'About as popular as a dose of clap': Steam, diesel and masculinity at the New South Wales Eveleigh Railway Workshops

The shift from steam to diesel locomotion had a profound impact on Working conditions and industrial relations everywhere. How was it experienced and how did it affect the everyday lives of employees? To address this question the article examines the case of the New South Wales Eveleigh Railway Workshops from a gendered perspective. By interpreting the way diesel and steam technologies have been represented in oral and literary narratives, it illustrates that working with steam defined and affirmed masculine identity, while dieselisation undermined prevailing workplace cultures and traditional measures of masculine self-esteem.