Railroad Workers

[Anonymous]

Is there anyone out there that works for the railroad, that wouldnt mind sharing their
stories. I plan on working for the railroad next year, but i have been hearing lots of negatives about it. I plan on becoming a conductor for NS, but i heard you have to pay for your own training, plus take a pysical test, and go out of state for training, and take math tests, engli***ests. AAHH can someone help me please.

[Anonymous]

i am also interested in this, workin for ns. Lucky for me, the training facility is about 30 minutes from me, so no out of state.

[heavyd]

I have been into trains all my life. I finally achieved my goal of becoming a conductor. The job was very different from what I thought it would be like. There was alot more rules and regulations. As time went on the level of anxiety and stress went up, and enjoyment went down - big time! I never felt that "at home". The job was just a job, hardly ever "fun". Overall my dream job turned into a nightmare. I hope my experience was unique. There are alot of people out there who love railroading. I truely feel I got a raw deal and an unfair first look at the job. Most of my problems were related to bad training. The area that I trained in was very unfriendly to new people and trainees. It was like we just weren't worth their time, (the crews we trained with). There was plenty to know about your paper work and computer work, nothing really taught in class, nothing in books for us. We pretty much just has to listen and watch to who ever we worked with. Some conductors were terrible teachers. The terminal I hired at was very busy and behind! We were in a ru***o get qualified, so there wasn't time for extra training. There were also issues with were we could and couldn't work after! That story had changed signifcantly from the interview to first day in class! In the end I ended up resigning. I wanted to work for the railroad, but not like that. I didn't mind working odd hours or being on call. This is a very demanding job, you need to know what you are doing out there!!! I felt the training was totally inadequate. When I go to work, I want to know exactly what I am doing, no guessing or figuring out along the way. That is how people get hurt and killed. This is my story, there are many many other. Keep asking until you are satisfied. Don't give up one life to start another with the railroad only to be turned off by one negative surprize after the other!!!

[AlcoRS11Nut]

I worked for the railroad for about a month, there is a reason for it. To be bluntly honest.....I couldn't mentally handle it. Because of stuff that happened in the past, fears (that I had to go to counseling for) came back. Because I didn't wanna go back to counseling I quit. I actually liked my job...however, I did not see my self doing it 30 years from then ( I am 18). The money as a BIT (Brakeman In Training) is good (to a kid just out of High School). As far as paying for training I heard that the only RR that pays YOU for it is Union Pacific (thats the one I worked for), all the others you have pay out of your pocket, and if any of the other railroad's training courses are like UP's.......they will cram so much stuff in your heads that you don't remember most of it cause that move through so fast, and your expected to pass with 100% on all tests, eventhough 85% is required. Eventhough I did like it....I can honestly say......It was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED, and YOUR IN FOR A RUDE AWAKENING. Another thing, going into training, I know I didn't really know all that much about railroading, but really.......I might as well have known nothing....the only thing it helped me on was identifying cars for Haz-mat training. GOOD LUCK.....you'll need it. (sorry for the dooms-day out look)

[csxengineer98]

i have been on the rails for 7 years now... the job has good points and bad points... just like any job... the job isnt that physicly demanding..but mentaly it is stressfull... the hardest part of the job is haveing no life outside of railroading...if you are stuck working an extra board..and even most pool turns..you never know for sure when you are going to work..or when you will be home..so planing things outside of work is alot of times hard..and you do miss alot of things outside of work becouse you might be sitting at a hotel at the other end of the road waiting for a train to take home or be stuck on a train working.... the only jobs that you know when your comeing and going are yard jobs and scheduled locals... but you have to have some senoirty to hold them reguler... also the longer it takes for you to get on the railroad..the lower on the senority roster and the more you will be bumped around and you will be one of the first to be ferlowed when the railroad starts to lay off people... getting hired on is all about timeing... some terminals have a higher number of older employees that might retire in a few years...if this is the case..your first few years might be tough..but as the older employees start to retire..youll move up on the roster and be able to hold better and better jobs....now if you get hired on and the terminal is already full of newer highers...odds are your going to have a hard time for alot longer...since the employees that are newer wont be retering anytime soon..so its going to take longer if ever for you to be able to hold good jobs...
hope this helps alittle...feel free to ask more questions...ill do my best to help
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

I have worked for two class one railroads in the past seven years. I am someone that loves my job and living my dream. Snice i was a little boy i have always wanted to work for the railroad. I cant speak for the ns but the two railroads i worked for there where no test on english or math. You will have to take a physical and a drug test. They will check your medical records to make sure you are healthly and you have a good back. If you have ever had to go to a hospital for back trouble you will not get a job with the railroad. I know this for a fact. When it comes to your training, yea you might have to go out of state for a couple of weeks. According to the utu national agreement the railroad is required to give you 15 weeks of trainning. Depending on how the ns works they may require you to travel to the headquaters to get your trainning, or they might fly a instructor to your location to do the required teaching that you will need. But if you have to go out of state it will only be for a couple of weeks and not for the full 15 weeks That is what the bnsf is currently doing. So far as you trainning will go, it will be very difficult. You will get what you put into your trainning. The job at first is quit overwhelming, but know this everybody that works for the railroad has gone through the trainning process and has had to deal with the difficultly that any new hire has had to deal with.
I love my job, it is great! My job is the best thing that has ever happened to me! If you would like to ask me any questions email me at [e-mail]

[edblysard]

Man, they pay me to do this!

But it wasn’t quite what I expected.
As CSXengineer said, it isn’t the physical work, but the mental work out...you have to really want to do this, and keep you head cut in...All it takes is a moment’s inattention and things go bad quick.
We don’t ride around waving at the girls at the crossings...well, sometimes...

I think what happens a lot to the new guys is that they allow the job to work them, instead of them working the job...you can let this stuff overwhelm you, and your best bet is to be up front with those who will train you, tell them out right your not going to let them slack off on teaching you...

If you can make it past your training period, well, the first two weeks on the job and you will know if this is something you will want to do for the rest of your life.

Pay is good, hours are horrible, but once you figure it out, the people you work with and the pleasure of doing something you like for a living make it all worth while.

I left a State job, with an office, state car, expense account and a secretary to do this, and I don’t miss any of it at all...

Ed

[Anonymous]

not that it is my thread, but to me, its worth a shot, im 21, if i dont like it, i can quit, and go to school, or figure out what i want to do. I would rather be able to say "i love my job" or "i tried it, i didnt like it" than "i wonder what would have happened."

thanks for all the info guys.

[heavyd]

I would love to have a second try at it. Now that I know what to expect I would be more prepared. Like edblysard said, don't let the job run you, because it will run you into the ground. Also, take the most information you can out of the crews you work with. My problem was letting the job get to me right off the bat and just taking what was given to me as I was training. That information just wasnt enough. I needed to make alot more notes, ask more questions and when the crew I work with wasn't training me enough I should have asked to be reassigned! Don't be afraid to ask for help or more time to train! I was lucky as I didn't have to pay for the training, but that is starting to change. Those college programs up here in Canada are few in numbers and low in students. The proprams are misleading. When you graduate you are "rules qualified" not "conductor qualified"! You still need to have some training for that. Honestly I can't see regular people, (non-railfans), spending $10,000+ just to have schooling for this career.

[coborn35]

$10,000!!!!!! It cant be that high???

[SID6FIVE]

yep...can be...figure about $5-6000 for the schooling,plus cost of living while you're in school,plus all the bills,mortgage,health insurance,etc that you gotta keep paying also...another reason is that I live in Minneapolis and school was in Kansas City,Ks...so I had the hotel bill as well...so far I'd hafta say it's been worth it...

[Rodney Beck]

3 years now and I work as an engineer. Pay attention to csx as most of the time the work is at night after being up all day, and to ed I still can not belive they pay me to do this. I worked in a steel mill for 6 years before comeing to the railroad.

Rodney

[heavyd]

Conductor program at George Brown college in Toronto is $8500!!! That is just tuition. You can spend another $10000 easily for residence and living expenses! This program is NOT eligible for OSAP funding, (government loans)! I understand that we all need to eat and make a living. But seriously I can't believe anyone who is not into trains would go through one of these courses to "maybe" get a job as a RR conductor and put with the hours and working conditions and so on!

[Anonymous]

Been on the rr for seven yrs. Prior to that I worked in a KS flour mill for 17 yrs which was a dirty, noisy, flithly, labor intense , miserable job that went on seven days a wk with hardly any days off. I don't really like the rr as there is always silly, changing rules and regulations, miserable hours, going to work tired most of the time and having to put up w/management bs. The good side is that the work is not physically demanding, you spend most of the time sitting down and the pay for the work performed is quite well. However, the most attracting segement of rr emloyment is not mainly the wages but the retirement. It is second to none. My goal is to retire at the earliest possible time, I put 25% into the 401k, spend my money wisely and hope to be out of the rr in just 18-20 yrs from now at age 60-62. I will not work past age 62. Period. This is what keeps me going and the reason for working on the rr--early retirement

[UP_North]

"They pay me to do this" is exactly how I view my job. I've worked for the UP for a few years now and still love going to work. With the hiring spree that has been going on for the last 2 years I only work about every other day. I get payed 67,000 a year to work 15 days a month. As far as a physically demanding job, it isnt. It is only as mentally challenging and stressful as I let it get. The secret is to take it one step at a time. If you think about every thing that you have to do and know all at once it can be a little overwhelming, but if you break it down it's fairly simple. On many occasions the hardest part of my day is just finding my engines so i can start working.
So if your serious about trying it, go for it. and then you can figure out for yourself whether or not it's the right job for you.

[ValleyX]

NS will pay you to train but you will have to go to McDonough, GA (about halfway between Atlanta and Macon) two separate times during your training period for classroom training. I can't answer any questions about testing before being hired, I've been doing this for a long time and there wasn't any of that when I started. As for the other comments, pay attention to edblysard and csx because they're both speaking from experience. If you work the road, be prepared and understand full well that you will be sacrificing a portion of your life for money, for the job requires nothing less. You won't be able to make every little social event that comes up. You won't live a normal life, you'll live a railroad life and there's a big difference. You either learn to live with it or you don't last long.

[csxengineer98]

i spent about 10k on my schooling..about 5k for the 5 week training class.. and another 5k between hotel rooms for 5 weeks.. food..gas.. beer... and other things.... that isnt counting the bills that where still being run up at my house when i was gone.. (utilities..ext).... and then on top of that 10k... around another 2k for amtrak tickets from pittsburgh to philly and back evey weekend.... it is expensive... and to help on living expences get roomates from the class... but i made back what i spent in my first 3 months of training...pluse some ..since the job i was working befor i went to choo choo U was paying me slave wages anyways...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

Going on six years now, and I still remember my first five minutes on the job. The superintendant sat me down and said, "You're either going to love to railroad, or you are going to hate it. There is no in between. You will not grow to love it, and if you do love it, that love will never go away."

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rgemd

Going on six years now, and I still remember my first five minutes on the job. The superintendant sat me down and said, "You're either going to love to railroad, or you are going to hate it. There is no in between. You will not grow to love it, and if you do love it, that love will never go away."

lol... the first part is true...the last part as far as the love never going away...now that is BS..lol... i didnt want to scare you off in the first 5 mins...lol

csx engineer

[Anonymous]

I have heard that some Eastern Railroads make trainees pay for their training , but I did'nt believe it until now...REALLY....Good Grief,....,BNSF paid ME $698 a week during training for 16 weeks,even paid an extra week for Hostler training.,They paid me to learn to operate Locomotives...And you are HAPPY with your railroad job ??? If they treat you like that in the beginning,what's NEXT.................

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxengineer98

i spent about 10k on my schooling..about 5k for the 5 week training class.. and another 5k between hotel rooms for 5 weeks.. food..gas.. beer... and other things.... that isnt counting the bills that where still being run up at my house when i was gone.. (utilities..ext).... and then on top of that 10k... around another 2k for amtrak tickets from pittsburgh to philly and back evey weekend.... it is expensive... and to help on living expences get roomates from the class... but i made back what i spent in my first 3 months of training...pluse some ..since the job i was working befor i went to choo choo U was paying me slave wages anyways...
csx engineer

See below post by BNSF employee Teamdon....

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by teamdon

I have heard that some Eastern Railroads make trainees pay for their training , but I did'nt believe it until now...REALLY....Good Grief,....,BNSF paid ME $698 a week during training for 16 weeks,even paid an extra week for Hostler training.,They paid me to learn to operate Locomotives...And you are HAPPY with your railroad job ??? If they treat you like that in the beginning,what's NEXT.................

no... csx dose not make you pay for training...they make you pay for the 5 weeks of book of rules class that comes befor training... once you pass the classes... and pass the pre-hire physical and drug screen....fill out an aplication..and get an interview...and this is all after you are in the school..you ARENOT 100% garrenteed a job when its all said and done.... THEN...and only then...are you an employee of CSX...and ONLY then... will you start the actual training ....and then start to draw a training saleary.....and then csx lets the job weed them out.... and this is how csx is doing it for the most part..they still some hirinig off the street..but not as much since the college progames have come into being... evey railroad dose thier hireing differnt... and this is how csx wants to do the majority of its hiring.....
csx engineer

[Rodney Beck]

The BNSF hiers now on their web site, after Maytag closed here some went to the narrs program that BNSF made them pay for it.

Rodney

[wabash1]

the NS is free training you are in a motel while training with free food its all free. the key is to get hired