Community
18 December, 2024
Local man preserving a piece of Mount Isa history
A keen local historian has plans to restore a train and four carriages to provide joy to a new generation of Mount Isa children.
Brian Adamson can remember riding the Rotary train at Kalkadoon Park as a youngster.
“I was riding it before the carriages had the cages on it and when the train went through the tunnel – we used to all stand up and try to touch the top of that tunnel,” he laughed while reminiscing.
“We would be screaming our lungs off the whole time.”
Now the keen local historian has plans to restore the very same train and four carriages to provide joy to a new generation of Mount Isa children.
Brian says he has set himself a two-year goal to restore the train and carriages so it can be driven at future community events, such as the Mount Isa street parade during rodeo week.
He said he wanted to install a forklift motor and automatic gearbox into the locomotive as well as replace the wheels and is currently seeking a contributor to sandblast the paint from the carriages, ready for a fresh coat that has already donated by Mount Isa Paint & Décor.
“This train is an icon of Mount Isa – it was used at the Kalkadoon Park rodeos for many, many years,” Brian told North West Weekly.
“We want to revive it because a lot of kids from Mount Isa are now adults, and they can share the experience with their own kids.
“There is nothing wrong with the train and carriages – there is no rust in it and it is still useable.”
“I have known about the carriages for a while, and I went to Rotary after I got the locomotive donated the Kretschmann family and I told Rotary what my plans were – Rotary had a committee meeting and decided to donate the carriages to me – so now I have the full set and can get to work restoring it all.”
The carriages were brought off a truck and carried into Brian’s yard using a forklift. They join a large array of objects as his house is a treasure trove of relics from the bygone eras of the city.
Brian has spent decades collecting everything from petrol bowsers to rodeo posters and old rugby jerseys with the ambition of opening a local history museum in the coming years that tells the story of the evolution of the town-side of Mount Isa.
The organisation Brian established to catalogue his efforts, North Queensland Historical Collection, was incorporated last year and now he is seeking government and private investment to fund the future museum.
Some of Brian’s extensive historical photo collection is currently on display at Outback at Isa, under the banner: 100 Years of Mining in Mount Isa.
The exhibition includes dozens of photographs, including the earliest known image of the burgeoning Mount Isa city from the 1920s.
Following a successful showing at Outback at Isa, the photographic display has been extended until Sunday, February 23.
