30/09/2026
After 49 and a half years on the railway, Kerry Pole has certainly seen a lot of change and collected plenty of stories along the way.
For Kerry, it all started in Longreach with the No. 9 Flying Gang. Back then, you did six months as a temporary worker, passed your medical and, if all went well, you became a permanent Queensland Rail employee.
From Longreach, Kerry made his way to Mount Larcom with the thermite welding gang. During those years, around the passenger trains and rec room, he also met his wife, Ann.
Kerry eventually settled in Rockhampton, working across different gangs, projects and roles before deciding to give something completely different a go — ultrasonics.
After travelling to Townsville to train and qualify, Kerry became an Ultra Non-Destructive Testing Officer, better known as a rail tester. It turned out to be a pretty good move, because he stayed in the role for the next 35 years.
With only a handful of qualified testers across Queensland, Kerry covered some serious ground, from Emerald and Gladstone all the way out to Winton, testing the rail for cracks and faults you couldn't see with the naked eye.
Over nearly five decades, he's watched Queensland Rail become QR National and then Aurizon. He's seen depots close, gangs change and jobs completely redefined. But ask Kerry about his time on the railway, and it's the people he's met along the way that he remembers most fondly.
Now, at 68, he's enjoying a very different pace of life, more time with his daughters and grandchildren, and plenty of travelling with Ann. In fact, they've already clocked up 13 cruises!
And after almost 50 years around the railway, Kerry says one of his favourite things about cruising is looking out over the ocean and not seeing a railway track in sight, just listening to the sea breeze instead of trains and ringing phones.
We reckon he's earned it.
Kerry, thank you for your many years as a proud RTBU member and for everything you've contributed to our railway. We wish you and Ann all the very best for this next chapter. Enjoy every minute of it.
