Print Post Approved25500003-01148 - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of ...

Andrew Piper, Senator Kerry O’Brien
and Nick Lewocki
National Railway Heritage
Conference: Thinking Rail -
Lessons from the Past, the
Way of the Future
From the 28th – 30th September
2005 the first National Rail heritage
Conference was held at the
Tamworth Entertainment Centre,
Tamworth NSW. The conference’s
focus was to consider the history and
heritage of our railways and how
railways can, in the future as in the
past, be a vital part of Australia’s
overall economic and social
development.
The conference stressed that if
railways are to have a future then the
modern operators must use the
lessons from the past and the rail
unions as the custodians of the
industry through their members, the
people who actually physically built
the system and maintain and operate
the system each day play a vital roll
in ensuring the lessons of the past
are heeded but also that the union
plays an active role as the sign posts
for the future.
Rail heritage is more than just
rolling stock or tracks, it is heritage
that has touched many people and it
is because it is a heritage of people
its expressio is often best
documented in the fabric of the old
locos, tracks and buildings but also
in the songs, poems, images, dance,
film, exhibitions and the oral history
of all who have travelled on or
worked for the Australian railways.
The RTBU presented two keynote
papers at the conference:
Rail Workers: Taking 140 years
Experience into the 21st Century;
and New Rail Infrastructure: Its not
as Simple as laying Tracks (a
shortened version of this speech is
reprinted in this edition of Rail and
Road).
The RTBU played a fundamental
role in assisting in the organisation
and securing of funding for the
Conference. Should you like to
obtain a copy of either of these
speeches please contact Mark Morey
at the RTBU Office.
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Rail and Road - August/October 2005