railway driver – Michmutters

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Australia

More women driving tractors and trains for the sugarcane harvest in far north Queensland

A young woman with short blonde hair, a tank top and a black hat leans on the wheel of a power-haul vehicle.

Maneuvering a 10-tonne tractor over rough terrain and tipping sugar cane into a train carriage may require skill and concentration, but Jasmine Cartwright and Elsa Tickler have taken it like ducks to water.

It therefore came as a bit of a surprise when the pair discovered they were the first women to apply for the job on Matt Watson’s Mossman farm in far north Queensland.

“Definitely, women can do the job just as well as men,” 28-year-old Ms Cartwright said.

“I’ve never driven heavy vehicles before starting this job and, prior to this year, never really imagined that I would go down this path for work, but I’m really happy I did.

“It takes a bit of time to practice and get used to the trucks because they’re just unique in the way that they run, but women should absolutely give it a go.”

Ms Tickler, 27, is from south-east Queensland and previously worked as a cook on a prawn trawler.

“I think learning to drive heavy machinery is a great skill set … and it’s something that will be so valuable in my life and future,” she said.

“I think I’ll be back for the next season.”

A young woman with short blond hair, a singlet and a black hat sits in the cab of a power-haul vehicle.
Elsa Tickler was surprised to learn she was one of the first female Powerhaul drivers in Mossman.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

With no regrets

Labor shortages have been a growing challenge for the agriculture industry, with young women among those most likely to leave rural areas.

Ms Cartwright, who is also from the state’s south-east, says she has no regrets about moving to Mossman this year to work.

“The environment we’re working in, the scenery, it’s so beautiful driving around different farms in Mossman and the Daintree,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s like a wildlife documentary happening in front of you: we see snakes and wild pigs and so many bandicoots and dingoes and kangaroos—crocodiles even.

“It’s really challenging because the roads are obviously a bit off-road and you’re driving a really heavy vehicle, so it’s just a new challenge, but it’s really fun.”

Driving the locomotive

After the cane is successfully tipped into train carriages, another young woman has the job of delivering it safely to the Mossman sugar mill.

Sophie Wright, 22, gave up her job as a makeup artist in Adelaide and moved to Mossman four years ago after falling in love with the region.

A young woman with a blonde ponytail, high-vis work top and boots, leans on a cane train engine.
Sophie Wright is completing her locomotive driver’s license.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

She has been working as a train driver’s assistant for Far Northern Milling and is currently training to be a locomotive driver.

Ms Wright said it had been a big career change but one she was glad she made.

“I think it’s something I love doing a whole lot more. You know, I feel like it’s meaningful,” she said.

“I honestly think the scenery is amazing. You see really nice parts of Mossman. We have to cross a few bridges on the way and there are stunning creeks.”

Ms Wright drives the cane train under supervision and helps with maintenance while logging the 200 hours required to get her ticket, which she hopes to achieve by next year.

“When we do have maintenance days, or when there’s days that the mill needs to stop for whatever reason, we help out John, who is our mechanic here, greasing the locos,” she said.

“We have to change the grease bombs. We have to make sure all the oils and the final drives and everything’s topped up and working well.

“We also have maintenance days where we have to adjust the brakes and put new ones in.”

A green and yellow loco pulling full bins of cut sugar cane.
A locomotive engine driver’s job is to collect filled carriages and take them to the mill.(Rural ABC: Melanie Groves)

On the right track

Ms Wright says another benefit to driving cane trains is that the job is seasonal, which means she has six or seven months off each year that allow her to travel.

Last year, she even worked on a snorkel tour boat on the Great Barrier Reef.

Ms Wright said it was no surprise that the job was attracting a growing number of women.

“When I started, I was one of the only females working on the trains,” she said.

“Now as the years have gone past, there are more and more women who are actually coming in and learning to drive, and learning to be driver assistants as well, which is really good to see.

“I’ve actually heard a few people say women are a little bit more careful with the trains. They pay attention and they’re very careful.”

A young woman with a blonde ponytail and high-vis workwear sits in the cab of a cane train.
Sophie Wright gave up her job as a makeup artist in Adelaide to work on cane trains in Mossman.(Rural ABC: Tanya Murphy)

Ms Wright said young women should not limit their imaginations when it came to career choices.

“You can train to be anything that you want to be, if you put your mind to it,” she said.

“[The cane industry] is a really open industry.

“I think if you want to do it, then just go for it. I’ve learned so much this year and anyone can do it really.”

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Categories
Australia

Retired train driver backs union calls to divert Rockhampton’s ‘dangerous’ city freight line

A man with grey short hair sits on a veranda in a wooden chair wearing a green shirt and looks at the camera.

Paul McKenna can still feel the dread in his stomach when he thinks about driving his locomotive along Rockhampton’s Denison Street.

“It’s sheer luck that there hasn’t been more people killed down that street,” he says.

For a two-kilometre stretch through the middle of Rockhampton, freight trains travel down the middle of Denison street after leaving the Rockhampton station yard.

It’s one of the only freight lines in Queensland that still runs through the middle of a city, according to the Rail Union.

Mr McKenna, a retired train driver from Yeppoon who spent 33 years in the industry, said he would encounter a near-miss almost every second time he would drive along the Denison street line.

A train travels through the center of a city, with cars driving on either side of it.
For a two-kilometre stretch through the middle of Rockhampton, freight trains travel along Denison street after leaving the Rockhampton rail station yard.(Supplied: Jacob Howard)

“People seem to pull up at the stop signs and they don’t look for trains, they look for traffic and they just take off in front of you and you pretty well haven’t got a chance to stop,” Mr McKenna said.

“You’ve got pedestrians that just walk out in front of you.

“You’d come home and you’d stay awake at night if you got close to hitting people.

“It was pretty scary… It needs to be moved.”

Earlier this year, data from the Department of Transport and Main Roads released by the RACQ revealed that the intersection of Denison and Derby St was one of the worst intersections for serious crashes in the state.

The intersection ranked fourth, with seven serious crashes and 11 people seriously injured between June 2018 and May 2021.

Calls to move rail freight line for safety

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s Craig Allen says the Dennison Street rail level crossing is the largest in the southern hemisphere and is unique in that it runs through the middle of a city.

The union is calling on Queensland Rail to bypass Rockhampton city, in line with the city’s ring road project.

“Members have identified the whole of Denison Street as one of the most dangerous level crossings they’ve ever encountered,” Mr Allen said.

“From our driver’s perspective, they see the horror in these people’s faces when they’re in the train and they’re about to collide with them.

A car drives beside a rail line. A stop sign and railway crossing crossing is in the center of the road.
The Denison Street rail level crossing in Rockhampton.(ABC Capricorn: Rachel McGhee)

“The freight infrastructure around Rockhampton is still 19th century… it still hasn’t been upgraded. It’s time we got rail into the 21st century and eliminated all these dangerous rail crossings.”

It’s a call Mr McKenna supports.

“Eliminate the risk… it takes its toll over the years,” he said.

“You nearly can pick which one’s going to come out in front of you. They appear to look up the road for cars, but they don’t see the train and then they take off and you can’t stop.

“If there’s an opportunity to change it, they should jump at it.”

‘No plans’ to upgrade Denison Street level crossing

Queensland Rail head of regional, Jim Benstead said he was committed to level-crossing safety through investment in education, engineering upgrades and working closely with the police on enforcement.

“While there are no current plans to upgrade the level crossing or track infrastructure through the Denison and Derby Street intersection in Rockhampton, Queensland Rail is working with council to identify any potential safety improvements,” Mr Benstead said.

“In the last financial year (2021-2022) we saw 94 near misses on the network across regional Queensland.

“Since 2017, there have been nine incidents at the Denison and Derby Street level crossing, including one traffic incident earlier this year.”

A train travels along a street in the middle of the road.
There are calls for the rail line to be diverted around Rockhampton, in line with the city’s Ring Road project, out of safety concerns.(Supplied: Jacob Howard)

Mr Benstead said all level crossings were fitted with signs and signals to warn of an approaching train and people had to take responsibility and heed the warnings.

“There is also an $18 million regional level-crossing program underway, which has so far delivered upgrades to level crossings in Portsmith, Edmonton, Chinchilla and Cardwell in North Queensland,” he said.

“Queensland Rail is asking everyone in the community to prioritize their own safety around trains.”

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Categories
Entertainment

Beauty and the Geek Australia 2022: Four more Geek makeovers

Beauty and the Geek Australia 2022: Four more Geek makeovers

Beauty and the Geek’s four remaining ‘Geeks’ underwent their makeovers during Monday’s episode of the reality series – and one got an instant tick of approval from his ‘Beauty’, who leapt into his arms for a lingering kiss.

Check out the impressive makeovers below…

Jason

Victorian muso Jason, 29, had perhaps the night’s biggest transformation, losing his shaggy hair and beard – and stepping out with a discernible new air of confidence and even a few male-model poses.

He said he’d changed a lot since the show started, explaining that on his first day, he could “barely muster standing within 20m of the Beauties.”

Jason came out to wild reactions from the rest of the contestants, one of whom summed up the mood by saying: “Who the hell IS that?”

The Beauty he’d been paired with, Emily, could not stop screaming.

“When I saw myself in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. I saw someone new…almost like a long-lost brother or something. It was really wild to see myself like that,” Jason said.

“I feel like a weight has been lifted off me. Something as simple as not having beard hair to fiddle with or hair on my face to block my view of things is tremendously powerful for my confidence.”

Aaron

NSW train driver Aaron said he had come “so, so far” on the show, listing a few of his “firsts”.

“I’ve conquered my fear of dogs, jumped off a train through a firewall, posed with my shirt off and grown so much. I’ve changed so much through this experience,” he said.

Emerging post-makeover with a new haircut and outfit, Aaron said he felt “so, so happy… I’m ready to start living now.”

His Beauty Karly was full of praise, dubbing him her “sexy Aaron-cini ball.”

anthony

A self-proclaimed Harry Potter superfan, 26-year-old Anthony suffered bullying at high school and had never quite built his self-confidence after that trauma.

So it’s understandable that his makeover was an emotional experience – he shed a tear or two when he first looked at himself in the mirror.

“It was very emotional,” he said. “It was like, ‘why can’t you love yourself? Why can’t you be proud of who you are?’”

Thankfully his Beauty Tegan was there to be his biggest cheerleader, dubbing the new-look Anthony “a bad boy rich sugar daddy.”

Michael

Fans who’ve been watching this season will know that 25-year-old children’s party entertainer Michael has already developed quite the connection with his Beauty, Tara.

Even so, it was a shock when the new-look Michael stepped out – and an overwhelmed Tara immediately ran into his arms to give him a long, lingering kiss on the lips.

For Michael, it was the dream outcome.

“That was so romantic. I have dreamt of a moment like that. I really felt, really happy… very wanted. I didn’t know she could move that fast in heels!” he said.

Tara couldn’t hide her excitement at the new-look Michael.

“Obviously I fell for you before (the makeover) but this is a cherry on top – I’m not complaining,” she said.

“A sexy bonus?” asked host Sophie Monk.

“I’m glad to be your sexy bonus,” said Michael.

After that loved-up moment, it was a bittersweet end to the episode, as Jason and Emily were eliminated from the competition.

The four makeovers came after fellow contestant Christopher underwent his big transformation last week.

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