Joshua Nazzari’s two decade career on the rails, explored

Joshua Nazzari has been working for Aurizon for 20 years, but says he still gets a rush when a high-pressure deadline comes in.

Joshua Nazzari works as regional maintenance leader at Aurizon's Stuart depot, and got his start through an electrical apprenticeship when he was 19 years old.

Joshua Nazzari has been working for Aurizon for 20 years, but says he still gets a rush when a high-pressure deadline comes in.

“It’s fun working in logistics because you have to fix things on time, and it can give you a rush when something needs a repair and it also needs to be on the tracks soon,” Joshua said.

“I’d recommend anyone thinking about a job in rail to do it. The skills are transferable and highly sought after.”

Joshua himself started at Aurizon as a 19-year-old electrical apprentice, and he’s since risen up to regional maintenance leader, overseeing the locomotive sheds at Stuart, Townsville.

“We looked after the locomotives (train engines), we fuel them up, sand them, check for faults and do services and repairs,” he said.

“The sand is an important part of their brakes and helps them going downhill.”

Joshua Nazzari works as regional maintenance leader at Aurizon's Stuart depot, and got his start through an electrical apprenticeship when he was 19 years old.

When he spoke to the Townsville Bulletin, six locomotives were in Joshua’s shed for their refueling and maintenance, and six were were coming in that night.

“The locos were looked after, they are either going out west to help haul a lot of minerals, going up the North-Coast line transporting things like food, or even pulling the Inlander passenger service out to Mount Isa,” he said.

“QR doesn’t have a lot of locos in this region, so we take the passenger service out to Mount Isa.”

The Inlander train runs between Townsville and Mount Isa twice a week, stopping in Charters Towers, Julia Creek, and Cloncurry on the way.

Originally from Ingham, Joshua said he applied to Aurizon (then QR) as a teenager because he had mates already working there who said it was a really good job.

“We’re always putting on a few apprentices each year, and we have a lot of work experience kids come through from Tec-NQ and the high schools,” he said.

“The kids are keen to be here because it’s so different from anything else you can do. It’s not like wiring houses... and every boy thinks trains are cool.”

When asked exactly how a job at Aurizon can give someone transferrable and highly sought after skills, Joshua said people with rail experience “always seem to go straight to the top” in a mining or heavy industry workplace due to their broad knowledge, particularly around safety and running a team.

“But people generally don’t leave Aurizon, they enjoy it and stay around,” he said.

When asked if he’s seen the rail industry change over the last 20 years, Joshua said: “definitely”.

“Obviously change is slow because we have so many safety tests that must be passed,” he said.

“But right now we are working on a battery-powered loco, there are a bunch of engineers right now down in the sheds working on that, and you’ve got 50-year-old locos with new, high tech systems in them.”

This year’s Future Townsville series, in partnership with S.Kidman, Bravus, Port of Townsville, Aurizon, Queensland Resources Council and Sun Metals, will examine the once-in-a-generation opportunities for trade and investment in this city.

Originally published as Joshua Nazzari’s two decade career on the rails, explored