ANTI"BUFF"? WHY?

[Anonymous]

I tried to hire-on...see earlier reply this am.

[BRAKIE]

LOL,CNphantom,Old buddy,what makes you think it was any better when I last work on the railroad in 85,compared to now? What you just said rings true for those days.The main difference that I can see we had 4 men crews while today there's 2 men crews,and the pay today is better then it was back then,and most of the younger railroaders whine about working the odd hours,holidays and ect today as they did back then..Todays railroads are safer then when I frist went railroading on the old PRR,it was a little more safer when I worked on the Chessie.The truth of the matter is railroading is not for everybody.Sure one maybe a train buff and thinks it would be cool to work on the rails,but,the illusion fades after the frist few weeks.Sure most railroaders love their jobs,love talking about it and are train buffs,I know I did and am still a train nut.Heck if I was young again I would return to railroading in a heart beat.
To those that are thinking about going to the rails for a job,I say go for it! You just might love it! Remember,you can always pull the big pin if you don't.Nobody will stop you.So,go for it!
To those working for the railroads now and don't like it,I say pull the big pin and find other work.But,do you really want to? Something is keeping you there right? Think about it! I am sure it will be more then just the pay.

[Anonymous]

Barry, I think that most Railroads would rather hire a bum on the street with no life or education then hire a buff or foamer. I plan on working for BNSF when i get out of highschool and I am going to deny that I like trains and I'm intrested in them. Doesn't make since to me.

[Anonymous]

I believe that was the case in my experience.I was born with a love for trains. A few years ago I decided I should get paid for hanging around trains,so I attended a NS orientation for conductors.I had a successful and stable work history,attended college for two years and was/am very physically fit.On the application was a question:why are you applying? "love of railroading" was my response. Coincidence that I didn't make the first cut? I was pissed off and in serious disbelief.If I do it again,I'll show up unshaven,wear jeans and a t-shirt,list on my app that I have been fired twice in the last year and tell them the reason I want to work for the railroad is that I need the cash.

[Anonymous]

Barry, most railroaders don't like the "buffs" because they themselves don't like their jobs and can't understand how someone would want to watch trains. The job has changed so much over the last 10 to 15 years, and not for the better. We get less time off to spend at home with the family. Work in all weather conditions, at all hours of the day or night. All of these things breed contempt for the job and all that goes with it. I don't know where you work but, do you need out of work insurance? We do! One mistake could mean your job.

You said you never had a job that anyone wanted except for the pay. give it 6 months on the property and that's all you'll want too, the money. You'll wonder why you ever hired on!

[dknelson]

There are plenty of railroaders who are railfans of a sort, and I suspect they became railfans after they started work
I can certainly understand why the railroads are reluctant to bring in a railfan -- based on the notions of of "us" have about what is trespassing and what isn't, what is private property and what is free for the taking, what is "safe" behavior around trains and what isn't. I am sure there is bias and ignorance at work here, too, as well as a failure to make some distinctions.

[Anonymous]

I think some railfans think it's all pretty good as they are usually trackside when it's nice and sunny and they are tucked up in there beds at night. I've made a lot of friends who are railroaders, dispatchers, engineers & brakemen.
I would say that the dispatchers have got the cushiest job sitting in a room(apologies to any dispatchers reading this)
I've been for cab rides many times and most of them have been great but a few haven't been, sitting in a cab for 2 hours waiting for an opposing train to make it up the grade in the rain, a ten hour run from three in the afternoon to 1am(though that one was fun too!) and having the overhead power go off and having to wait in a quickly chilling cab for it to come back on. I watched brakeman from the comfort(?) of a wooden seat on the depot platform while they switch cars in the pouring rain with a high wind blowing trying to keep their switch list dry.
My father worked for the railway before he got the letter and I remember either listening to him coming home or leaving to go to work when it was pouring with rain or in the middle of winter when the tempeture would be below zero being thankful that I was in bed and not out there. I think why railroads don't like to employ railfans is the majority probably think that it is a cushy job sitting down all day working a few levers back and forth(if you're an engineer).
I have not been employed by the railroad but through my friends and my father I know it's all not fun and games.
Adrian
New Zealand

[Anonymous]

I'm not very clear on the definition of railfan. I'm shure thier are people who take it to rediculus extremes(just as some religion fans do), but I'll bet that most railfans are normal people who like trains. I don't take pictures, steal memorabilia, or bother crews; but I am very interested in how this super-sized equipment works. Railroaders are the "experts" we look to for answers(I'd think they would take pride the value we place on thier opinions, rather than looking down thier noses). I hope my doctor started out as a medicine fan, I hope my mechanic started out as a car fan, and I hope railroaders started out as railfans(I bet most did). How sad it would be if the majority of railroaders chose thier carear by what happened to be available at the job service office rather than pursuing what they realy wanted to do.

[Soo2610]

I have heard from more than one recruiter that if you apply for a railroad job and admit to being a railfan that you have automatically disqualified yourself from being considered for the job. I agree that it doesn't make sense. If you enjoy what you are doing, I would think you would be a good candidate for the job. I know of a number of full time railroad employees who donate their time off to the Illinos Railroad Museum in Union, Illinois to run and restore the equipment. I think that this just shows that they not only enjoy their jobs but are willing to share their experience and knowledge for the enjoyment of the general public on their own time with no compensation other than the sheer enjoyment of doing so. MY hat goes off to these people. They are the best promotional plug that the rail industry has and they aren't costing the industry a penny.

[Anonymous]

Larry:
That makes a lot of sense....I am also sure, now that I think about it, that it woud seem stupid, for example, that I would see a loco in a UP yard and either 1)know what kind it is and have an opinion about it even though I had never been on it or know anything about operating it (see any "EMD vs GE debate) or 2) take the time to look it up on the UP website....after all it is just a tool the real railroader works with....I don't know or care about the specs on the forklifts in the storeroom where I work.....
I guess I can also see someone in a yard drooling over some 4000+ hp monster and not bothering to notice another one bearing down on him.........I am also sure railroading is not always as "cool" and adventurous as it looks, and what is the foamer gonna do when he hires on and finds out that the "cool" EMD is kinda hot and uncomfortable inside, and most of the time your'e not highballing @70 mph but crawling @7?As far as trespassing and vandalism goes, I grew up 200'from RR tracks (Southern) and other than crossing them have never trespassed, hopped a moving or stationary freight, stolen anything etc.I realize that all of those negative issues exist but I just hate that the worst is often assumed with regards to people who admire your profession.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

Is it really true that being a railfan disqualifys one from working on a railroad? I know of several railfans who are employed by the railroads, but I don't know if they admit to being railfans. It seems to me that having some knowledge about the industry you work for is a good thing.

Certainly, a few bad railfans seem to have given the whole railfan fraternity an undeserved bad name.

[BRAKIE]

Barry,There is many reasons why railroads don't like train buffs.I will name some reasons.This is not pretty.
Due to the many bad railfans that trespass on railroads,steal number plates,builders plates,switch stands (from years gone by) juction signs,whistle posts,and anything else they can walk off with,has given all rail fans a bad image and a bad taste in the railroads mouth.Can you blame them? The rail fans theirselves does not help the problem.like before NS dropped the steam program,most fans that I have talk to said what a great railroad the NS is.After the NS dropped the steam program whice it was their sole right to do,these vary same rail fans started bad mouthing NS and still does today.
One of the reasons railroads shunn hiring train buffs is many fold.I think the main reason is safety.They think you will be looking at other things and not be paying attention to your work and get hurt or killed.Very easy to do if you are not focus on your work at hand.
Now,I did work on the railroads (PRR and Chessie) I just forgot to tell them I was a train buff.They didn't ask,so I did not tell!
Now,durning the years I worked on the railroads,I did not railfan on the job as it is much to dangerous to do so..

[Anonymous]

I'm just curious..........it seems that railroaders have a resentment toward raifans, "buffs", "foamers", or whatever you want to call us.
I don't understand why, exactly, that an individual seeking employment with a railroad who has a real interest in trains and railroading would actually have that count against him or her; in most other professions, job seekers who want a career for more than "just the money" have something of an "inside track" (pardon the pun)than the others who are only interested in the pay, benefits and perks.I also don't get you railroaders who seem to look down on us for actually ADMIRING what you guys do for a living! I've never had a job that anybody wanted except for the pay--I'd like to know how the other half lives, to be honest.