The Lake Mac Heritage Series was placed to pay homage to the people, places and events that contributed to building and pioneering the Lake Macquarie region. The pick and shovel were chosen in this geoart series to symbolise the hard work the people of Lake Macquarie put forth into the region.

Aboriginal Workers On The Railways

The rail line that ran through Red Head and Belmont was a suburban and mining artery to Newcastle. Very few people are aware of the long Aboriginal connection to working on the local railway. In the early 1930s it was noted that Aboriginal people had moved back into the Lake Macquarie district to work on the construction of railway lines. Some of these people lived in tents along the Toronto line. Where these people had come from remains a mystery, but Aboriginal people of the time period were prone to travel great distances in their attempts to gain work and escape the clutches of the NSW Aborigines Protection Board. (Turner & Blyton, 1995: 62; see also Maynard, 2001: 248-266) In the late 1930s an Aboriginal connection to the rail yards was evidenced by the visit of high profile Aboriginal activist Jack Patten to Newcastle. Patten held a mid-day rally at the Newcastle Railway Yards where white workers listened intently to Patten's speech and promised to bring the matter of Aboriginal injustice to their member of parliament. (Abo Call 1 July 1938: 2) In 1955 the arrival of Robert and William Smith from Uralla to take up working opportunities on the badly damaged rail lines after the 1955 Maitland flood would prove a pivotal moment of Aboriginal connection to the railway. The brothers enjoyed many years working for NSW Railways before branching out in 1969 and establishing their own company Smith General Contracting Pty Ltd. The young company had a whirlwind start and they gained major railway construction jobs with BHP and won the major contract to lay the Port Waratah Coal loader railway line. At the height of the company's success it employed 130 men, and over seventy per cent of the workforce was Aboriginal. During their years with NSW Railways Bob and Bill Smith and their railway works team did repair work on the railway lines at Belmont, Redhead, John Darling Colliery and also the Fernleigh Tunnel.

The puzzle

All historical and heritage information courtesy of Lake Mac Libraries

Any questions regarding this puzzle cache or the LMHS geoart series will be answered by clicking HERE

*** The LMHS geoart was placed in conjunction with the OzGeoMuster 2018 mega event. The OzGeoMuster 2018 committee would like to thank the following people for their contribution to this series. ahomburg, day1976, sedgwickDave, The Morris, bobbiesgirl, and the_garbageman.***

Enjoy!

Marcus Vitruvius