A while ago I posted a query about a chimney that appeared in the background of a photo of Hamrun, the structure projecting above the roof of the engine shed. I’m now pretty certain that this was connected with a steam hammer, its moveing being amongst costs incurred by Government in 1900-01 in expanding the Hamrun workshops.

Less clear is whether this was the old location or the new one, though it seems peculiar that this substantial piece of engineering equipment would have been removed from a place it would have seen most use to one on the other side of the yard. My feeling is that the early photo pre-dates the removal of the hammer across the railway line and into the newly extended workshops.

An additional note of interest is that the new engineering works are likely to have been the design of respected Maltese architect Andrea Vassallo, who had “supervised the construction of the new workshops and planting of machinery therein” in his position within the Office of Public Works. Vassallo designed three masonry skew bridges for the original railway company, and later designed the tunnelled ramp and extension to Valletta station in his Government role in 1898. It’s likely that other works on the Malta railway after Government take-over are also designed by him.