Working from the extra board

[csxengineer98]

you are garrenteed nothing on an extra board long the lines of how much you will work... i have worked the boards for years... sometimes i have worked every 8 to 10 hours..getting out on my rest... the thier have been other times where i would sit at home for days at a time..and only make 3 trips in a week... extra boards are way to hard to predict as far as how much work you will get... they are always a crapshoot... way to many factors in to figering out how much or how little you will work....
csx engineer

[edblysard]

Depends, if you want to work you fanny off...and make a good living.
But, when it dies off, it still works on the last hired, first fired basis...

If you can afford to try, then do it, you will learn a lot more than you could imagine.

Ed

[Anonymous]

Well,thanks.....

The news is,....During the proceedings today, I survived both rounds of "cuts", out of the original 65 to show up for the session, I was one of the 12 to be asked to stay for a personal interview.... And was told I should know by 5PM tuesday if I'm going to get a conditional offer for employment.. One thing they mentioned, is that they plan to work me to death, if I get hired,.....predicting 10 "turns" for every 7 days,...just based upon the way things are right now...


So guys,....here's where I need your advice.....do I "want" this job?

I need to go back to work and do something.....And I know it will be a grind ,...but, isn't this supposed to be the foamers "dream job"? The one they always want, but never can get? or am I the one who is dreaming here?

[ValleyX]

No, Gates, you just don't really have a clue about it, they won't be contemplating time-and-a-half when they call you to protect other folks vacancies, unless you're called after eight hours rest for a second tour of duty on a yard engine, within 22 1/2 hours. More likely, you'd be on a road extra board, as was said above, either it "spins" or it dies on the vine, sometimes they reach a happy medium but I think that's rare. Extra boards are "spinning" now but the day will come that they won't.

The idea of the extra board is to protect vacancies when the regular people lay, or "mark" off. But by regular people, that doesn't mean they have regular work assignments when in road service, it only means that they hold a regular pool assignment within the pool rotation and are subject to the same uncertainties of when they're exactly going to work as an extra man, with the exception that they're guaranteed to get called sooner or later, an extra man usually has to wait for someone to mark off.

There are locals that have regular calling times but the off duty time varies, they're usually jobs that fill a full shift of 12 hours.

Norfolk Southern does not guarantee trainmens' extra boards, however most engineer extra boards are guaranteed. As for a "half", pay runs by the half, it used to be half a month but went to two week pay periods a good number of years ago. The term 'half' lingers, however.

[jeaton]

From all that I have heard over many years, conditions vary from board to board and you probably won't get a clear picture of your situation until you have been marked up for a while. I'd bet lunch that asking around during training would get you two responses: Way too much work AND hardly enough work to buy groceries. Good luck.

Jay

PS Did you ever get your used rail ties? email me.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

The life you have is NOT your own.

I recognize the golden value of that advice. But, as a former salaried management "slave", the feeling will not be all that foreign....and ....at least they'll have to contemplate time and a half before calling me in to work other peoples shifts on top of my own.....

[Anonymous]

A note from an extra board survivor..many times over. When I first went to work on the CNW, in the summer of '69, I was on the Wisconsin Division extra board. It was road freight only, and one could never predict when they'd be called. The division was brakeman starved, so we would generaly "get out on our rest." Meaning as soon as your 8 hours rest was fullfilled, you were back on parade. "The board is spinning," was the phrase used. But as soon as men came back from vacation, things would slow down. You would tie up, at the end of a trip and be old, "You're 10 times out, nothin' showing." Meaning 9 guys ahead of you, and no vacancies to be filled. So a whole day goes by and you call the caller. "7 times out, with a pool job showing later today," he'd say. So you'd go out for a while, come back and call again. "I was trying to get you, you're called for 295, 9pm at the ramp." Bingo...Just when you thought you'd have another nigt's sleep, you were off. Upon return you'd be told, "Better stick around, I only have 2 men rested." And you'd sit for 3 days before being called.
Yes...If you're not on a gaurantee board (one that pays you just for staying marked up) you may get as little as 20 hours work in a half. But it's rare. That would be only one trip in 2 weeks. I've seen it bad, but never that bad. They'd just "furlough" you.
The Milwaukee board on the Milwaukee Road was better, especially after I was promoted to conductor. You could work down to Chicago, west to Portage, over to Savanah, and up to Green Bay, with a delicious assortment of local patrols to work, and, as an added bonus, all the Fox Lake suburban, and Amtrak passenger jobs. There was a time when we could only get 3 days a week out of all that.
The South Shore Line's engineer's extra list was good. Gauranteed, and with the variety of flagman's, collectors', conductors',and engineers' jobs to be called for. Sometimes punching tickets, sometimes punching automobile bumpers on 11th Street.
All Passenger lists are good to work on. If you get along with the caller, you can see what jobs are vacant, you know when they go to work, and sometimes get an "early call" ahead of the standard calling time, and do some errands.
But quite frankly, I would rather have root canal work done than work an extra list today.

Mitch

[mudchicken]

The life you have is NOT your own.

[Anonymous]

$2000 a half guarantee.--

OK, I'm stupid.....what does THAT mean? $2000/half month?

[Anonymous]

I work on a switchmens extra board for the BNSF, we have a $2000 a half guarantee. As long as you stay marked up and on call you'll make a minium of $2000 a half. Right now were working alot more than that, so the gaurantee hasn't been an issue. I couldn't tell you for sure if other railroads have a similar deal or not though.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP173

Anti:

Is that in Ft. Wayne that NS is hiring?

Listening in on the NS it seems as if they are short on crews.

good luck

ed

Yup,...now for the totally off the wall part.... I'm gonna go apply, just to see what happens....

Yanno? I'm single, travel and odd hours wouldn't be the killer it would be for a family man,....Thought I'd give ot a try...[:D]


The ad has been in the paper all week, and I started the week by laughing at the ad,...now I've turned around on the whole thing enough to give it a whirl..

What's the worse they could do? say "no"?....With my luck they will accept me,.. That'll teach me..[8D]

[MP173]

Anti:

Is that in Ft. Wayne that NS is hiring?

Listening in on the NS it seems as if they are short on crews.

good luck

ed

[Anonymous]

Well, my curiousity is a simple one..Working for the railroad would be great, as long as you can pay your bills.....but, working 20 hours a week could make ones creditors awfully unhappy

[CSXrules4eva]

Oh this is an interesting question. I honestly would like to know the same. This sounds like a good question to ask CSX when I get hired out. I would think that NS would try to get the new employee out as much as possible to get him/her used to the surroundings and being on call 24/7 given NS's strict repuatation.

[Anonymous]

Norfolk Southern is holding a hiring session for the position of conductor trainee, in my town tomorrow.

I notice from reading at NSCorp website about the position offered , that hours are determined by call from an extra board, and that Employees are not guaranteed 40 hours per week, but are paid for time spent performing train service..

Question: typically, how many hours of service would a newly hired conductor expect to get each week?

Is there a VERY real risk that he might only see 20 hours of work per week, or is this disclaimer mostly a "cover their tail" type thing for NS?