Say "RRR" today and most people think "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle." For some of us of a certain vintage, the 3Rs still mean "Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic". In Queensland, though, there's a third set worth remembering:
RRR stood for Railway Refreshment Rooms - bustling dining rooms that sprang to life when a train pulled in, with waitresses pouring tea and coffee, slicing cakes and serving scones, and, in many places, serving a proper sit-down meal (and sometimes an alcoholic drink at the licensed bar) before the whistle or the bell sent everyone hurrying back aboard.
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| Typical counter service area at a Railway Refreshment Room (Junee Railway Station 1950s) |
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| Typical seating area of an RRR (Junee Railway Station 1950s) |
My mother, Margaret Brigid O'Donnell, knew those rooms well. She spent most of her working life in refreshment rooms up and down her home state of Queensland. Like many, Margaret probably began work at sixteen or seventeen - in 1939-1940 - and worked nearly twenty years in refreshment rooms, before marrying and stepping into domestic life around 1959.
The workplaces that were familiar to Margaret ceased to exist decades ago. The occupation she practised is now obsolete, and this small but significant slice of everyday history has all but disappeared. My post is an effort to record that world, so it won't be entirely lost to the present and future generations of my family.
I wish I could have asked her about her work experiences. However, my mum died when I was young, and the details of her working life were never told around our dining table. Fragments of information - electoral records, captioned photos, pieces of conversation - have provided me with some detail, and I also have three precious photographs from the late 1940s and 1950s that open a window onto the rhythm of her days - the hush between train whistles, the clatter of cups, friendships forged in aprons and sturdy shoes, and the quiet pride of feeding a state on the move.
Using the limited information I have and images as anchors, I've sketched what I've learned about Queensland's Railway Refreshment Rooms - and I've attempted to place one of the women who kept them humming, my mother Margaret, in that picture.
An early posting — mid 1940s
This photo was almost certainly taken in the mid-1940s, when Margaret was in her early 20s. Margaret (on the left) and her colleague stand outside the refreshment rooms (the sign says "Tea Bar"), dressed smartly but practically - a reflection of the expected standards of presentation for those working in RRR service. It's a snapshot of colleagues, possibly during a new posting, standing in the late afternoon sun waiting for the arrival of a passenger train.
Behind them lies the unmistakable world of the steam-era railway. The timber weatherboard station with its sash window and deep verandah awning, is typical architecture of the time. To the right, the elevated water tank with timber supports and a coal chute provided essential servicing for steam locomotives. A corrugated-iron shed and a shadowed railway carriage complete the yard scene, while a faint plume of smoke drifts skyward - evidence of a working steam engine.
Together, all these elements anchor the women's working lives firmly in the context of Queensland's mid-century rail network. showing the physical environment of the mid-century rail system. The photo captures the juxtaposition of staff presentation and camaraderie with the gritty, industrial world of steam locomotives, coal dust, and corrugated iron sheds.
A young worker on the coast — late 1940s
Coastal hubs like Ingham felt the wartime and post-war surge: troop trains, seasonal workers, families on the move. Queues were long; speed was survival.
In this second photo, timber steps and weatherboards frame a quick, off-duty moment caught on camera. Margaret (around 24 or 25 years of age) stands in the middle of the front row, calm and straight-backed. To Margaret's left stands a co-worker - in a fitted dark dress with a white collar, cuffs and a bold chevron-trimmed front panel - very much in line with RRR waitress / counter uniforms. To Margaret's right stands a close friend and co-worker, dressed in a light day dress tied at the waist, ready to throw an apron on at any minute. Behind them a young man leans in. He could be a kitchen hand or simply a friend or visiting family member.
My mother and her good friend are both in light, practical day dresses - off-duty or just about to start, you can't quite tell. The informal mix of uniformed and everyday dress feels exactly like a quick "between trains" snapshot. The coast railway stations were busy places, so a staff photo had to be snatched in the lull after one departing train whistle and before the next arrival. You can feel that “between trains” stillness on their faces.
Three children pause at the top of the stairs, sunhats tilted, and dressed in their best outfits to either greet arriving family members or to set off on a journey to a holiday destination. Travellers often drifted through these informal staff shots like extras in a film.
Behind the staff group and 'extras', posters and signage reinforce the railway setting. On one wall, there are noticeboards mounted and though their contents are too faded to make out detail, these would typically display official information such as timetables, rules or community notices. On the opposite wall there appears to be a poster advertising a Queensland Government Soldier Settlement or Land Loan Scheme, promoted heavily in the late 1940s. Posters like these were often placed at railway stations and post offices to encourage ex-servicemen and families to apply for land or financial assistance.
Out west with the RRR girls — 1954
Western line towns like Charleville were long-distance staging points. Dust, heat, and tight servicing windows were typical working day experiences while mail and mixed trains crossed.
In final photo, the building’s big louvred shutters and narrow steps suggest a side door to the refreshment rooms or staff quarters. Four women stand together. The two in front wear classic RRR aprons over light, short-sleeved dresses, with sensible lace-ups for darting through a crowded room. Margaret (now aged 31) is in the back row on the left, hair set in soft curls, a colleague close at her shoulder. They stand against one another like people who have shared a lot of trays, teapots and last-minute orders.
The arrangement says something about rank as well as affection: younger and junior staff at the front, older hands behind. By this time, Margaret was acting as a "manageress", the natural next step for someone with years of stations behind her.
Charleville was a service town on the western railway line out of Brisbane and the RRR was a lifeline - tea "strong enough to stand a spoon in", plates of scones or a hot meal set down fast while the train guard watched the clock.
Time For A Deeper Dive Into Queensland Railway Refreshment Rooms: 1940s–1950s
What they did (and how fast)
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| Advertisement in the 1925 publication 'Mountain And Seaside Resorts From Noosa To Tweed' showing the interior of the Central Station Cafe in Brisbane. |
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Refreshment rooms were designed to serve whole trainloads in a tight window - often about 20 minutes - with anything from tea and scones to a full three-course “railway dinner.” Queensland Rail’s own history notes the “three-course meal in all of 20 minutes” standard at the larger stops would likely include "three courses: soup, main meal, possibly a roast, and pudding."
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During WWII they ran at military tempo. At Rockhampton, in July 1943, a staff of 35 served roughly 4,000 meals between 5 a.m. and midnight in a single day- an extraordinary snapshot of the pressure and scale.
Where they were and how the system was run
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Queensland's first refreshment rooms appeared within a few years of the railway's opening in 1865. The RRR then spread with the expansion of the railway network. By the time of Queensland Rail’s 50th anniversary (1915) there were 47 rooms and stalls; between the wars the system climbed to nearly 100, setting up the robust network my mum worked in during the 1940s and 1950s. By that time, these rooms were also known as "Tea Rooms" or "Tea Bars".
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While many early rooms were leased to local operators, the government centralised operations in 1916 under the Railway Department Refreshment Rooms Branch, standardising uniforms, menus, rules and standards.
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| Railway Refreshment Room poster showing rooms under State Control and those that were still run privately in 1925. |
- Some refreshment rooms were licensed, becoming the only legal outlet for alcohol for miles; others were strictly temperance.
What passengers experienced
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Rooms ranged from simple counters to linen-laid dining rooms with printed menus and branded crockery. Big stations offered sit-down meals with white linen and china; smaller stops prioritised counter service of pies, sandwiches and the ubiquitous “railway tea.”
Passengers entered the RRR at large stations to be greeted by tables covered with starched white tablecloths and silver cutlery already set out. As passengers streamed in, the manageress directed them to tables and a bevy of waitresses were quickly dispensing porridge (for morning trains) or soup (for afternoon and evening trains). All food had to be prepared in advance and kept hot waiting for a train arrival.
A telegraph would warn RRR staff how many travellers were aboard, and the kitchen would turn out quantities that would make a modern caterer blanch!
Close to departure time a warning bell - something like a school bell - would ring inside the room. Shillings were taken, the last puddings chased down with tea, and the manageress would begin the gentle but firm hustle back to the platform. Then, in a blink, the room went to clatter - clearing, washing, resetting - to calm - waiting for the next rush.
Staff, uniforms, and working life
The service floor was largely female in the 1940s-50s - waitresses, "generals", barmaids, cooks and manageresses - working long, irregular rosters tied to the timetable rather than the clock. Their work was brisk and demanding but it gave local women independence, wages, camaraderie, and pride in their contributions to Queensland's transport lifeline.
Entry level positions for women were usually the roles of "generals" and waitresses. They could then advance to roles such as barmaids or managers - although they often moved up and down the hierarchy at different postings. They were moved between roles as needed in order to keep a room running to the minute.
Postings were fluid. Women moved between towns frequently, often posted with little notice. Those with prolonged careers (such as Margaret) might spend a few weeks in one posting before being shifted to the next where the staff list had thinned. Clues from captions pencilled on the backs of my mother's black-and-white photos suggest she didn't just work at Ingham (north Queensland) and Charleville (south-west Queensland), but also at St. Lawrence on the central coast and in her home town of Bowen (north Queensland) - a wide sweep of country for one woman carrying her know-how and a small suitcase.
Pay for women was modest (especially beside male cooks and male managers), but conditions included allowances for accommodation and some board, and in many places simple lodgings adjoined the rooms.
RRR work was precise and physical. Uniforms were practical and recognisable: light shirt-waist dresses, white collars and aprons (colours changed slightly with the fashions of the 50s), and sturdy shoes that could survive a twelve-hour shift.
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| Example of a standardised RRR uniform from the late 1950s |
- It was hot near the urns in summer and cold near the doors in winter; but the reward was the camaraderie. You can see it in both staff photos at the start of this post - colleagues lined up shoulder-to-shoulder with easy affection.
- Industrial issues did arise. In September 1945, refreshment room staff in Townsville, north Queensland, took strike action over retrenchments, with the Australian Railways Union backing them. This was real, unionised labour.
Of course, not every room's reputation gleamed. Archival notes grumble about "no eggs at breakfast, stale bread, overpriced sandwiches and scones, cold soup, icy sandwiches" and even "putrid fillings". Cartoonists and poets took their shots at the rush and the prices.
- But their were stars as well. According to the article 'Railway Refreshment Rooms' written by Merv Volker and Geraldine Mate in 2012, and published by the Queensland Historical Atlas:
"Some rooms had exceptional reputations for their management and, most particularly, the fare they served. Bororen, south of Gladstone, was renowned as having the best pies in Queensland, while Cardwell Refreshment Rooms on the coast in North Queensland was noted for the quality and quantity of their fish."
Why they faded after the 1950s
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From the mid-1950s, the world shifted from under the RRRs. Air-conditioned carriages and buffet cars kept passengers onboard. Car ownership, improved highways and highway roadhouses chipped away at long rail journeys. Dieselisation removed the water-stop rhythm that had guaranteed meal breaks during the era of steam engines.
By the 1980s, only a handful of Queensland rooms remained. The bell that once sent a dining room into frantic motion fell silent, and with it a way of working - largely women's work - slipped out of view.
- What remains are fragments: a timetable here, a menu there, a union notice, a ledger of cups and saucers, and, for me, two photographs. In them I can read my mother's working life: the straight back and steady gaze of pride, the friends at her side, the quick intelligence needed to run a room to the minute. I can almost hear the clink of china, the hiss of the urn, the bell, the hush before the doors opened and the great rush as soon as those doors opened.
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| RRR staff at the Tully Railway Station in the 1950s. |
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1002612, Batch file, railway [Railway Refreshment Rooms Control – Criticisms – General]
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1052473, Batch file, railway [Government taking over Railway Refreshment Rooms]
Queensland State Archives Item ID 275821, Correspondence [General correspondence – Railway Department, Refreshment Rooms Branch]
Railway Refreshment Rooms. Queensland Historical Atlas by Geraldine Mate & Merv Volker, 2012. pp.1-4
The Queensland Rail Journey - History Podcast Episode 11: How refreshing! The Railway Refreshment Rooms, 2020 (queenslandrail.com.au)
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