Initial Construction –
A number of buildings were required to establish the freezing works.
1) A cool store and freezing block
Large timber framed, metal clad walls. Insulated & windowless to help prevent heating from the sun.
Entirely depentant on electric lighting and fans for ventilation.
2) The engine house and condenser building was next to the freezing block.
This also was timber framed, metal clad, but with a concrete floor. It was seperated in two sections.
One housed the gas producing plant, the other housing the freezing engines and refrigeration plant.
Another housed the boilers, to prevented charcoal dust getting to the engines.
3) At the rear was a slaughter house,
Top floor was the slaughter floor.
Bottom floor was to be left open to provide for the air drying of skins.
A skin drying shed and store was timber framed metal clad.
There was a steam plant, and boilers for the purpose of rendering offal, producing manure, and processing the skins.
Contractors’ engineer, John Monash, changed the original design to arch suports
An ice house was next to the freezing building.
At the rear, of the site, were two story timber sheep pens, top floor were simular height to the slaughter floor.
To the front, managers office and caretaker residence that were constructed to resemble an early school building.
Early Rail infrastructure plans show there was a crossover between the two tracks just to the north of the sheep pens and slaughter house two tracks opposite the freezing building loading platform.
1919 May 1
Commenced supplying 240V DC power to the town of Murtoa available daily between the hours of 4pm and Midnight.
Until the collapse in 1927.
1911 -
The wimmera inlnd freezing works were officially opened –Riverine Herald,
September 29, 1911
Attended by a large crowd from the district, and Victorian Governor Sir John Michael Fleetwood Fuller.
1912 - 1913
1918 - 1919
Extensions:
Changes were made to a number of buildings.
Freezing and storage capacity had to be increased, the Timber framed metal clad existing freezing building had been successful.
S0 a new masonry freezing building was built. That building is the Schier Furniture factory, this is the only remaining original building of the Wimmera Inland Freezing Company.
Upgrade to skin storage with a new timber storage facility
providing Expanding areas for offal processing and rendering building making more area for the digesters, refiners
and coolers.
The tallow room was increased in size as was the manure store.
In 1920 the co-operative freezing works including Murtoa came under the umbrella of the Amalgamated Freezing
Company (Victoria). Further investment was made to all of the freezing works using Government loans secured by
statutory lien over the assets of the Amalgamated Company. By 1926 an average of 1.4 million carcases were being
exported to the UK each year2.
1920
In 1920 Murtoa came under the umbrella of the Amalgamated Freezing Company (Victoria).
Further investment was made to all of the freezing works using Government loans secured by
statutory lien over the assets of the Amalgamated Company.
By 1926 an average of 1.4 million carcases were being
exported to the UK each year.
Exports from the Argentine were a third the price being paid for Australian meat.
This caused the collapse of the operations at Murtoa. and Company entered receivership.
T
Royal Commission investigation in 1927 showed The company was heavily indebted to the State, so the State of Victoria became the Receiver and controlled the company from this time onwards.
1926
Closed
1928
The building had been used to store straw
1990 -
was sold by Mr W. Roche
Mr M Schier cabinet maker in horsham was working from his garage and busines building,
1955 -
In 1995 the site was sold by Mr W. Roche to Mr M Schier of Horsham for use as a furniture factory.
council offered him the former Inland Freezing Works building as a base for his business.
1991 -
6th of May 1991 The Dunmunkle Sump Oilers Machinery Preservation Inc. was formed at a public meeting rupinup
.
With the formation of the Dunmunkle Sump Oilers Machinery Preservation Inc. a parcel of land including the old engine house, was purchased from Mr Schier
T
MORE
Construction - Machinery
The machinery design called for an Ammonia freezing plant driven by combustion engines.
Both of the 115HP engines powered Linde ammonium compressors
In the adjacent building was the condenser house where the Ammonia gas was turned back into liquid prior to
passing through the freezing building where it was expanded to gas again and then returned to the compressors
Hornsby – Stockport gas suction engines and suction gas plant manufactured by Richard Hornsby and Sons of
Grantham was selected for the task.
These powered the Linde Ammonia compressors using a rope pulley drive.
To provide for the lighting of the works and to power the fans in the freezing compartments an additional Hornsby
engine with a belt drive to a DC generator was used
The Dunmunkle Sump Oilers Machinery Preservation Inc. was formed at a public meeting on the 6th of May, 1991 at the Rupanyup Historical Society.
The extension in 1912-14
The first requisition for works to commence on an extension was issued on 18 April 1912. This provided for an
extension to the slaughter house building and this was completed on the 8th of August3.
The extensions in 1918-19
The purpose of the extensions was to increase overall capacity of the works. Changes were made to a number of
buildings.
The freezing and storage capacity was to be increased but the timber framed metal clad existing freezing building
may not have proved as successful as anticipated and so a new masonry freezing building was provided. This was
located broadly opposite to the machinery building and on the other side of the rail tracks. The capacity of the new
building was more than double that of the existing one. It is the building that would later become the Schier
Furniture factory being the only original building belonging to the Wimmera Inland Freezing Company still on the
site.
A significant upgrade to skin storage was made with a new timber storage facility provided on the east side of the
rail tracks. At the same time the storage facility on the west side of the site was increased in area.
Finally, the offal processing and rendering building was expanded to provide more area for the digesters, refiners
and coolers. The tallow room was increased in size as was the manure store.
As the spread of reticulated power spread to country towns and became more common, the freezing works
commenced supplying 240V DC power to the town of Murtoa on the 1st of May 1919. Power to the town was then
available daily between the hours of 4pm and Midnight. After the collapse of the Amalgamated Freezing Company in
1927, the provision of power to the town of Murtoa was taken over by external generating plant.
The rail tracks format was also altered in 1918-19 so that a junction of the two sidings was now provided between
Thomas Road and the new freezing building.
===================================================
Operation – the profitable times
In 1911 the Wimmera Inland Freezing Company opened its works in Murtoa to support the export trade and from
the outset was profitable as was the freezing works at Shepparton. The Victorian Government leased cool stores
built by the Melbourne City Council and remodelled them to support the trade. In addition in 1912 the Government
erected large stores at Victoria Dock. The profitability of the Wimmera venture is in contrast to other country based
co-operative freezing works that were established at Ballarat, Bendigo and Donald which did not pay a dividend
throughout their lifetime. In 1915 the company secured an Imperial (British) Government Contract to supply meat
to London due to UK food rationing during the First World War. The Company would take advantage of this contract
up to the early 1920s. On average more than a million mutton and lamb carcases per year were exported from
Victoria in the years from 1912 to 19202. After the end of the First World War the imperial contract ceased and
without direct commercial representation in Britain returns fell and not least of all due to increased competition
Version 1.0 Page 19
from the US and Argentina. Exporters also suffered from lack of available transport during 1919-1920. 1920 was the
last year that the Wimmera Inland Freezing Company made a profit and its largest export year2.
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Activity remained at the rail siding even though the works were closed. Victorian Railways memorandum of 23 Jan
19294 to the district superintendent records that the use of the siding by the Dunmunkle Shire to receive roadmaking
materials was to cease even though it had been approved by the district superintendent. Further correspondence in
9 July 19295 from the Chief Civil Engineer requests that the company be advised that maintenance costs on the
siding would be suspended if it approves use by the Department for the storage of wheat trucks while the works
remain closed.
In 1932 the Amalgamated Company under Government control reopened the Donald Freezing Company while the
Murtoa site remained dormant. As a result of complaints from local farmers it was reported to Parliament in 1935
that some of the assets from Murtoa had been removed by the Amalgamated Company to be redeployed to other
locations. This report came after long and protracted correspondence by local growers with the Minster for
Agriculture. They thought it a deliberate action to prevent the Murtoa site from reopening. The Linde Compressor
from No.2 engine disappeared from the site between 1932 and 1942. This left compressor No. 16934 as the sole
compressor which is aligned to operate from No.1 engine.
It is unknown what happened to the compressor, it may have been sold to a cool store elsewhere during 1938 or
more likely removed in 1942.
A resolution of the amalgamated Company board led to the Murtoa site being sold by Tender by the State
Government in January 1938
The successful purchaser was Mr V. J. Roche who traded as Miller Machinery. Miller Machinery offered items for
sale from the works, but no substantial items of plant were sold except the steam plant for fat rendering which was
sold to the Mildura City Council for its meatworks.
===========================================================
World War 2 and after
World War 2 required the storage of frozen meat which would otherwise be exported and Thomas Borthwick and
Sons were tasked by the Commonwealth Department of the Interior, Government Cool Stores Manager, to arrange
this. Two possible sites were selected for storage; Murtoa and Bourke. Borthwicks wrote to the Victorian Railways
during September or October 1942 requesting costs to place the private siding connection back in order. A letter
from Thomas Borthwicks and Sons on 11 December 19426 advises that £300, as estimated by the Victorian Railways,
had been paid into the State Treasury and requested that the works should be commenced immediately.
Shortly after, the works must have been requisitioned and a high speed Bell compressor installed to provide cooling
using only No.2 engine for power. This work would have required removal of the No.2 Linde compressor. The bell
unit was rated at 720,000 BTU/hr or 846 kW.
After the war an auction notice was advertised for the sale of the machinery that had been added by the
Commonwealth at the Murtoa site.
============================================================================================
In 1995 the site was sold by Mr W. Roche to Mr M Schier of Horsham for use as a furniture factory. With the
formation of the Dunmunkle Sump Oilers, the engine house and a parcel of land was purchased from Mr Schier
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version 1.0 Page 26
Ammonia Refrigeration Cycle
Refrigeration cycle diagram.
At the top of the diagram the compressor is shown. In this installation these are the large Linde compressors that
were driven by the rope drives from the Hornsby Engines. These were used to compress the ammonia gas.
Compressing the gas makes it extremely hot. A mixture of hot gas and vapour was passed into the large black
vertical tubes located next to the compressors where any oil was separated from the ammonia gas/liquid mixture.
In the diagram the compressed ammonia moves to the left from the compressors. The compressed gas passed out of
the engine house into an annex which was adjacent to the freezing building. In the annex the compressed gas was
condensed by air cooling of the extremely hot gas piping network acting as a heat radiator. This is shown on the left
of the diagram. At the end of the condenser there is a pressure vessel containing a mixture of gas and vapour at
around 40 degrees Celsius shown in the middle bottom of the diagram. From here the piping moves to the freezing
building where there is an expansion valve which has a small size inlet and a large size outlet. With this valve the gas
and liquid mixture expands and the pressure drops as it passes through the valve. The gas is supercooled to about
-10 degrees Celsius and run through a radiator structure which absorbs heat from the from the frozen storage space
in the building. This is shown on the right side of the diagram. Finally the gas leaves the freezing building at the top
of the diagram and returns to the compressors where the cycle repeats.
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References
1 A History of the Frozen Meat Trade by James Troubridge Critchell and Joseph Raymond
London Constable & Company ltd, 10 Orange Street, Leicester Square, WC; 1912
2 1927, Victoria, Royal Commission into the Origin, Promotion and Management of the Amalgamated Freezing
Company (Victoria) Proprietary Limited
3 Museum Victoria, internet article on the History of John Monash
4 Victorian Railways Memorandum from the General Passenger and Freight Agents Office to the Division
Superintendent. 23 Jan 1929 MR/K. Public Records Office Victoria.
5 Victorian Railways Secretary’s File 709/29 from the Chief Civil Engineer to the Board re: Department use of
Freezing Works siding, 9 July 1929. Public Records Office Victoria.
6 Letter from Thomas Borthwick and Sons to the Secretary, Victorian Railway’s Commissioners, 11 December
1942 re: Department to recondition Freezing Works Siding. Public Records Office Victoria.
=====================================================
Version 1.0 Page 28
Dunmunkle Sump Oilers Machinery Preservation Inc.
The Club
The Dunmunkle Sump Oilers Machinery Preservation Inc. was formed at a public meeting on the 6th of May 1991 at
the Rupanyup Historical Society with the intention of forming a club for those interested in machinery preservation.
The club focus was to give interested people of the district who were in collecting vintage machinery, an appropriate
organization consisting of members with similar interests. In the first year there were eight members. By the year
2001-2002, membership had grown to in excess of 70, and today stands at more than 95. The membership consists
mainly of local people coming from as far as Birchip and Nhill in the North, Ararat in the south, Natimuk in the West
and a many places in between. In addition there are members from more distant locations in the Western Districts
and Geelong. Most members have their own collections of vintage engines and tractors, general vintage farm
machinery, household items of days gone by and model toys from yesteryear and more current times.
Purchase of freezing works site.
The Club, at its formation, had no headquarters or permanent meeting place. Meetings were held at a hire venue in
Rupanyup. The Committee and Members of the Club were aware of the existence of our current property and the
four large Hornsby gas engines located at the former Wimmera Inland Freezing works site at Murtoa. At the
Freezing works site most of the superstructure had been removed or fallen down but the engines remained within
the original and very sad engine shed. While the engines remained they had suffered the ravages of the elements
over this time.
A decision was make to purchase this part of this property with a view to establishing a headquarters, restoration of
the engine shed and engines, and provide a permanent base for our operations and rallies. The Club members were
also concerned that the engines within the building may have been lost to an overseas group, particularly someone
from the UK or USA. On the 10th of April 2001 the Club finalized the purchase for the sum of $60,000 with Mr M
Schier owner of the site. The land purchased has an area of 10 acres. The vendor agreed to the Club paying off the
property over a period of 10 years, and this was achieved by 2004. (3 years)
Development of the Club Grounds
Since the purchase, there have been an incredible number of working bees to clean away the demolition debris and
remove huge amounts of rubbish. A State Government grant was applied for so that the large dilapidated engine
shed could be demolished and replaced with a new one and additional amenities provided. This grant application
for $104,000 was successful with the Club raising $56,000 the meet the cost of the works proposed. The new shed
was completed as well as a new modern design toilet block incorporating showers and facilities for the use of
exhibitors and public at our various functions, including campers at our engine rallies. Construction delays caused
price overruns amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, all of which have been met by Club funds. Money raised
for these payments has been the result of many hours of fund raising by members; these efforts are still occurring.
In order for the engines to be operated they have been converted to run on petrol rather than using the original
producer gas equipment. All of the development work required for this has been undertaken by club members.
Today the Club is well established and our annual rally on the first weekend in October is held in conjunction with
the Murtoa Big Weekend and is a must for engine enthusiasts and the public alike
doug.clarke.52@gmail.com
https://ehive.com/collections/6420/objects/1186837/wimmera-inland-freezing-works-murtoa-c-1928
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1997336
Murtoa Freezing Works were designed by architect, Charles Abraham D'Ebro
Australian architect , designed many buildings in Victoria, many are under heritage listings.
Born: 1850
Died: 23 June 1920 (age 70 years)
History of frozen meat traade
https://earthwormexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/A-HISTORY-OF-THE-FROZEN-MEAT-TRADE.pdf
https://socialsciences.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/44%20Event%20and%20places%20places%20The%20Wimmera%20and%20Mallee%20final.pdf
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/scienceworks/resources/victorian-railways/riding-the-rails/
https://vhd-dr.heritage.vic.gov.au/places/70068
Former Murtoa Freezing Works
Rupanyap Road,, MURTOA VIC 3390 - Property No B6756
On this page:
Murtoa Freezing Works Property No B6756
The Wimmera Inland Freezing Company (WIFC) was established in 1908 when it was registered as a company under the Companies Act 1890. The company operated a freezing works in Murtoa, for the purposes of freezing and preserving meat, which would eventually be sold and distributed throughout the Wimmera region.
Housed in the historic Wimmera Inland Freezing Works buildings at the East end of Murtoa, Victoria, the Dunmunkle Sump Oilers keep the Richard Hornsby engines.
Murtoa
https://wimmera-w-b-w.blogspot.com/search/label/Murtoa
Sydney morning herald
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/murtoa-20040208-gdkqv9.html
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/index.php/places/1294/download-report
https://www.academia.edu/1497378/Bendigos_Abattoirs
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/70068/download-report
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