Premium Content Subscriber only FORMER workers at the Bradken foundry have lamented the loss of the longstanding Ipswich factory and the state of the wider Australian manufacturing industry after it closed last week. But some hold on to hope it will be bought by another company and operations will be restarted. About 180 workers at the Karrabin site have lost their jobs with the facility closing in stages until it completely shuts down at the end of July. Former Bradken workers had a drink at the Walloon Saloon Hotel after the company shut down its Ipswich foundry on Friday, April 23. At its peak there were about 400 people working across three shifts a day and pouring about 35 tonnes of metal around the clock.