fire, water, steam: Eveleigh Railway Workshops

Eveleigh Railway Workshops, near Redfern, were built between 1880 and 1886 to service NSW's extensive steam railway network.

In its heyday Eveleigh employed over 5000 workers and was Australia's largest industrial complex. For more than a century a multicultural workforce built and maintained locomotives and rolling stock. Diesel engines replaced steam locomotives and in 1988 the workshops closed. Celebrated Australian photographer David Moore (1927-2003) documented Eveleigh in 1993. This was a time of fierce debate about the future of the site, just prior to its adaptive re-use as Australian Technology Park.

Moore's powerful images show a vast industrial wasteland, strangely bereft of people and activity. Today, despite a State Heritage Register listing, much of Eveleigh remains derelict and its future uncertain.