Gerard Walsh and Selina Venier
Hundreds of volunteer hours were invested in the refurbishment of the Warwick Railway Station, celebrated at the official reopening on June 21.
Southern Downs Steam Railway Chairman, Kelvin Hutchinson confirmed that those hours equated to $500,000 and the further investment was $220,000 in state government funding.
More than 1,000 people were at the opening which included tours of the facility.
“We did all the work ourselves except plumbing and electrical,” Mr Hutchinson said. “The group also had a $10,000 grant from the War Memorial Trust which went towards landscaping, revitalising the Warwick World War One memorial which pays tribute to railway employees in the war, and assisted with two flags on either side of the memorial and a flat screen computer for displaying the history of the wars."
Military researcher Deborah Wheeler "spent years," he said, compiling the history of the First and Second Word Wars, and the Korean War, in what can be viewed.
All tables and chairs for the platform were donated by the Brisbane Ports Corporation while the train on the platform was a DH45 heritage locomotive with four, 100 year-old Davidson carriages.
Deputy Mayor Cheryl Windle said the event was "incredibly moving". "We didn’t just reopen a station, we honoured our past and celebrated our future," she told our newspaper. "The Warwick Railway Station is once again a living part of our town, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Southern Downs Steam Railway team whose passion has truly brought our history back to life."
The new Railway Café will open on September 1, to be used by the Southern Downs Industry Education Association as training for part of its hospitality courses. As a result, Warwick Railway Station Heritage Hall will cater for weddings and functions, hosting 80-100 people.
From spring, the existing Railway Museum will open five days a week, not two, and the upgraded SDSR ticketing office will conduct retail sales and sell novelty items, plus an information centre will feature local arts and crafts.
SDSR is also planning to open a caravan park on the eastern side of the railway line with 10 powered and 10 unpowered sights.
The group has 200 members of which 75 are regular volunteers.
More on other developments in the precinct in our newspaper next week.
