Bernie calls time on 47-year railway career
When 16-year-old Bernie Keast headed off to sit his NSW Railways exam and have a medical examination, he didn’t expect he’d start his lifelong career just three days later.
Employment trends have changed a lot in the 47 years since Bernie sat those exams and his last shift on Saturday 7 January 2023, when he finished up as a NSW TrainLink senior customer service attendant at Kempsey railway station.
“It was a funny feeling knowing it was my last day. I had been really looking forward to it, but once it arrived, I had some mixed feelings,” Bernie said.
Bernie Keast started working as a station assistant at the Kempsey railway station on 17 December 1975 after his father heard the station was looking for junior staff.
“I caught the train from Kempsey to Newcastle and sat the exams and had my medical at Tyrrell House,” he said.
“I was told I had passed and they asked me when I would like to start work.
“I said ‘Sometime in the new year’ and they said ‘How about Wednesday?’, so that’s when I started.”
It was a bit of a culture shock for the teenaged Bernie. Growing up in a Christian family, he found a lot of his new colleagues smoked, drank and gambled – traits that he never took up.
“The shift work would have been difficult for a lot of those blokes,” he said.
“Kempsey was a pretty big station back then with between 40 and 60 staff.
“About five of us were juniors and did rotating shifts of 6am-2pm, 2pm-10pm and 10pm-6am so there was someone there the whole time.
“I’ve worked shifts most of my life, but in the past 10 years, day and afternoon shifts only.”
After starting his career at Kempsey in late 1975, Bernie worked at several other stations before returning in 1983 and has been there ever since.
“I guess I’ve been part of the furniture at Kempsey station. I looked after the premises from day one and I was still responsible for cleanliness right up until my last day.”
In retirement, Bernie plans to continue his interests in transport, spending more time on motorsports and travel, some of it by train.
NSW TrainLink Chief Operating Officer, Dale Merrrick wished Bernie all the best in his retirement.
“Forty-seven years serving the public is a long time. That sort of commitment is very rare now,” Mr Merrick said.
“He has been a familiar site at the Kempsey railway station for generations of customers and I know those customers will miss the care and attention he puts into the station and all those who go there.
“His passion for the customers will be very difficult to replace.”
Coffs Harbour area customer service manager Sonia Bertram said Bernie was a motoring enthusiast who enjoyed participating in various car rallies around Australia.
“He’s also an accomplished artist, with many locals eagerly anticipating him releasing his annual calendar, which includes prints of his detailed work of various scenes that usually include cars and trains,” she said.
“He will now be able to spend much deserved time with his family and pursue his life passions.”