foundry

I've been in this mill many times to work. It's just down the road from me. My grandfather worked there during the war in place of my great-uncle (his brother) who flew a B-24. When the war ended by grandpa got the boot and his brother had been killed in the Pacific. War is hell and so is the after-peace sometimes.

The Bundaberg Foundry has been a Bundaberg institution on the north side of the river for over 100 years. But it actually had its genesis in Targo Street, about where the Imperial Hotel stood (now the Central Hotel). A Mr Thomas Child (Snr) was employed in, or began, Bundaberg’s first iron foundry either on the site of the Imperial Hotel, or on land in front of the Imperial Hotel, depending on the source.1,2 Other sources credit Thomas’s son Thomas Obadiah Child with adding the foundry arm to the business in 1885. Thomas (Snr) developed a prosperous and well-regarded business, and once he handed over the reigns to his son Thomas Obadiah the business continued to grow and develop. From mid-1887 the foundry is referred to as Messrs. Roberts, Coombe, and Co. Bundaberg Foundry. The firm was in its ‘infancy’ and they had won contracts for the railways, a new wharf, and the railings of the new Queensland National Bank. In 1888 the company was set to change again, with the advertisement of the “Prospectus of the Bundaberg Foundry Company, Limited, Bundaberg”. On 28 November 1888 the new Bundaberg Foundry Co., Ltd advertised its intentions to move their business to North Bundaberg. The Foundry, unfortunately, suffered some losses in the flooding Bundaberg experienced in early 1890. On the evening of 18 December 1920 a fire at the Bundaberg Foundry lit up the night sky. 1926 120 hands were employed by the Foundry which was regarded as the headquarters for the manufacture of machinery for the Australian sugar and mining industries. 1952 Bundaberg Foundry delivers to Mossman Mill in North Queensland two steam coal-fired locomotives, ‘Bundy’ (named after the Foundry) and ‘Speedy’. These two locos now perform tourist service at the historic Bally Hooley Steam Railway at Port Douglas. 1989 Bundaberg Foundry was purchased by Bundaberg Sugar. Bundaberg Foundry becomes a member of the Bundaberg Sugar group. 2001 On a June morning an explosion at the Foundry shook homes and businesses in North Bundaberg and resulted in molten metal landing in surrounding streets. A Foundry worker managed to run from the scene just before the explosion, which was the result of contact between water and molten metal. The explosion set fire to the roof and caused $50,000 damage. 2008 In January Bundaberg Foundry changes its name to Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Limited. The Foundry today Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Limited still remains part of the Bundaberg Sugar group which is owned by Finasucre. They provide a diversified range of products and services for the sugar industry, as well as general engineering products and services. Their work serves domestic and international clients. Peta Browne Bundaberg Regional Libraries www.artsbundaberg.com.au/downloads/file/40/bundaberg-foun...,(now%20the%20Central%20H

Interesting. I knew a painter who worked for the council. His fiddle was to call at the stores depot with an empty paint tin. He'd ask the staff there if he could take a small amount of sand away in the empty tin to finish a small job at home. Sand costs very little and so they'd say yes. But - the empty paint tin would be discarded and the painter would take a full new paint tin and place a mound of sand on the tin lid and walk out. Once out, he'd dust the sand off and have a full tin of paint!