Historical information
This 2 foot 6 inch (762mm) gauge wagon was used for carrying explosives and was used with the Greenbat Battery loco. It was donated to the Walhalla Goldfields Railway on long term loan in 2013 along with a large quantity of narrow gauge trollies and light rail from Orica’s now closed munitions factory in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Orica - Deer Park Munitions factory
Orica Deer Park in Melbourne’s west has been used since circa 1875 for various forms of manufacturing and storage of chemicals.
Although the site is bounded by Ballarat Road, Station Street, Tilburn Road and the Western Ring Road, the current entry point for industrial operations is situated at Gate 6 of Tilburn Road. Operations include:
• a specialty chemicals facility producing products for mining services operations
• quarry services
• other chemical manufacture activities.
The Deer Park factory complex
The factory complex is of historical significance for the major role it played in Australia's manufacturing and mining industries through the development of progressively more efficient and safer explosives. It also contributed to wartime production in ammunition, initiators and the development of synthetic ammonia production and construction of the Defence Explosives Annexe No 5 (later the Albion Explosives Factory) during World War Two. The factory complex is also of technical significance for the unusual and specialised design of many of the buildings and structures, both in the layout of the works and the individual design of buildings. Blast protection and safety measures such as mounds around the buildings, 'cleanways' and buffer zones between production areas were employed extensively. A characteristic of many production buildings was the elimination of cavities where explosive compounds could lodge. The combination of concrete barriers and light-weight construction was designed to direct explosion debris away from operators or other buildings. The narrow gauge tramway, which ran through the explosives section, is a rare survivor of nineteenth century materials-handling methods.
Significance
Historic - Industrial Narrow Gauge Railway - Wagon for carrying Explosives at the Orica - Deer Park Munitions factory, Deer park, Victoria, Australia
Physical description
Wagon for carrying explosives made from Timber and steel
Subjects
References
- Greenbat Battery Loco Greenbat Battery Locomotive - used at Orica - Deer Park Munitions factory - Deep park, Victoria, Australia
