Green Frog Restoration

A piece of Byron Bay history, the old Green Frog jetty engine, has been restored and is now on permanent display at the Byron Bay Railway Station.

The Green Frog is housed in a large, custom-built case at the southern end of the Byron Bay rail platform.

Many of Byron Bay’s more recent residents have never heard of the Green Frog, but for old locals, the jetty engine was a familiar sight, chugging around the coastal town from the 1920s to the 1980s.

Byron Bay Historical Society (BBHS) president, Donald Maughan, stated that for 63 years – from 1923 to 1983 – the Green Frog jetty engine ferried passengers and freight from the old jetty to the coast steamer that travelled to Sydney, and then shunted freight for the meat works, the whaling company, the Norco Cooperative and Zircon Rutile.

He said, ‘When the meat works closed in 1983, the old engine was presented to the Byron Bay Historical Society and the last two drivers, Brian Parks and his father, kept it in their shed, ensuring this important piece of the town’s history was preserved’.

‘This engine was a fixture of life in Byron Bay for decades, and is a symbol of the town’s industrial history,’ Mr Maughan said.

‘Many people don’t know that Byron Bay was a traditional blue-collar, working-class town where people were employed at the meatworks, the butter factory, the whaling station and in the sand-mining industry,’ he said.

Industrial heritage
‘Much of the town’s industrial heritage has disappeared over the years and to be able to return the Green Frog to the track where it will be on display is wonderful, because it reminds everyone that Byron Bay has a proud industrial history,’ Mr Maughan said.