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Clockwise from bottom left: Danny Carr, Parks Victoria CEO Lee Miezis, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale and former miner Reg Wilson, State Coal Mine, October 2025. Photo: Dyonn Dimmock
By Catherine Watson
WHEN the Friends of the State Coal Mine gathered last week they were keenly aware of an absence in their midst.
Danny Carr died on August 9, aged 99. His death is the third in the past year of three men whose lives were inextricably linked with the mine. All were born in northern Italy, all called Wonthaggi home, all lived long lives, valued by their community.
WHEN the Friends of the State Coal Mine gathered last week they were keenly aware of an absence in their midst.
Danny Carr died on August 9, aged 99. His death is the third in the past year of three men whose lives were inextricably linked with the mine. All were born in northern Italy, all called Wonthaggi home, all lived long lives, valued by their community.
Vic Bennetti was the first to go. A blacksmith/farrier at the mine for more than 30 years, with a reputation as one of the best farriers in the business, Vic was 97 when he died on August 31 last year.
Lou Storti, who died in March, aged 96, worked at the mine on and off for 70 years, first as a miner, later as manager of the State Coal Mine Heritage Park. Lou was never happier than when underground.
Lou Storti, who died in March, aged 96, worked at the mine on and off for 70 years, first as a miner, later as manager of the State Coal Mine Heritage Park. Lou was never happier than when underground.
The Men Who Could Make Anything
Jan 26, 2023 – Frank Coldebella’s tribute to Danny Carr and his crew of welders, blacksmiths, turners and fitters at the State Coal Mine.
Jan 26, 2023 – Frank Coldebella’s tribute to Danny Carr and his crew of welders, blacksmiths, turners and fitters at the State Coal Mine.
And now Danny Carr, an engineer who began work as an apprentice in the mine workshops in 1942 and worked there until the mine closed in 1968 before setting up his own precision engineering business. Danny was a fixer, a man who loved to solve a problem.
And right to the end, he was still thinking about the mine and how to get the skip cart back into action to transport visitors underground.
Friends president Moz Wilson said Danny was a regular visitor to the workshops at the State Coal Mine Heritage Area State Coal Mine.
“His legs were buggered but his mind was alert,” said. “He’d have a coffee and catch up with his old friends, talk to the volunteers. He was forever putting in little plans to the project team.”
Danny was a product of Wonthaggi's industrial culture, but he also became one of the people who carried that culture forward after the mines closed.
His funeral notice put it simply: “A grand life, well lived”.
In The Men Who Could Make Anything, Frank Coldebella wrote a tribute to Danny and his crew - welders, blacksmiths, turners and fitters at the State Coal Mine who could make or fix almost anything.
The men in the mine workshops salvaged, reused, repaired and recycled every piece of metal available to repair the mine’s and power station’s ageing equipment to keep the coal moving and the power on.
An assortment of men from different nationalities worked in the mine workshops alongside the old Wonthaggi Power Station, now the Donmix site on West Area Road. There, in a ferment of ideas and machinery, they replaced, repaired, altered, adjusted and made just about everything – winches, bearings, skips, clutches and shafts – needed to keep the mine operating. Sometimes they even had to design and build their own machinery to make the parts.
And right to the end, he was still thinking about the mine and how to get the skip cart back into action to transport visitors underground.
Friends president Moz Wilson said Danny was a regular visitor to the workshops at the State Coal Mine Heritage Area State Coal Mine.
“His legs were buggered but his mind was alert,” said. “He’d have a coffee and catch up with his old friends, talk to the volunteers. He was forever putting in little plans to the project team.”
Danny was a product of Wonthaggi's industrial culture, but he also became one of the people who carried that culture forward after the mines closed.
His funeral notice put it simply: “A grand life, well lived”.
In The Men Who Could Make Anything, Frank Coldebella wrote a tribute to Danny and his crew - welders, blacksmiths, turners and fitters at the State Coal Mine who could make or fix almost anything.
The men in the mine workshops salvaged, reused, repaired and recycled every piece of metal available to repair the mine’s and power station’s ageing equipment to keep the coal moving and the power on.
An assortment of men from different nationalities worked in the mine workshops alongside the old Wonthaggi Power Station, now the Donmix site on West Area Road. There, in a ferment of ideas and machinery, they replaced, repaired, altered, adjusted and made just about everything – winches, bearings, skips, clutches and shafts – needed to keep the mine operating. Sometimes they even had to design and build their own machinery to make the parts.
Danny Carr with “The Cropper”, one of the machines he and his crew salvaged from the State Coal Mine workshop when it closed. Photo: Frank Coldebella
After the mine closed in 1968 Danny’s crew rescued five machines from the workshop that were headed for scrap and set up their own engineering business in McKenzie Street.
The fame of Carrs Engineering soon spread through Gippsland. From fishermen to farmers, from engineers to electricians, they came to Danny to solve their problems.
Danny’s crew was good – Danny himself was a genius. Long before Bunnings took over Australia, he would make the piece you needed, anything from tractor parts and propeller shafts to axles and shark-net reels, from skateboard bearings and a church crucifix to collar stiffening machine, as reported by The Express in 1968.
The fame of Carrs Engineering soon spread through Gippsland. From fishermen to farmers, from engineers to electricians, they came to Danny to solve their problems.
Danny’s crew was good – Danny himself was a genius. Long before Bunnings took over Australia, he would make the piece you needed, anything from tractor parts and propeller shafts to axles and shark-net reels, from skateboard bearings and a church crucifix to collar stiffening machine, as reported by The Express in 1968.
Danny’s ingenuity is vouched for by Wonthaggi shirt manufacturer Bill Marshall. While the two were having a beer four years ago, Marshall explained the workings of a hand-operated fusiong machine he intended to buy for stiffening shirt collars with a polythemne process that gave a high class finish.
Danny told him: “I can turn you out something more suitable than that.”
Danny produced a pneumatically operated and electrically timed machine which cost only £250.
Then an international firm of shirt manufacturers invited him to exhibit the machine at a Sydney Trade Fair. Danny did not even have time to try out the machine but it stood up to all tests and orders came from four states.
The Express, Wonthaggi , September 19, 1968
Later, when the State Coal Mine heritage area opened, the manager Lou Storti, too, was a regular visitor to Carrs Engineering, getting his old friend to design and build many essential components, including the drift cart that took visitors underground.
Six years ago, when Parks Victoria closed the underground tours over safety concerns, the drift cart was taken to Bendigo for repairs and never returned. In July 2023 the State Government announced $1.5 million to reopen the popular underground tours.
The underground tours finally resumed in 2024 after a three-year hiatus, but the tracks and skip are still a work in progress. Without a skip, visitors still have to walk in and out of the mine, a steep and uneven journey that excludes many people, including some of the volunteer guides.
Throughout the long wait, Danny was insistent he could build a skip and winch to do the job for a few thousand dollars. The Parks Victoria crew did not disagree – unfortunately, they said, they had to meet the onerous modern safety standards that applied to amusement rides.
Tomorrow, when the the Parks Victoria project team briefs the Friends on the latest news about the underground tours, Danny’s absence will be keenly felt. He would almost certainly have had a view on the plans, and probably a simpler way of doing things. He was still thinking about the mine, still trying to fix things, right to the end.
Danny Carr’s funeral will be held in the Kirrak Room, Wonthaggi Workmens Club, 75 Graham Street, Wonthaggi on Thursday, August 27, at 1pm.
Six years ago, when Parks Victoria closed the underground tours over safety concerns, the drift cart was taken to Bendigo for repairs and never returned. In July 2023 the State Government announced $1.5 million to reopen the popular underground tours.
The underground tours finally resumed in 2024 after a three-year hiatus, but the tracks and skip are still a work in progress. Without a skip, visitors still have to walk in and out of the mine, a steep and uneven journey that excludes many people, including some of the volunteer guides.
Throughout the long wait, Danny was insistent he could build a skip and winch to do the job for a few thousand dollars. The Parks Victoria crew did not disagree – unfortunately, they said, they had to meet the onerous modern safety standards that applied to amusement rides.
Tomorrow, when the the Parks Victoria project team briefs the Friends on the latest news about the underground tours, Danny’s absence will be keenly felt. He would almost certainly have had a view on the plans, and probably a simpler way of doing things. He was still thinking about the mine, still trying to fix things, right to the end.
Danny Carr’s funeral will be held in the Kirrak Room, Wonthaggi Workmens Club, 75 Graham Street, Wonthaggi on Thursday, August 27, at 1pm.
5 Comments
Thanks Catherine (and Frank) for this wonderful tribute. The chest of our neighbour John Tait seemed to puff out with pride when he told people her worked for Danny Carr. À man of great integrity and ingenuity who personified the pioneering spirit of old Wonthaggi.
A wonderful tribute. Thank you.
Danny was apprenticed to another skilled welder and gentleman Frank Scott. They worked together establishing a welding business after Frank retired from the mine about 1958.
I met Danny briefly earlier this year when researching the building of the Cape Paterson rock pool. I was told to seek him out as he was the designer of the outlet valve under the rock wall ( a long threaded stainless steel rod attached to a stainless steel plate) which enabled them to drain the pool. Once I was invited into his lounge, he boasted that he was 98 and 1/2 years old and described in detail how the mechanism worked. He was still sharp as a tack and epitomised the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Wonthaggi miners and engineers. Vale Danny.
Thank you, Catherine and Frank. It is a privilege to learn Wonthaggi's history through the lives of its intrepid pioneers.