RIGHT on the stroke of midday the familiar blast of the Wonthaggi State Coal Mine whistle was greeted with great delight by a large crowd of onlookers, former coal miners, family and friends of the State Coal Mine, sponsors and Bass Coast Shire councillors gathered around the Poppet Head in Apex Park.
“The whistle’s back,” the crowd called out barely heard under the noise of the whistle.
Bass Coast Mayor Cr Rochelle Halstead cut a coal black ribbon to mark the occasion with former coalminers Dan Carr and Reg Wilson.
Ian Sullivan a former carpenter at the State Coal Mine remembered the whistle blowing several times a day.
“It was 7am, 8am, 12 noon, 12.30pm, 3pm and 4pm,” recalled Ian.
A whistle blast at eleven-thirty at night once acted as a warning for single girls in Wonthaggi to be home by midnight.
Another rumour confirmed by Rose Lodge Aged Care in Wonthaggi is that a recording of the whistle is played at midday each day to summon residents to lunch.
When the whistle failed last year Friends of the State Coal Mine wasted no time in taking the whistle down for repairs.
Volunteer Michael Bohmer said restoration of the whistle took longer than first anticipated as the rods securing the bells to the manifold were severely corroded.
“A lengthy process was used to submerge the whistle in penetrating oil continually removing, heating and working on undoing the assembly to avoid any damage to the bells and manifold,” said Mr Bohmer.
Initially new replacement rods were to be manufactured using stainless steel.
Further research by volunteer engineer Steve Randles discovered the rods were made of mild steel to act as a sacrificial anode designed to corrode first, preserving the brass manifold and bells for at least another 100 years.
Coalminer Dan Carr thought the whistle would be impossible to repair.
“It took three men three weeks to take it apart.
“Many of the parts had to be scrapped and replaced.
“No doubt in my mind it will now last another 150 years,” said Danny.
Manufactured by John Danks the mine whistle once summoned men to work and signalled their lunch break.
The steam boilers at the State Coal Mine produced twice the pressure the whistle operates at today.
Identical to the whistle used on the Titanic it is not the first time the State Coal Mine whistle has been out of action.
“Whistle is Back!” screamed the headline of the day in March 1913.
The Powlett Express in 1914 listed seventeen different whistles at different times of the day, later reduced to ten times a day.
Reportedly a saucer shaped deflector was added to the tower during the Second World War so the whistle could be heard as far as Kongwak, Tarwin Lower and Eagles Nest.
Welcoming the whistle back to Apex Park Wonthaggi resident Janie Boyle said her Pop ‘Tibby’ was a coalminer.
Duncan Boyle said many of his family members also worked at the coalmine.
“My father used to blow the whistle,” said Florence Crawford from Bass.
Thanked for helping to restore the mine whistle were the Wonthaggi Workmen’s Club who helped finance the restoration and the businesses who made the restoration possible, Covered In Paint, Ampelite Dandenong, Engineering Products Of Australia, Precision Plating Dandenong, Bass Coast Council, Kennards Hire and the dedicated staff and volunteers at the State Coal Mine.
