Come and join the team at the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway today! Since our humble beginnings 40 years ago, the railway has been managed, maintained and operated by people from all walks of life who donate their time for the simple pleasure of preserving a living part of Australia’s Industrial history.

As a volunteer, you can learn new skills from old masters and find what best suits you in our group – there is no end to the options. In each case training will be given so that you are proficient in the tasks you perform. Some areas are safety critical so medicals and regular competence assessments are mandatory.

If you are office bound and want to enjoy the outdoor life then why not train for Operations Staff or Crew, to perform Track Work or assist in Locomotive and Carriage Restorations. If you have an outdoors job and would like to sit down, a spot on our marketing team may be for you. If you like meeting people then maybe the roles of Passenger Service Attendant, Waiter on Dinner Trains, Station Master, Conductor or Station Staff would suit you.

For budding footplate crews the road is a long and arduous one but it must be remembered that the driver of a train is responsible for the safety of our visitors and must be able to faultlessly operate the vintage locomotives we operate. You must be in good health and will require a railway safety worker medical prior to undertaking these roles. A new crew member would normally start as a trainee guard, and work their way up to fireman or driver assistant on diesel to learn safe working, then move into being in that respective role when competent.

As a guard, you will learn the procedures and responsibilities for operating a train, shunting, signalling, time keeping and paper work on the run and customer service. There’s more to this job then waving a flag and blowing a whistle.

On the steam engine, you can start helping to light up engines, clean them, both externally and removing ash internally, and learn how to safely shut them down. The work is hard and dirty. Having spent some time as a cleaner and learned about the workings of locomotives, volunteers of suitable ability are then able to train as a fireman. This training covers all aspects from rules and regulations to keeping steam locomotive operation safe. After completing a suitable number of turns and passing an examination firemen are ‘passed’ to operate alone with a driver.

QPSR also requires a large number of industrial skills, with welding, machining, fitting and painting all routine jobs. For those who are interested in learning railway industry maintenance skills, such as boiler work, plumbing, electrical and westinghouse brake repairs, we are always happy to teach new skills.

Safety Management including; Auditing, Reviewing of Documents, Document Control, Document creation, Quality control, Risk Assessment and Data Entry is the quiet work behind the essential tasks that keep the railway able to operate safely under the National Rail Safety Regulation. We welcome anyone with skills in this field who are able to continue Queensland Pioneer Steam Railways journey of Safety.