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From Tracks to Rail Tracks

On leaving school Steve gained an apprenticeship in glazing. He later moved to Sydney and continued to work in the glazing industry, however, by now he was looking for a bit more of a challenge, something as he put it, that would bring a bit more excitement to his working life, and so his search for a new career path started.

Steve heard about a large railway project that was due to start from Sydney to Melbourne. So, he applied and got a start in 2004 completely fresh to the railway industry as a labourer. He worked his way up the ladder to become a leading hand and over the next 3-4 years he eventually became a supervisor.

Photo: While working in the Pilbara region Steve took the opportunity to get "up close and personal" with this giant Komatsu wheeled loader.

Talking about his work Steve said, “All the while I was working on the rail, I had become seriously interested in the machinery side of things, especially the rubber tyre Hi Rail machines, (what we would call Road-Railers in the UK) there was also something about the tiltrotators they used and all the attachments and how you had to be really precise to be a good operator, I was really drawn towards that sector and I knew it would be the challenge I was looking for!”

So, while still working as a supervisor, he used to take the opportunity to give the operators a break and he would jump in their machines for 5-10 minutes, these operating slots became longer as time progressed and eventually, he was often spending hours in the machines. By this time Steve had gained a lot of experience and when an operating spot became available, he jumped at the chance.

For the next 8 years he operated on the rail jobs and some civil works all over Australia with various companies operating 17-20 tonne class Hi Rail machines from the likes of Hitachi, Caterpillar, Komatsu and Liebherr, he even spent some time up in the famous Pilbara mining region in Western Australia.

By that time working away was starting to take its toll as it generally does with anyone, and he had met his then girlfriend who has since become his wife, so he wanted to get work back home in NSW.

Steve continues the story, “Some 4 years ago I came home and took a chance by buying myself a little 5-tonne class Kobelco mini excavator and a bogie tipper and forming my business PXG Civil and Rail, and got some work doing civil engineering jobs in my local area of Wollongong, it was the usual stuff, house foundations, road works and a bit of haulage, its been a bit of a slog at times but we feel we are getting there now!”.

Rail operators were still in high demand in the area, so Steve continued doing his civils during the week and then took on work during rail shutdowns in Sydney during the weekends.

Which brings us up to date now, as Steve is ready to embark on his next chapter in the rail industry. He has purchased a high spec Hitachi Zaxis 85RR rail machine which worked its first week a couple of weeks ago. Steve hopes that he will get enough work to warrant buying a rubber tyre Hi Rail machine for himself sometime in the future.

Photo: Steve's new addtion to his fleet the Hitachi Zaxis 85RR.

If you want to follow Steve’s progress you can check him out on Instagram at @pxg_civil_and_rail

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Steve for sharing his photos and interesting information about his working life.