page_title: Launceston Gasworks
section_title: Meter Shop
hierarchical_section_title: Launceston Gasworks / Notable buildings / Meter Shop
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the boilers in the vertical retort building (Cook With Gas building) with the firebox removed. Taken March 2011
context_page_description: The Launceston Gasworks is a former industrial site located in the CBD of Launceston, Tasmania. The site was the principal supplier of gas to the City of Launceston before the importation of LPG in the 1970s. The gasworks produced gas by heating coal and siphoning off the gas that it released before refining and storing it on site in a set of 3, steel frame gasometers. The first buildings on site were the horizontal retort buildings built in 1860 from sandstone and local brick. The site was later used by Origin Energy as their Launceston LPG outlet. The site is instantly recognizable by its 1930s, steel braced, vertical retort building with the words "COOK WITH GAS" in the brickwork.
context_section_description: The Meter Shop was where the new gas meters were assembled and tested. By 1958, there were 6333 meters across Launceston. The Gas Fitters did the meter rounds by bicycle, often loading the bicycles with everything they needed from 20 ft pipes to plywood. The Engineering staff and the company fitters also used the building to write up the daily logbooks.
  The Meter Shop also played a secondary role as the staff training center and under Origin Energy ownership in the late 1900s, was solely used for this purpose. Gas Fitters, Meter Makers and Repairers had to do an apprenticeship that lasted 5 years with most men working for the company their whole life. Even the management stayed with a total of four Company Secretaries in 120 years. At its peak, the company employed up to 80 people. The company encouraged a family feeling among its employees, often organising annual Christmas picnics.
caption: Additional waste heat boiler (partially dismantled) in the rear room of the Vertical Retort Building. Note the insulated co2 flue connecting the boiler to the retort blocks.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Digital Camera", "Image Make": "RICOH", "Image Model": "Caplio", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "V1.15", "Image DateTime": "2007:01:01 00:12:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "230", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9754", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7089", "EXIF ExposureTime": "235809/1000000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:01:01 00:12:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:01:01 00:12:54", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "11/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3072", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2304", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9270", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}