The Williamstown Workshops was the first

railway workshop Railway workshops are railway facilities in which rolling stock is repaired. While often colocated with engine sheds to perform routine tasks as well as major repairs, in some countries separated concepts exist with ''railway workshops'' being ...

operated by the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

, located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

inner western suburb of Williamstown.

History

The workshops opened in 1858 in four or five temporary buildings at

Point Gellibrand Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. H ...

, for the assembly of engines and carriages imported from England for the first government owned railways in the state. Other buildings were soon added, with seven locomotives built there, the first being number 100, a

2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. The notation 2-4-0T indi ...

passenger engine completed in 1872. As early as 1860 plans were made for new workshops but nothing came of these, until the 1880s when railway management described the workshops as inadequate and moves were made for new workshops at Newport. By 1889 the new shops were open, and Williamstown was closed.

References

{{coord missing, Victoria (Australia) Railway workshops in Victoria (Australia) Williamstown, Victoria History of rail transport in Australia Williamstown Workshops locomotives