BARNARDS WAY, INVERMAY
2 INVERMAY RD, INVERMAY
4 INVERMAY RD, INVERMAY
6 BARNARDS, INVERMAY
6 INVERMAY RD, INVERMAY

The Launceston Railway Workshops is one of Tasmania’s largest industrial complexes and one of the most significant industrial heritage sites in the state.  This assessment draws largely upon Peter Freeman Pty Ltd (1997) Tasmanian Railway Workshops: Inveresk, Launceston, Conservation Plan: Illustrated Guide and Pearson (1999) Launceston Railway Workshops: Conservation Plan. Nomenclature for buildings and features where possible has remained the same as these reports. There are three distinct precincts within the registered boundary of the railway workshops complex (Pearson, 1999):       Central Workshops Area A large collection of industrial concrete and corrugated iron buildings that dominate the site. Much of the corrugated iron cladding for the buildings was fabricated on site by workers using portable machinery to profile steel sheets. The central axis of the Central Workshops Area is the Traverser Alley (c.1885), which runs northwest-southeast. It was designed to move rolling stock between buildings and is shown on plans as early as 1885. A 20^th century traverser vehicle, designed to move rolling stock, it is now part of the QVMAG collections, and important in demonstrating the former function/purpose of the space.  Clad in corrugated iron with a control cabin, the traverser ran on rail and was used to move materials and parts between the workshops. Today Traverser Alley is a bare concrete alleyway with a single rail line, lined by the concrete, timber and iron industrial buildings of the Central Workshops area (Pearson, 1999). The Central Workshops Area is dominated by the concrete Main Workshop (c.1923) also known as the Stone Building, now divided between University of Tasmania (UTas) and Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG). The original concrete saw tooth roof has been re-aligned and replaced with a steel and glass saw toothed roof (c.1940s). Exposed concrete trusses and columns feature on the interior. Two overhead cranes dominate the respective university and museum spaces, capable of lifting up to 70 tonnes. In 2000 a ground heat exchange plant was installed, with a 60-metre vertical pipe installed. Water pumped through the network was brought to a constant temperature of 12 degrees, and used to heat or cool museum galleries such as the Main Workshop. This was the first geothermal heat exchange project on this scale in Tasmania. To the west of the main building is the Weighbridge (c.1939) clad in corrugated iron and containing a weighbridge mechanism made by Henry Pooley & Sons in Britain. The device was designed to measure the weight of steam locomotive wheels. The Weighbridge sits beside the main entry way for the QVMAG. The saw tooth roofed Precision Tool Annexe (c.1940) is located to the north of the Main Workshop, and is clad in corrugated iron. It now houses the UTas School of Arts. The Foundry (c.1940s) is a saw toothed building to the south of the Main Workshop, and is now incorporated into the entrance to the QVMAG. Adjoining the Foundry building to the south is the Carpenters’ Group (c.1870s) and Paint Shop Group (1870s), some of the earliest buildings on the site. Long rectangular forms, gable roofs, continuous ridge lanterns, exposed internal frames and timber windows and doors characterise these earlier buildings. The patched and weathered corrugated iron used in the cladding are particularly indicative of the industrial vernacular character of this early portion of the complex. The Carpenters’ Group contains the oldest gantry crane on site, the Cowans Sheldon & Co of Carlisle, England dating to 1884. A supervisors’ office with large multi-pane windows looms large over two of these workshops. Its raised position not only enabled surveillance of operations but also provided a safe repository for valuable documents from floods.  The Battery Shed (c.1940s) a small gable roofed stand-alone building to the south of the Carpenters’ Group, is clad in corrugated iron. The interior retains electrical stations for charging batteries, and overhead fume hoods for working with acid. Nearby is the former workshop building clad in timber now used by the Don River Railway. To the east of Traverser Alley is the Smithy Group, including the Blacksmith Shop (1911) perhaps the most intact 20^th century industrial building in the state.  The space is highly intact both internally and externally. The building retains forge workstations, furnaces, cranes, water baths, drop hammers and associated tools, which now form part of the QVMAG collection. The building has earthen floors, blackened walls and contents, and continuous ridge lanterns to provide ventilation. Fragments of World War Two blackout cloth survive on upper wall ventilation panels. The southern section of the building contains the former Sand Store and Welding Bay. Adjacent to the Blacksmith Shop is the Amenities Building (c.1940s) a small utilitarian building with concrete walls and corrugated iron roof. At the far southern end of the Central Workshops area is the gable roofed Signalman’s Cabin (c.1875, extended c.1890s), the only surviving building on site relating to the operation, rather than construction or maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock. In contrast to other buildings on site, it is clad in weatherboard and has decorative gable timber infills with finials. The skillion roofed entrance has a different weatherboard profile, while the interior contains the levers to control both signals and points. To the north of the Blacksmith Group also on the eastern side of the Traverser is a row of vernacular industrial buildings. The Fibreglass Shop Group (1890s), are clad in weathered corrugated iron as are the Sheet, Panel and Wheel Shop Group (1930s), Substation and Compressor House (1920s). The latter contains two electric powered compressors, Bellis & Morcom and Kelly & Lewis, designed to place air under pressure and drive machinery. A soundproof telephone box and caricatures drawn in pencil on the internal walls are a feature of this space.  In 1998 the Panel, Sheet and Wheel Shop Group were internally adapted for conservation workshops for the QVMAG. The Shell Annexe (c.1940s) is a substantial saw tooth roofed building clad in a mixture of new and old corrugated iron. Some insulation survives from when the building was insulated in World War Two to absorb the sound of riveting during manufacture of artillery and mortar shells. A raised supervisor’s office overlooks the floor in the eastern portion of the building.   Western Workshops Area A collection of predominantly single-storey Tramsheds clad in corrugated iron erected in 1911 for the Launceston Municipal Tramways. At the western end facing Invermay Road one of the tramsheds abuts a late Victorian building with double hipped roof and parapet facade. At the eastern end is the two-storey concrete former pay office. To the north is the Australian Technical College housed in a recently constructed building (2008).  To the south of the tramsheds is the former location of the administration buildings and goods yards for the railway workshop. The associated buildings and features have been demolished. The brick wall of the turntable well survives. It was partially uncovered during the redevelopment of the site. It is likely the rest of the infrastructure remains buried (pers. comm., Tassell, 2018). The circular parking area with plantings to the west of the Museum entrance was established in the late 1990s . Concrete entrance gates (1950s) and fencing survive addressing Invermay Road.   Northern Area The original Roundhouse with a diameter of 20.43m and capable of housing up to 44 engines, was constructed in 1922 and demolished in 1993. All buildings in this area have been demolished, with only the turntable and roundhouse foundations remaining (QVMAG, 2016 p.19). To the south of the Roundhouse was the imposing saw tooth roofed, concrete Diesel Workshop (c.1951) building which now houses the UTas School of Architecture. The building interior retains timber and steel roof trusses and the overhead gantry cranes. Associated buildings for the Diesel Workshops were demolished in 1994. Sub-surface remains and cultural deposits The area of the Railway Workshops is likely to contain surface and subsurface features and deposits that have the potential to provide information relating to associated industrial, engineering, administrative, transport and labour activities as outlined in Austral Tasmania, Statement of Historical Archaeological Potential, Archaeological Impact Assessment and Archaeological Method Statement, Inveresk Campus, Launceston. Features not of state-level heritage significance: The registered area also contains the following built features that are not of state cultural heritage significance in their own right. Major external modifications or demolition may have the potential to impact the elements of heritage significance: *UTas accommodation buildings (2015); *The Railway Station Offices (c.1996); *Car park and landscaping to west of QVMAG; *Director of Housing Building; *The Australian Technical College (2008); *UTas School of Fine Furniture Addition (2008); *Modern tramway *Modern market sheds within footprint of original roundhouse, North Workshops Area; *Covered walkway to QVMAG entrance York Park, Invermay Park, and the Launceston Showground buildings to the north-east of the site are excluded from this registration. The entrance gates of York Park and the re-located grandstand at Invermay Park are listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR #4399). Note on the Heritage Significance and Management of the QVMAG collections: The natural and cultural material collections of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery are of national heritage significance. Their accommodation and exhibition within the QVMAG within the historic railway workshops enhances the cultural values of the place. However, it should be noted that the collections are managed under the Local Government Act of 1993 and are not regulated or managed in accordance with any provisions of the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995.