Back to search results » Back to search page »

Former Wright & Edwards Erecting Shops

Other Name

Public Transport Corporation Wagon Repair Shops

Location

Footscray Road (off), NORTH MELBOURNE VIC 3051 - Property No B6453

File Number

B6453

Level

State

Statement of Significance

The former Wright and Edwards erecting shops, now the Public Transport Corporation Wagon Repair Shops, are significant at the State level as an important and sole surviving privately owned nineteenth century rolling stock works in the metropolitan area.
They compare with the now demolished workshops of Robison Bros and Co, Johnson and Co, P Bevan, Miller and MacQuistan and James Rawlings and are directly comparable with the Newport railway Workshops. Their equipment of note includes 4 drop hammers, including a rare surviving drop hammer from the works of James Gideon, leading nineteenth century local machine tool manufacturer, and associated black smith's tools, dyes, forges and fixtures.
The complex survives as the best example of a large private railway rolling stock erection workshop in Victoria, and has been in continuous use for rolling stock repairs and maintenance. It compares with the Buchanan and Brock shipsmiths (demolished) and the iron yard and tannery of Eliza Tinsley in Little Bourke Street. The building is significant for its association with Wright and Edwards, one of the largest rolling stock construction firms in nineteenth century Victoria.
The cast iron railing and enrichment of the mezzaine level offices together with the unique bi-furcating staircase are evocative reminders of nineteenth century work practices and of the perceived status of the Wright and Edwards company. The significance of the building is further enhanced by the survival of items of rolling stock including passenger carriages, now preserved at the Newport Railway Museum and manufactured by Wright and Edwards for the Victorian Railways.
Classified: 21/04/1993

Group

Transport - Rail