Restored cottage gives insight into life on Snowy Scheme

Finding accommodation for workers on major infrastructure projects might seem like a thoroughly modern problem, but history shows that is not the case.

When work on the Snowy Scheme began more than 75 years ago, about 200 portable timber cottages were needed to house workers and their families.

One of those structures has now gone on display at the Snowy Scheme Museum in Adaminaby.

It gives visitors an insight into the extraordinarily transient life of those on the front lines of Australia's largest engineering project.

Museum president Tim Corkill said the cottages were important because the scheme was built in stages across different areas, with workers living in various temporary towns.

"You might have started off in Tantangara in the morning and in the afternoon you ended up in Island Bend," he said.

Mr Corkill said the two and three-bedroom cottages were designed for families and trucked from town to town, often with everything inside.

"They needed to ... move a lot of houses in and all the other infrastructure in to establish the town sites," he said.

"When that particular project finished, they then moved onto another site, another township."

Keeping out the cold

Mr Corkhill said the cottages were not "super warm" but gave some protection against harsh winters, with wood heaters, double glazing, and insulation in the ceilings, walls and floors.

Staying warm was essential, with one temporary town, Happy Jacks, the highest in Australia at the time, almost 1,500 metres above sea level.

"The kids went to school there on skis and they had absolutely fond memories," Mr Corkill said.

Bringing the cottage to the museum was a challenge.

"The easy part was moving it. The more complicated part was actually organising it," Mr Corkill said.

"Once we got the approvals, we were actually able to move the house from near Nimmitabel … within the day."

The two-bedroom cottage is just under 4 metres wide and about 12 metres long, and less garish than others of the era.

"They were painted anything from orange to pinks to light blues to greens," Mr Corkill said.

"Against the white backdrop of snow ... they would have stood out."

Where are they now?

When the Snowy Scheme was finished, the cottages were sold.

Mr Corkhill said they ended up scattered around the region, often used as farm sheds or holiday homes on the New South Wales far south coast.

Other cottages had already been on the coast for decades, giving Snowy workers a place to relax.

Joe Werner's father was one of five German engineers charged with ensuring tunnel ends met in the middle.

When Norwegian contractor Selma finished working on the scheme's Guthega project, the Werners bought one of its cottages and erected it on the coast at Pambula.

"They were only sort of temporary buildings, but they functioned very well," Mr Werner said.

"It was good enough for a holiday cottage and that's what my father bought it for."

Mr Werner's father faced issues with council regulations, but Snowy Mountains Authority commissioner William Hudson intervened.

"Sir William wrote to the mayor saying, 'Look, our top Snowy personnel work very hard under very difficult situations. They need rest and recreation. Can you just overlook these little issues so that they can get some rest,' and the mayor agreed," Mr Werner said.

"We had unobstructed ocean views.

Mr Werner said it was common for Snowy workers to holiday on the coast "because it was so convenient".

Sir William's daughter Anne and her husband even honeymooned in the cottage.

The family sold in 1972, but the building remains.

"That's the astonishing thing," Mr Werner said.

"They weren't built to last.

"It's amazing that so many of them have."