Ipswich Railway Workshops & Museum.
The Ipswich Railway Workshops in Queensland Australia is an internationally recognized "heritage manufacturing plant".
Visitors can:
* Take guided tours of the active railway workshops. (9:30am to 5:00pm daily)
* Watch incredibly skilled 'elder tradesmen' ply vital (but almost forgotten) skills and trades!
* Get up close to genuine locos and vintage carriages.
The Kids can:
* Try their hand at the different trades in the Apprentice Training Shops.
* Help the Works Manager and his apprentice complete the life-sized A10 locomotive.
* Create a cardboard take-home model of a locomotive, carriages and wagons.
* Explore the exhibits in the original Boilershop.
* Try driving a locomotive on a very real simulator.
* See the huge model railway.
Visit Their Official Website.. 
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Kids can Test Drive a Loco..
Kids can experience the sounds and feel of driving in an actual Diesel Loco cabin!
Moving the controls actually appears to set you off down the simulated track.
Kids can also let off some steam at Nippers Railway indoor playground.
There are so many things to see and do! You need to allow 4 to 6 hours..
Very reasonably priced Lunches and other refreshments are available from the "Trackside Cafe".
Click PLAY to see a video
of the Blacksmith Shop - a guided tour.
ID: Cledyvm
An old placard at the workshops reads..
“If it can be made, it can be made at These Workshops”
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Official Summary of the proposed Development plan..
The 17.4ha rail yards landmark site, located in north Ipswich, presents a unique opportunity for the development of a distinctive mixed use community node of local, regional and national significance.
Approximately eighteen highly significant heritage buildings (two thirds of which are vacant or used for storage). The existing award winning Workshops Rail Museum, together with Queensland Rail’s heritage rail restoration activities, present the opportunity for this site to evolve into a distinctive world class precinct where a range of mixed use cultural, museum, educational and recreational activities are delivered through a staged integrated and cohesive vision plan.
In order to ensure that the heritage value - both the social history and human stories as well as well as the vast network of heritage structures and spaces are not left to further deteriorate and disappear through ‘decommissioned neglect’, the rail yards precinct needs to attract a greater number of site users and visitors.
This can be achieved through the staged adaptive reuse of heritage buildings for a range of facilities and activities,
the key ones being;
* Additional museum facilities, such as ‘working’ rail displays, Power House Museum, treasure house etc.
* Training and education; heritage artisan skills training, arts and crafts studios, sustainability research center and support facilities etc. within an integrated precinct.
* Visitor recreation and amenity opportunities; increase steam train experiences, night tours, outdoors performing arts concerts, sound and light shows, food court, markets etc.
* Private sector partnership opportunities; conference center, hotel and sleeper carriage accommodation, exhibition hall hire etc.
While substantial public sector investment will be required to initiate and develop the various projects
as outlined in this document, the staged development of these facilities and activities
will have a far reaching impact on both the rail yards precinct and the broader Ipswich region.
The development scenarios that have been explored in this document indicate that on completion of Stage 1,
visitation to the rail yards precinct could be increased by 93%,
an additional 136 permanent jobs will be created for the region and an additional $9 million will be spent in this region.
Completion of Stage 2 projects are estimated to generate approximately 42,000 additional visitors
to the rail yards, and result in almost $5 million in additional expenditure in the region and 72 permanent jobs.
For Stage 3, an additional 133,000 visitors can be anticipated,
contributing to a further $12m regional visitor expenditure and an additional 177 new jobs.
In addition to integrating the rail yards precinct with its surrounding context, through improved access,
connectivity and parkland interface, the precinct itself will be developed to offer users a
wide range of quality mixed use public spaces, with activated interfaces and a legible network of pedestrian paths.
This focus on public realm, together with the proposed mix of activities and facilities,
will transform the rail yards into a sustainable creative and recreational epicenter for South East Queensland and a unique world class tourist destination.