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Question to all locomotive engineers/train serviceman or anyone who might know-

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Question to all locomotive engineers/train serviceman or anyone who might know-
Posted by 2059 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 5:36 PM
I know locomotive engineer/train servicemen are always on call 24/7 everyday of the year and on holidays and I know what the working conditions are. My question is how often are the locomotive engineer/train servicemen called to work and once you get off of work, how long do you get until you can be called back again?
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 31, 2005 7:53 PM
Theres a two part article from a few years ago in TRAINS that talks about that. "Diary of a Rookie Railroader" was the title I believe. I'll look for which issues they were exactly.
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Posted by SecretWeapon on Thursday, March 31, 2005 9:00 PM
Your on call 24/7 if your on an extra list.If you work for a commuter RR,you can pick a job.You know your days off & you'll know your hours. I won't work the extra list.
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Posted by arbfbe on Thursday, March 31, 2005 9:29 PM
According to the Hours of Service Act, if you have worked less than 12 hours you are entitled to 8 hour off duty. If you work more than 12 hours they you are entitled to 10 hours off duty. Some local agreements with the railroads allow you more than these amounts. There are some circumstances that allow the company to send you to work with less than 8 hour off. There is a post on this forum that goes into more detail. I have to take a J train to Spokane at 2125 so I don't have time to search for it now.
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Posted by Dutchrailnut on Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:13 PM
The railroad is allowed to give you one call during your rest(off Duty) time.
normaly a RR will give you two houirs notice for next job.
so if your off at midnight the phone could ring at six telling you to be there at eight.
if you work in exces of 12 hours you get 10 hours rest but same rule with the call.
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Posted by 2059 on Thursday, March 31, 2005 11:53 PM
Thanks for the replies so far. I'm kinda looking into the job right now as an option so please keep the info coming, its been helpful. Just curious arbfbe, which railroad do you work for? Do any of you others work for a railroad? Have any of you been interested in trains before you got the job?
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Friday, April 1, 2005 1:02 AM
first off..not all engineers are work on call 365.... if your working a pool turn..you can be oncall 7 days aweek... but here we have off days in the pool that are opptinal...you can turn it on and take a day off..or turn it off and work through your off day.... extra boards also have an off day..so its oncall 6 days a week..not 7....now a yard engineer works 5 days a week with 2 days off... and has a reguler start time every day....that being said...next question
when you mark off duty... you are required a minum of 8 hours off... but keep in mind... if the railroad calls you on your rest....they call you anywhere from 2 to 3 hours of when you rest time is up...depending on the calling time aggreement for that terminal and or pool.....so...if you mark off at midnight... your rest is up at 0800..and the railroad can call you at lets say 0600 (2 hour calling time) to be at work for 0800...now engineers have a very nice thing that conductors dont have...we can claim rest even if we dont work the full 12 hours.... we can claim R8..(8 hours undisturbed) meaning if you mark off at midnight...the railroad cant call you untill 0800..and we have 10hours...meaning you get 10 hours undisturbed.... meaning..you mark off at midnight...they cant call you till 1000 hours (1000 hours for 1200hours).....
now thier is a thing called a "respike"..... and that works like this
your called at midnight to dead head to an away from home terminal and the train you are to get will arrive long befor your 8 hours rest is up..so if the train is realy a hot one..the can put you on a respike...here the noraml time is 4 hours....(short rest).... so... your called for midnight...it takes 2 hours dead head time to get to the away from home terminal... its now 0200....you mark off the dead head at 0200 hours... now at 0400 hours..you get a call to report to work at 0600 hours....you go on duty at 0600 hours on the train back......now here is where it gets interesting..... since you did not have a full 8 hour rest.... you are not alowed to work the full 12 hour day back.... you are only alowed to work 10 hours...... becouse you subtract your preiouse time on duty..(the 2 hour dead head) from the time you have to work the train back..... so..on the return train..you will go on the law at 1600 hours....
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 1, 2005 2:25 AM
If you're serious about railroading and have no prior professional transportation experience, I would highly recommend attending the Modoc Railroad Academy of Sacramento, California (www.ModocRailroadAcademy.com).
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Posted by 2059 on Friday, April 1, 2005 11:48 PM
Once again thank you all for the info and please keep it coming, every little bit helps. Anybody who would like to give their few cents I will appreciate it. Do any of you know a little more about a commuter RR engineer's job and hours? They can pick what job they want to do right? They're not always on call all the time?
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 2, 2005 3:51 AM
I have no professional experience with commuter rail, but I would venture to guess that choosing your assignment is still a matter of seniority.
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Posted by arbfbe on Saturday, April 2, 2005 4:23 AM
2059,

I am anengineer for Montana Rail Link. I have previously worked for the Milwaukee Road and the BN. MRL will be hiring some switchmen in Missoula and Laurel in May if you are interested. You should be into an engineers' class in about a year. Go to www.montanarail.com and look for employment opportunities.

Commuter lines certainly have their advantages. Home every night for one thing. Sometimes they work split shifts. Into the city in the early morining and then 4 to 8 hours off and then back to the suburbian terminal in the afternoon or evening. Train times are scheduled. When you are at the bottom of the seniority roster you will not have much choice about which job you take. You will be on the extra board. On a freight railroad you will be subject to call 24/7/365. On a commuter line you will mostly be subject to call in the early hours of the mornig and the afternoon. There may be some work trains at night or odd hours but you probably will not have to protect the phone after the mornig rush is on duty until the afternoon shifts are subject to call. You would have to check in with the local commuter line to see how they work it.

alan
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 4:28 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

2059,

I am anengineer for Montana Rail Link. I have previously worked for the Milwaukee Road and the BN. MRL will be hiring some switchmen in Missoula and Laurel in May if you are interested. You should be into an engineers' class in about a year. Go to www.montanarail.com and look for employment opportunities.

Commuter lines certainly have their advantages. Home every night for one thing. Sometimes they work split shifts. Into the city in the early morining and then 4 to 8 hours off and then back to the suburbian terminal in the afternoon or evening. Train times are scheduled. When you are at the bottom of the seniority roster you will not have much choice about which job you take. You will be on the extra board. On a freight railroad you will be subject to call 24/7/365. On a commuter line you will mostly be subject to call in the early hours of the mornig and the afternoon. There may be some work trains at night or odd hours but you probably will not have to protect the phone after the mornig rush is on duty until the afternoon shifts are subject to call. You would have to check in with the local commuter line to see how they work it.

alan
MRL and BN dont have off days on the extra boards? or any of the pool turns?
csx engineer
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Posted by arbfbe on Saturday, April 2, 2005 6:24 AM
csxengr98
MRL pool engineers have no days off. We now have the option of tieing up for 20 hrs rest at the home terminal unless things get really busy when that agreement can be 'suspended'. Extraboard engineers can sign up for up to 4 Requested Days Off (RDO) that are granted on a seniority basis.

BNSF engineers do not have any days off but the run thru pools get more than 40 hrs off between runs, normally. They tried some 7 and 3 extra boards but I think the company has backed out of those.

I work the long pool west on the MRL and usually have 11 or 12 starts in the 15 day pay half. I spend 70 hours per week in the cab and sometimes up to 80 hrs per week in the cab. Extra board engineers commonly do more than that on both the MRL and BNsF.
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Posted by 2059 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 3:02 PM
Hey does anybody have any idea where to find out or even contact for Metra Commuter Railroad in Illinois? I've gone to their website and can find nothing about employment. The list of contacts don't seem like the people I'd contact for employment. I wonder if they have some seperate website but I've searched everything.
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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, April 2, 2005 5:04 PM
2059: start here, and she'll redirect you as appropriate --

Diana Peyton
Metra
Office of Human Resources
547 W. Jackson
Chicago,  IL  60661
Fax:  312-322-8937
Email:  dpeyton@metrarr.com
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Posted by Sterling1 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 5:09 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by cnw8835

Theres a two part article from a few years ago in TRAINS that talks about that. "Diary of a Rookie Railroader" was the title I believe. I'll look for which issues they were exactly.


The one about the BNSF conductor?
I have the first article but not the second one.
It was the September-October 2000 issues.

Matt
"There is nothing in life that compares with running a locomotive at 80-plus mph with the windows open, the traction motors screaming, the air horns fighting the rush of incoming air to make any sound at all, automobiles on adjacent highways trying and failing to catch up with you, and the unmistakable presence of raw power. You ride with fear in the pit of your stomach knowing you do not really have control of this beast." - D.C. Battle [Trains 10/2002 issue, p74.]
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 5:10 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

csxengr98
MRL pool engineers have no days off. We now have the option of tieing up for 20 hrs rest at the home terminal unless things get really busy when that agreement can be 'suspended'. Extraboard engineers can sign up for up to 4 Requested Days Off (RDO) that are granted on a seniority basis.

BNSF engineers do not have any days off but the run thru pools get more than 40 hrs off between runs, normally. They tried some 7 and 3 extra boards but I think the company has backed out of those.

I work the long pool west on the MRL and usually have 11 or 12 starts in the 15 day pay half. I spend 70 hours per week in the cab and sometimes up to 80 hrs per week in the cab. Extra board engineers commonly do more than that on both the MRL and BNsF.
that sucks... need to come to csx...we get 1 day off a week on the extra board...and now the pools even get an opptinal day off a week...this goes for engineers and conductors....
csx engineer
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Posted by Sterling1 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 5:14 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by csxengineer98

QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

csxengr98
MRL pool engineers have no days off. We now have the option of tieing up for 20 hrs rest at the home terminal unless things get really busy when that agreement can be 'suspended'. Extraboard engineers can sign up for up to 4 Requested Days Off (RDO) that are granted on a seniority basis.

BNSF engineers do not have any days off but the run thru pools get more than 40 hrs off between runs, normally. They tried some 7 and 3 extra boards but I think the company has backed out of those.

I work the long pool west on the MRL and usually have 11 or 12 starts in the 15 day pay half. I spend 70 hours per week in the cab and sometimes up to 80 hrs per week in the cab. Extra board engineers commonly do more than that on both the MRL and BNsF.
that sucks... need to come to csx...we get 1 day off a week on the extra board...and now the pools even get an opptinal day off a week...this goes for engineers and conductors....
csx engineer


Where on the CSX?
How much senority or is it on the regular board?
"There is nothing in life that compares with running a locomotive at 80-plus mph with the windows open, the traction motors screaming, the air horns fighting the rush of incoming air to make any sound at all, automobiles on adjacent highways trying and failing to catch up with you, and the unmistakable presence of raw power. You ride with fear in the pit of your stomach knowing you do not really have control of this beast." - D.C. Battle [Trains 10/2002 issue, p74.]
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 5:27 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Sterling1

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxengineer98

QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

csxengr98
MRL pool engineers have no days off. We now have the option of tieing up for 20 hrs rest at the home terminal unless things get really busy when that agreement can be 'suspended'. Extraboard engineers can sign up for up to 4 Requested Days Off (RDO) that are granted on a seniority basis.

BNSF engineers do not have any days off but the run thru pools get more than 40 hrs off between runs, normally. They tried some 7 and 3 extra boards but I think the company has backed out of those.

I work the long pool west on the MRL and usually have 11 or 12 starts in the 15 day pay half. I spend 70 hours per week in the cab and sometimes up to 80 hrs per week in the cab. Extra board engineers commonly do more than that on both the MRL and BNsF.
that sucks... need to come to csx...we get 1 day off a week on the extra board...and now the pools even get an opptinal day off a week...this goes for engineers and conductors....
csx engineer


Where on the CSX?
How much senority or is it on the regular board?
where i work..its eveywhere now...but when i hired out..the off days where extra board and yard jobs only....but in the past 2 years..pool turns have had off days added to them....but like i said...the off day in the pool is opptinal....
senority plays into it for bumping for the day off....
csx engineer
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Posted by 2059 on Saturday, April 2, 2005 10:49 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Overmod

2059: start here, and she'll redirect you as appropriate --

Diana Peyton
Metra
Office of Human Resources
547 W. Jackson
Chicago,  IL  60661
Fax:  312-322-8937
Email:  dpeyton@metrarr.com




Thanks for the info, it helps a bunch. I'll contact them soon to get some info. [:)]
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 3, 2005 5:49 AM
Much like what csx_engineer says, the freight pools in Danville have off days for the conductors, but not the engineers. This has caused a problem because we are regularly short on engineers. Since they don't have a regular off day to rely on they work all the time. Eventually even the most dedicated workers run out of steam and end up taking personal days or vacation days, or just plain lay off sick just to get some sleep. Just about every engineer at Danville takes 10 for 12 because they know they'll be called in twelve almost every time. I'm going to Indy tomorrow to start qualifying and the freight pools there are managed much better. The money isn't as good, and there are no off days, but the pools are so large that once someone gets home they are usually at home for at least 24 hours before they are out again. Increased or decreased train traffic can change the time at home; as usual nothing remains constant on the RR.
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Posted by Rodney Beck on Sunday, April 3, 2005 8:04 AM
On the BNSF the engineers extra boards have a 7&3 rest cycle which means we work 7 days and are off 3. We on BNSF are running out of engineers & conductors if it wasn't for the 7&3 I would have ran out of steam. Being the baby engineer and getting called to get on a train every 8 hours to go to Chicago hopeing to get held out for a couple hours to get a nap.

Rodney
Locomotive engineer

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