Brisbane Street Open Level Crossing Area
Shillito & Sons siding and the Spann's siding were both located near Keogh Street.
Track plan for Brisbane Street Open Level Crossing Area to "The Scenic Rim" (Look Out for Train 7). You can see the locations for the Shillito & Sons siding (previosly was Josiah Hancock’s Sawmill Siding West Ipswich 1887) and the Spann's Sawmill siding (later taken over by Scotts).
Shillito & Sons siding
Shillito & Sons during the Black February Flood of 1893 (cyclone Bundinyong)
Shillito & Son had their premises at the corner of Limestone and East Streets, Ipswich. These were destroyed by fire in 1903 but re-erected. Shillito’s foundry became the first private firm in Queensland commissioned to manufacture railway wagons. They would later move to West Ipswich and was the first stop along the Fassifern Branch (if required).
In 1866 soon after his arrival by ship in Moreton Bay, Samuel Shillito opened a small engineering business in Ipswich that was located opposite the East Ipswich State School on Brisbane Street. In 1867 he moved the business to Nicholas Street. Shillitos mainly performed blacksmithing, produced agricultural tools, and carried out general engineering. A few years later Samuel purchased property on the corner of East and Limestone Streets. This location in 1882 is where the first Queensland-made railway wagons were manufactured, outside of the Railway Workshops. Corn huskers and shellers were manufactured here. They also had a contract with Ipswich City Council for 100 tones of three inch cast iron pipes to be used for the town water supply. Castings for the Ipswich Gas Works were made by the firm.
Spanns siding
August F. Spann established a sawmill in 1904 near 339 Brisbane Street, West Ipswich with its own railway siding, near Hancock's sawmill. The rail siding served at Keogh Lane. With the demise of Spann's sawmill in 1948 to a devastating fire, the site was later taken over by Scotts of Ipswich. In mid-1952 construction began on the Scotts of Ipswich Foundry machine shop at West Ipswich and had an expected to cost of around £500,00 at the time.
Spann's sawmill ad 1905 - with the railway tracks in the foreground
[some data sourced from Ipswich Early Settler Database - Ipswich Libraries]
[some data sourced from Railway Archaeology Ipswich (Qld)]
Little Ipswich railway station
Little Ipswich was served by the Little Ipswich waiting shed on Pound and Keogh Streets. It was 1 miles 24 chains (2.1 km) from Ipswich at an elevation of 97 feet (30 m) [27.6216°S 152.7504°E].
West Ipswich was earlier known as Little Ipswich when urban settlers inhabited the area in 1840s. The Little Ipswich railway station was on the Dugandan railway line from 1882 to 1964 and remained on the Churchill railway line after the closure of most of the Dugandan line in 1964. It was located on the south-east corner of Pound and Keogh Streets.
Little Ipswich stop (date unknown)
Little Ipswich stop - missing shelter
Utilising Google Maps Lat/Long coordinate search, it places the Little Ipswich waiting shed near Keogh and Pound Streets. You can clearly see where the ralway line had passed through this area from the top left to the bottom right.
Probable Little Ipswich waiting shed location
[some data sourced from Railway Archaeology Ipswich (Qld)]
Churhill railway station
Churchill was served by the Churchill railway station at Lobb Street. It was 2 miles 14 chains (3.5 km) from Ipswich at an elevation of 77 feet (23 m) [27.633143°S 152.748333°E]. The line from Churchill to Dugandan closed in 1964 with the remaining line being known as the Churchill branch railway until the early 1990s.
Churchill - Loamside deviation 1904
Churchill railway station - 1960
Churchill railway station
[some data sourced from Railway Archaeology Ipswich (Qld)]
Probable Churchill railway station location