about?
Greg: It literally was from another century, Annette. The flag and bell man really was for many decades, and until the late 1960s, something of an icon of the railway workings over on the Southside. His role was to walk ahead of the locomotive or train and it was literally to act as a visible warning of what was following. It was a practice that was introduced in 1896 when crossing the streets and the roads on the way down towards Dutton Park. And trains were only allowed to proceed at a speed of four mile an hour, which is about eight kilometres an hour on all the level crossings.
Annette: Even back then, safety was a high priority for the Railways. You are creating a vivid image of something that even in the mid-20th century seemed out of its own time.
The Cinderella railway
Greg: Exactly, Annette. One historian actually called it the Cinderella Railway, and it was a real railway of hand-me-downs. The travelling public were treated to some of the oldest railway carriages that were used on the Brisbane Suburban Service. They were also some of the most diverse. There were carriages that existed within this area that had been rendered obsolete elsewhere, and they were more or less cascaded to the Southside. There were lightweight excursion cars that found regular employment on trains to the south coast. There were low-level platforms, lots of them over on the Southside as well. These were actually shorter than those on the north side of Brisbane and it also therefore meant that trains were the same weight and length being run on the Southside.
There were also swing door carriages, the old red timber ones our listeners would remember. These were introduced by around the time of Commissioner Charles Evans in 1911 for suburban use in Brisbane. On the Southside there was a slightly scaled down version that was introduced for use over there as well.
Annette: Greg, I love the fact that you think our audience are going to remember the red swing doors. You know they went out of date before I was even born.
Greg: I remember them well, Annette.
Greg Rooney - the importance of the old Gabba depot
Annette: What do you think made the Gabba railway such an important part of Queensland back in the day?
Greg Rooney: Yes, so virtually what happened in those days was Queensland Rail was sort of cut into two railways. So there was no real bridge crossing from the south to the north. That didn’t happen until 1979, with the opening of the Merivale Bridge. However, to join the two railways you had to go via Milton and Sherwood, around through Tennyson, that way. That was the only way. So virtually it was two distinct railways. The Gabba really serviced the – specifically in the early days, in the early 1900s – the Gabba really serviced the Southside Railway as opposed to Roma Street here in the early 1900s servicing the northern railway. It wasn’t until later in the 1920s that Mayne was built. But yes, the Southside really depended on the Gabba and South Brisbane as the main pinnacles of the Southside Railway.
Greg Rooney - my career in Queensland Rail
Annette: Greg, you’ve told us about your family heritage in the railway, but can you tell us a bit about your own journey here at Queensland Rail?
Greg Rooney: Okay, so I started in early 1983. I started as a clerk. You had to have done your – back in those days, everything was very demarcation. If you started in clerical, that was the white collar, that’s where you stayed. If you started in loco, which was for the drivers, that’s where you stayed. If you started in the traffic, that’s where you stayed. There was no intermingling back in those days. Trade was the same thing. You couldn’t cross from one discipline to the other back in those days. I started actually in the Rail Centre, and then, not long after that I went on Brisbane relief, and I relieved in all the various ticket offices, goods and parcels offices back in the days, because there was no computers, so everything was done manually; adding up what we used to call the ticket office book and bend.
Some of those guys in the ticket offices, dealing with thousands of tickets a day and having to do three books a day, they were fantastic with numbers. On the weekends they used to pencil down for bookmakers. That’s how good they were. They had second jobs, because they were so good at adding up. But I worked in various traffic branch offices, out on stations, and then I got goods clerk in Quilpie. So I went to Quilpie, because in those days everything was on seniority. If I didn’t leave Brisbane, then I would have been relegated. You just have to wait until you – it was all done by age then. So I went to Quilpie and got a sixth class clerk. But back in the day that’s the only way you could progress.
So then I progressed that way, and then I got into operations. And operations was not unfamiliar for me, because working out in the stations and working in all the various out depots and doing loco rosters for train crew, and being that I used to travel around on trains with my father when I was – not long after I could walk I was running around on trains with him. It was not unfamiliar to me. So then I got into operations, train control, timetables planning, possession planning, all the rest of that type of operations work, which I’ve been doing for over 30 years now. And I just rose through the ranks at Mayne, through controller, supervisor, right up to General Manager Operations there now of the RMC.
The RMC is an interesting place. I mean, it’s very dynamic. A lot goes on there. There’s something going on all the time on the railway. People talk about New York never sleeps; well, the railway never sleeps. There’s always, always something going on. Even at 2 o’clock in the morning there’s something going on. It’s very dynamic, and you’ve got to move with what’s going on at the time. The one thing good about – usually, unless it’s a big incident – is whatever you leave today will be different tomorrow. It’s a place where we can control trains from as far as Gympie North, 174 kilometres away, to as far south as the Gold Coast, say, 90 kilometres away. So we’ve got a pretty wide span of control, and obviously all the different other branch lines we’ve got through to Cleveland, Rosewood, et cetera, Ferny Grove.
So we control all the signals remotely and obviously, all the train movements. It controls the network, it manages the network. Your train’s late, they know your train’s late. If your train’s late, they’ll try to fix your train, if they can, to get it back on time. And the most important thing about a railway is running trains on time. I say to the controllers when they say to me, “You worry a lot about on-time running”, I said, “Well, I’ve got a book, an old book out in a showcase on the control floor there outside, and it’s with various other books dated back to late 1800s, and there’s one there from 1889, and it’s called – the title of the book is Late Trains. We’ve been worrying about late trains since the 1880s. So it is important, yes.”
The railway network centred on the Woolloongabba railway yards
Annette: So, the Gabba was a railway depot, goods yard, et cetera, centred on the Southside of Brisbane. What locations did it serve?
Greg: Oh, Annette, it was a real interesting network of railways that were centred over there on south Brisbane and down at Woolloongabba. So this was in the era when railway lines linked places such as Cleveland Point, Canungra, Beaudesert, and even to Christmas Creek and Rathdowney on the Beaudesert Shire tramway. Of course, there was also the railway lines down to Tweed Heads and Southport. That was really the backbone of the Gabba, when you think about it. Now, it was home to an interesting conglomeration of steam locomotives. The majority of those were the very small but very numerous PB15 class engines. These only weighed in at about 60 tonnes.
The number of locomotives based at the Gabba increased along with the growth of passenger and goods trains that worked from the very tight and confined yard. Now, the engine crews were forced to contend with the small locomotives being stored mostly in the open, due to the lack of space within the engine sheds provided as well. It was a pretty cramped place.
The closure of the Woolloongabba depot
Annette: That doesn’t sound ideal, engines and wagons stored outside. There is no longer a depot at the Gabba. When did this change?
Greg: Yes, the 1960s were the period that unleashed that greatest change on what was really unique operations of railways on the Brisbane Southside. The Five Ways of the Gabba which had tram tracks, there was road traffic and of course steam trains, they’d all grown up in the area but by the end of that decade they were all literally swept away. Amongst these casualties were also the branch lines and industries that were centred on the Southside. There was also the wharves and entire industries that were centred on South Brisbane, and as a result of this pace of economic and social change that was happening in the 1960s.
In the beginning of 1964, 38 engines were on the books of the depot, the majority still being the PB15 class. Then over the next three years the closure of lines south of Brisbane accelerated and especially with the closure of the South Coast line, the small PB15 class numbers dropped to 23. At the same time that lines were being closed, the introduction of diesel electric motor power was also moving well ahead.
Annette: Was there anything else that brought about the major changes in the area?
Greg: The recommendations to construct a freeway linking central Brisbane to its southern suburbs in the mid-1960s, that really brought the end of the operations of the depot, the goods yard and also the Gabba itself. So in 1966 the first diesel electric engines made their appearance on regular services from South Brisbane and the Gabba. Then on the 22nd of September 1967, there actually came the day that the Gabba Depot was to pass into history. So on that day the decision was taken to close the depot to steam operations and transfer all the activities over the north side to a main depot. So at the closure there were about still 40 engines that were allocated to the Gabba; 28 of these were present actually, the others were already gone.
And there was a procession of engines that left the depot, and it was described to me as much whistling for that final time. And for the historians out there, the last steam locomotives to leave the depot were PB15s 582 and 522. The goods yard at the Gabba was to last until 19th of December 1969. And diesel electric engine 1759, it actually hauled that last goods train. And by that stage even the tram tracks then also disappeared along with the steam locomotives over at the Gabba. It was a really changing landscape by then.
Annette: So Greg, as we’re talking about the Gabba Depot, where would it be located if it was still around today?
Greg: Yes, the location of the Gabba Depot was – it became the Government Printing Office. It was also where the Lands buildings were, where the busway over at Woolloongabba was. That was the location, and it’s also the location today of the Cross River Rail workspaces there as well.
Annette: When the Gabba closed, it seemed to signify the end of an era. What do you think has been the biggest changes to the railway on the Southside of Brisbane?
Greg Rooney on what made the Gabba special
Greg Rooney: I think Woolloongabba was an essential and important part of Queensland Rail back in the day because it was the Southside Railway. We were two distinct railways and even though there was a connection, it was a long connection. So, if we’re talking about running things efficiently, it was always going to be more efficient to have a depot on the south side and a depot on the north side rather than try to service, from the tyranny of distance, to try to service around the south of Brisbane running from Roma Street or Mayne back in the day. So it was all about economics as well, I think, at the time.
And then, the Merivale Bridge, well, the bridge crossing was thought of many, many times up till 1979, but eventually it did happen. And the greatest growth period for Queensland Rail was – if you have a look at the capacity numbers and the number of passengers that started catching rail – the biggest growth period was 1981, 1982. The Merivale Bridge had just opened, we’d gone to electrification, electric trains had just come in and we’d bought all these new electric trains. So the biggest growth for Queensland Rail was 1981 to 1982, after they connected the two railways.
The Brisbane cricket ground and the old Gabba railway yards
Annette: With the depot so close to the Brisbane Cricket Ground, as it was known back then, did our railway ever interfere with anything there?
Greg: Well, actually, yes, it was well known by people who used to listen to ABC broadcasts from the Gabba. And quite often in the background for the broadcast of the cricket and things like that, talking about wonderful cover drives and stuff like that or bowling from Wallingford at the other end. And quite often you get the locomotive whistles, and the sounds of the locomotives or trains making their way across the level crossings and things like that. I’d be interested to hear if there’s anything in the sound archives, always wondered. You could also hear the bell, the flag and bell men going across as well too, Annette.
Unusual rules for working trains in an unusual railway depot
Annette: Are there any other stories that sparked your interest, Greg?
Greg: One interesting thing that I always enjoyed hearing a story about was the aerial turntable. And again, because of the lack of space in the Gabba yard and that, the locomotive turntable was actually built not into the ground, as you normally think with a turntable, it was an elevated one. It was up on poles and things like that. So, people going past in trams and buses, and walking past the Gabba quite often see a steam locomotive more or less in the air, being turned between service runs and everything like that.
Another interesting thing about it, Annette, was that the goods loadings behind steam locomotives that used to work to the wharves over at South Brisbane there, they were never actually calculated. So, a departmental directive was issued in 1906. It stated that an engine could be worked through to the wharves from the Woolloongabba and through the tunnel that used to be there from the goods yard. And basically, it was whatever it could handle without sticking on the way, that’s what they could take.
Annette: So, when you say worked, do you mean that they could be loading up as it’s moving along the whole way?
Greg: No, Annette, no. Basically, it meant whatever loadings that they took in wagons and things like that, from the Gabba down to the wharves at South Brisbane, and also back again as well through the tunnel that was there at Woolloongabba. One interesting thing too, the tunnel. The tunnel. The tunnel was there basically between Kangaroo Point, South Brisbane wharves and also the Gabba. And there are many stories about when they built the South East Freeway that the tunnel was buried under the works and things like that. No, it wasn’t. It was what they called daylighting. And there’s photographic evidence that shows the tunnel being daylighted, which was filled in for the construction of the South East Freeway when that came through in the very early part of the 1970s as well. And it’s good in a way. You think about bus tunnels coming to replace a railway tunnel happening there in the 1970s and the 1980s.
That’s been really the story of the Gabba and the story of flags and bells and also trams and cricket. And the way it’s transformed; it went from – now to the South East Freeway, goes through that area. There’s the Cross River Rail that also will be coming into that area as well too. It’s a big historical cycle, when you think about it, going from horses, steam locomotives, and now to something entirely new that’s obviously going to change the face of transport in Brisbane again.
Looking ahead to Cross River Rail with Greg Rooney
Annette: I’m chatting with Greg Rooney here today. Greg, we’ve just been talking in today’s episode about the changes over the years in Brisbane. Now in 2023, Cross River Rail is taking shape and has tunnelled through under the Brisbane River. As we’re heading towards the Olympics, are you excited about Queensland Rail and where our organisation is heading?
Greg Rooney: You know, I see it the same as moving to electrification from the late 70s into the 80s, and the introduction of diesel trains, diesel locomotives in the 1950s and 60s. It’s a big change. So what we’re about to go through, it’s not just about the tunnel, it’s about how we’re going to run trains, the different lines, the different sectors, but it’s also about the signalling.
Annette: And what’s your thoughts on the new underground station that will be built at Woolloongabba?
Greg Rooney: The underground station, with what I can see with the design, it’s quite a fantastic design. So, being able to connect from a transport mode at the Gabba to connect to the stadium, to local communities there, and then connect straight over to the city, it’s a fantastic thing. And I think it’s going to be a real game changer when it does open.
Annette: Greg, we’ve talked about all this growth and change over the years. You’re celebrating your 40th year working at Queensland Rail. Obviously, our organisation has changed a lot over that time, and 40 years is a really long time. What keeps you motivated to come to work every day and keeps you here?
Greg Rooney: People say to me, “Oh, you’ve worked in the same company for so long”, but I said, “It’s not the same company.” I’ve seen so many changes across Queensland Rail that it feels like I’ve worked for several different companies. So I think it’s a passion. I think I’ve got a passion for what Queensland Rail is all about. It’s about delivering a service, delivering a service for the people of Queensland. There’s no doubt about it, Queensland Rail is a great company; it always has been, in my opinion. I think it’s a well-recognised company and it is the foundation of what Queensland is. When we talk about connecting communities, that’s exactly what it does. It connects communities from as far north, 1,600-odd kilometres up to Cairns, right through to – out to the western regions of 979 kilometres to Quilpie. It connects.
Conclusion
Annette: Thank you to both our Gregs, Greg Hallam, and our special guest, Greg Rooney, for sharing his memories of the once iconic Gabba Depot. And to you, our listeners, we hope you enjoy listening about times past in the Queensland Railways, as much as we do chatting about them. Remember, we love hearing from our listeners and invite you to connect with us via the Queensland Rail Facebook or Instagram accounts. Here, you can ask questions or share your suggestions on what topics you would like us to cover in future episodes. We’ll see you here next time for another episode of the Queensland Rail History podcast.