Old Inspector’s Hut Donated to Capella Pioneer Village

Oaky Creek Coal (OCC) has proudly donated the ~140-year-old inspector’s hut from Capella Railway Station to Capella Pioneer Village.

According to Terry Carroll, President of Capella Pioneer Village and Maintenance Planner at Oaky Creek Surface, the hut was likely built in the early 1880s when the Capella railway station was constructed. It housed the inspector who regularly went out to check the railway line. The little hut was originally located just south of the Railway Station, near to the public toilet block in Capella, across the road from the newsagent.

When the railway was downsized back in the 1980s, the hut was moved 74kms east, along with the goods shed, to the Oak Park property that neighbours OCC mine. At the time, Oak Park was owned by the Prince family; today it is owned by Colinta Holdings (Glencore). Here, the little hardwood hut sat on stumps overlooking the cattleyards where it was used to store cattle property tools and equipment.

And there it stayed until, earlier this year, as part of its community investment program, OCC donated the hut to the Capella Pioneer Village and will form part of their local history and railway heritage collection.

Relocation, relocation, relocation
Late last year the hut was safely moved off Oak Park with the help of a low loader and driver generously donated by AE Group, an earthmoving contractor at OCC who is currently undertaking rehab earthworks at Aquila Pit. This was arranged by Darren Ingram and Mike Daly.

On the day, AE Group transported the Eimco EJC130 LHD (owned by the Pioneer Village) out to Oak Park, where it was used to pick up the two-tonne hut on its forks with slippers. The Eimco then carried the building down the road, through a narrow gate and drove up onto the low loader complete with the hut on its forks.

Given the size of the hut, they were ably supported by Capella Pioneer Village volunteers, Frank Conway and Darryl Gordon, as well as Lyndsay Hutchen and Gerard Pedlar from Capella, who kindly donated their services and expertise to provide a
wide-load escort.

In addition to the hut itself, OCC has also provided the Capella Pioneer Village with a community investment donation to assist them in securing the hut, a walk path, and make-safe structural repairs.

“Darryl Gordon has been doing some phenomenal repair work to the timber in the lower structural part of the hut before it is moved onto site. We’re also in the process of getting quotes for some more carpentry work with a view to hopefully having the hut fully restored and securely fitted in its new home soon,” says Terry.

Capella Pioneer Village is located at 1 Pioneer Street, Capella. It’s one of the biggest volunteer-run museums in Queensland, with 90 members and over 6,500 exhibits, including a fleet of tractors, the original Peak Downs homestead (the biggest restored slipslab building in Australia), a Blacksmith shop, a full working cinema, a sheep-shearing shed, memorabilia from the Australian Light Horse, and much, much more.

Capella Pioneer Village is now closed for the wet season. It will open again after Anzac Day 2025, at which point, along with the inspector’s hut, they hope to have the old Oaky North mines rescue hut in use as a dedicated mining exhibit as well – another donation from OCC that the team is busy restoring.

With so much to see and do, the Pioneer Village is always looking for more volunteers and tour guides. If you’re interested in local history and would be keen to help out, please contact Terry via the Capella Pioneer Village Museum Facebook page