A large overhead electric crane on high-mounted rails spans the width of the main workshop. Standard-gauge rail runs through the concrete floor below. Timber roof framing and corrugated sheeting overhead. Workshop bays open off the central space on multiple sides. Natural light enters through high-level glazing.
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The main workshop at Elrington Colliery was built to keep a working mine running. A 15-tonne overhead electric crane ran on rails set high above the workshop floor, able to lift and position heavy equipment across the full width of the space. Standard-gauge rail through the floor meant coal wagons could be brought directly inside for repair work rather than unloaded and manhandled. The electrician's shop, machine shop, and compressor room all opened off this central bay, making it the organising space for the colliery's surface maintenance operation. Elrington Colliery sits near Abernethy in the Hunter Valley, roughly 6 miles south-east of Cessnock. BHP Collieries Proprietary Limited developed it as a captive supply mine for the Newcastle steelworks, with principal shareholders Broken Hill Pty. Company Ltd and Hebburn Limited. The railway branch serving the site opened 14 January 1924, and the first train ran 13 June 1928. Shaft sinking began in January 1925, with two concrete-lined shafts each 18 feet in diameter driven to 1,190 feet below surface to reach the Main Greta Seam. Coal production commenced in 1930. BHP designed the mine to produce 3,000 tonnes per day. It never came close. By 1950 the average output was approximately 1,500 tonnes per day, consistently less than half the planned capacity. The mine earned the nickname "the Peter Pan Colliery" because, like Peter Pan, it never grew up. The colliery closed in December 1962. BHP cited persistent operating losses. Large reserves of coal remained unworked in the seam at the time of closure, and approximately 90 men were affected. The workshop that once kept the mine's equipment running did not stand idle for long. On 17 June 1964, BHP opened Elrington Engineering Pty Ltd at the former colliery workshops, employing approximately 50 tradesmen. The engineering works continued operating under private ownership into later decades. This photograph, made in 2017, records what remains: the crane still on its rails, the track still in the floor, the workshop structure intact around both.
04·FROM THE FIELD NOTES
The main workshop at Elrington Colliery, near Abernethy in the Hunter Valley, was built around its 15-tonne overhead electric crane. Standard-gauge rail through the workshop floor meant coal wagons could be hauled inside for repair without transferring loads. The electrician's shop, machine shop, and compressor room opened off this central space, making the workshop the mechanical heart of the colliery surface. The mine operated from 1930 until December 1962, when BHP cited persistent operating losses and closed it with large coal reserves still in the ground.
Brett Patman
05·SIZE GUIDE
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