Article: Workshops win national award

[ozbob]

From the Queensland Times click here!
Workshops win national award

Workshops win national award

Josephine Gillespie | 14th March 2011

IPSWICH'S Workshops Rail Museum has been recognised among the best of the best in the country at the Australian Tourism Awards.

The awards were held in Perth last Friday, with the museum winning in the prestigious Best Heritage and Cultural Tourist Experience category.

The museum beat Fremantle Prison (Western Australia), Venture North (Northern Territory), Museum of Australian Democracy (Australian Capital Territory), Old Melbourne Gaol (Victoria), Innamincka Hotel (South Australia), Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre (Tasmania), and the Temora Aviation Museum (New South Wales) to claim the top gong in the heritage and cultural tourism category.

Member for Ipswich Rachel Nolan said the awards were the most prestigious tourism event in the country and showcased the wealth of fantastic tourism products Australia had to offer.

"Local, state and national tourism awards are a great tool to help operators improve their business," Ms Nolan said.

"In these tough economic times, every bit of promotion helps our tourism industry and money cannot buy this sort of publicity for the Workshops Rail Museum."

Set at the birthplace of rail in Queensland, the Workshops Rail Museum features 15 hands-on, interactive exhibitions for visitors to explore.

The exhibits include historic carriages, a model railway, stories about the future of rail, and treasures such as the Vice-Regal carriage and Australia's oldest working steam locomotive.

Workshops director Andrew Moritz said it was both gratifying and humbling to receive the award, which he said was testament to the dedication and hard work of staff and volunteers.

"It makes everyone proud to be a part of that and have their efforts recognised," Mr Moritz said.

"Given everything that Ipswich and south-east Queensland has been through, it is recognition of the great things we can do."

Well done!  Congratulations to all at the Workshops museum!

[ozbob]

Finance and Arts
The Honourable Rachel Nolan
14/03/2011

Ipswich icon takes out top tourism trophy

Ipswich Member and Arts Minister Rachel Nolan today is warmly congratulating the Workshops Rail Museum after it took out a coveted Australian Tourism Award in Perth late Friday night.

"Now the rest of Australia knows what we already did - the Workshops Rail Museum is a winner!" Ms Nolan said.

"It already won national recognition in 2007, taking out the prestigious Best Heritage and Cultural Tourist Experience, and now staff will have to make room on the mantelpiece for another trophy."

The Ipswich museum beat Fremantle Prison (WA), Venture North (NT), Museum of Australian Democracy (ACT), Old Melbourne Gaol (VIC), Innamincka Hotel (SA), Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre (TAS), and the Temora Aviation Museum (NSW) to take out the top gong in the heritage and cultural tourism category.

"This award is testament to the dedication of staff and volunteers, as well as those at the adjacent Queensland Rail workshops," Ms Nolan said.

"Each and every one involved in the museum is a winner."

The Australian Tourism Awards are the most prestigious tourism event in the country and showcase the wealth of fantastic tourism product Australia has to offer.

"Local, state and national tourism awards are a great tool to help operators improve their business," Ms Nolan said.

"In these tough economic times, every bit of promotion helps our tourism industry and money cannot buy this sort of publicity for the Workshops Rail Museum."

Set at the birthplace of rail in Queensland, the Workshops Rail Museum features 15 hands-on exhibitions for visitors to explore.

The exhibits include historic carriages, a model railway, stories about the future of rail, and treasures such as the Vice-Regal carriage and Australia's oldest working steam locomotive.

Visitors also get to meet some true Aussie characters when they step into a real heritage railway workshop and see it in operation.

[Stillwater]

Take your kids, grandkids and see the museum through their eyes - well worth the entry fee.  For the grown-ups there is a tour of the workshops proper, where they still do work to restore trains.  It is an eye-opener.  However, it is a bit disconcerting to see that trains you once rode in as a child are now museum pieces!