Let me tell you a little about myself.
I am 29 years old, married, and I have a 2 year old daughter. I work at a Ford plant in Kansas City Missouri. I work nights, and no weekends. In the past we have worked alot of overtime, and Saturdays. (working weekends is not that big of a deal for me) Ford has announced that they are offering buyouts to all of the employees. I am thinking about taking one of them and going to NARS (the training acadamy for BNSF) to take the conductor class. I dont have very much seniority at Ford, just under 5 years, so I dont think I will make it if they have a massive lay off.
I dont know what to do. My Stepdad is a locomotive engineer for Amtrac in KC and about 9 years ago he was telling me about the Conductor course at the College. It was a 2 year degree in Railroad Operations. After a year of Math, English, Ethics, and a Logic class and no railroad classes I dropped out and got another job. To make a long story short, I found out that they have shortned the class to just 6 weeks long now. Now with my future with Ford in jepordy I am just looking at my options.
The pay is just about the same as I make now, but the hours are really different. Can a family man survive working on the railroad?
Is the schedule that a conductor has the same as the engineer?
How long does it take a conductor to make engineer?
I know I have some wierd questions, but I am really at a major crossroad in my life that will affect the way I live for a long time. When I hired on at Ford my plan was to get my 30 years in and retire, and thats going to change I think. How does the future of the railroad look? I hope it looks better than the auto industry.
Thanks for taking the time to read. Buy Union and Buy American!
Larry Affolter
Not a railroader. Railroad brat instead. Long story short - future of railroads looks good. Hours are different and therein lies the crux. Can the family survive? Not home for birthdays, holidays, special occasions and no set schedule if you are on the road. If you are in the yards, a pay cut but better for families.
The gentlemen on here can give you a more fine tuned picture, but I can tell you that families survive, but they darn well better be willing to sacrifice and be very broad-minded about the railroad! Do it because you really love the job and want to work there, not for the $. It is a whole different animal.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Clarry,
I agree with Mookie,Its not a 9-5 job..Its a 7/12 job..It takes a long time to get in a postion where you can choose the hrs you want to work or the job you want if you dont want train service..If you have some college,if I were you I would hire on in train service and work my way up to a jr.mgnmt postion..BNSF is hiring people for those postions off the street if you have a degree,but some of them require long hrs and very little time off..MOW and Bridge gangs make pretty good $ because they work a lot of O/T..My son works for them and he has a job as long as he's able to get up and go to it...BNSF an UP both will retire about 5000 people ea.this year If you want a job now is the time to apply..Senority is everything in the RR unless you are corporate mgnmt...Pray about it if you a praying man...God Bless You and your family...Danny
PS I suggest you check out UP/BNSF's websites and see whats avail.that you may be interested in ..They will call you for an interview or testing..You can ask all the questions you like at that time
I agree with the Mookie and the videomaker...
It is not a job for homebodies…you will miss birthdays, Christmas, and just about every event others get to enjoy.
If you start in T&E service, be prepared to work the extra board for a few years…you will be at the beck and call of the carrier 24/7/365.
Money is good, hours suck, and your wife needs to be prepared to do all the home stuff…get the kids to and from school, go to all the plays and shows with just herself and the kids…and she has to be prepared for you to get up in the middle of dinner and go to work.
Be ready to work you fanny off.
Physically, it is not a “hard” job other than having to work out in the weather, you tie hand brakes, walk a lot, and line switches, but it requires a lot of mental work, you have to plan your job several moves in advance.
The plus side is if railroading is your cup of tea, you will love it from the first week.
If you decide to work your way up to management, remember they are often salaried positions, so at the junior level, the hours suck again, and the pay stays the same, no overtime.
The plus side is after five years, your vested in the company profit sharing, so…
Either way, the career, and the culture are nothing like what you had at Ford, or out in the real world.
It requires a choice on your part to commit yourself to a lifetime of work that can be both frustrating and pure hell one day, or absolute joy and wonder the next.
Like me, if you decide that being home is more important that the money, after you get a few whiskers, you can hold a yard job with fixed hours, but the pay isn’t as good as a road crews.
And remember, seniority is the key….the longer you have been there, the more choices on jobs you have.
Decide now, because every day you wait, a few more guys get time in on you.
If you do decide this is what you want to do, go into it with a open mind…the industry is changing quite quickly.
Ed
23 17 46 11
I'm a third generation railroader.
I hired on the SP in 1996 (just in time).
Before coming on active duty with the National Guard I would have cussed the carrier, but since 2004 they have been paying my difference in pay, providing medical coverage, and basically taking care of my family where the military would not have.
They do a lot of underhanded things, such as not following agreements, screwing up pay, or calling you off your assigned board. Yeah, you gonna work a lot! Nights, Weekends, and Holidays, doesn't matter. If your daughter's birthday is coming up, simply lay-off and mark up afterwards. Your gonna miss some soccer games, but if there is something that I have to be home for, I will be.
It is a life style change for you and your family. Your wife will have to get used to doing things that you would normally do. She'll just have to be flexible. And I guess so will you.
I know you said your dad is a hog head so you know some of the BS, but working for common carrier is a lot different as there are no schedules.
You and your wife should discuss this, and then make an informed decision.
Ask yourself how strong is your marriage? Can your wife handle stuff on her own? Can she stand you being gone for 36-40hrs at a time then home for 8-10hrs and gone again? It won't be like that all the time, but come hunting season, major holidays, etc, you as an extra board employee will be working like that. There are a high percentage of railroaders who are divorced at least once in their career.
Right now the major carriers have decent benifits. Health insurance will cost you aprox $130 per month this year and is sure to go up every year.
The railroad is the best job you will ever learn to hate.
If you want to work for UP or BNSF, forget the college--apply now! I understand UP has been wooing Ford employees in some locations.
I'm a 35-year railroad employee, and do all right. And I've meen married (to the same woman!) for 33 of those 35 years. I was lucky to get a job that doesn't work much more than a 40-hour week. Sometimes the schedule can get pretty strange, and I've had to endure some time on strange shifts until my seniority improved. As long as there's even one person above you, there could be complications (I say that from experience--I'm waiting for Number One to take his pension by the end of the year).
As Mookie said a long time ago, as soon as they hire you, they start looking for ways to fire you. Or so it seems.
Be ready to deal with the strange hours, and trying to sleep while the rest of the family is living during normal hours. Again, we were lucky--I was often able to work evenings, and be home with the kids while my wife worked. We got by with one car and no babysitters!
They will give you tests for physical endurance, a few aptitude tests, and the drug test. They'll also look into driving records, criminal records, and a few other things that I never knew existed. UP screens its applicants pretty thoroughly; I was told that about one applicant in twelve is hired.
I looked at the railroad for work because I was a railfan. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones--I still am a railfan!
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
I've been a railroader for 8 years and a 3rd generation Conrail man. - Conductor, RCO Operatior, Training Conductor/RCO Operation, Yardmaster, and Trainmaster. Philadelphia is notoriously slow at promoting Engineers, so I haven't gotten my Engineer ticket yet. And now that I'm management, I probably won't.
It's a tough life. I've missed countless Birthdays, Thanksgivings, and Chirstmases. I've had rocks thrown at me, and been shot at. I've walked trains, in the dead of night, blazing sun, pouring rain, and driving snow. I've seen 2 co-worked injured so badly, they can't return to work. 10 others had time-loss injuries, but have returned to work. And worst of all, I've buried one co-work killed on the job.
There have been months that I haven't seen my wife more then a few hours. There have also been months when work was slow, I saw TOO much of her.
It is a strain on the family, especially at the beginning. I know many divorced co-workers. On the other hand, I have also have many co-workers that have life-long marriages.
I've also made a lot of money. For the most part, I work with a great bunch of guys, who when the chips are down, will give you the shirt off thier back. We really are a family. And there's nothing like the feeling of seeing the little kids waving as you go by.
Be wary of your reputation. Railroaders gossip worse then old women. Not everyone will know your face, but everyone, and I mean everyone will know your reputation.
You don't have to kiss the Yardmasters, Trainmasters, and Dispatchers tooshies. But being on good terms with them can prevent a lot of headaches.
Know your rules and union agreement. And know what the jobs do. If you don't know, don't be afraid to ask questions. Better to look stupid by for asked the question, then to do something really stupid, because you didn't know and didn't ask.
Oh and the higher up you get promoted, the more BS there is to deal with.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
On todays BLET website there is a news article about UP and Ford workers. It may (or may not) be of interest to you. Go to www.BLE.org, then to daily news.
If you would happen to end up working for the BNSF in KC area there is a chance that you could spent a great deal of time on yard jobs because of Argentine yard. However, on CP for example, the yard jobs are the jobs of choice (as was passenger when I started railroading) due to fixed starting times and assigned days off.
Whatever your decision is: GOOD LUCK!
Go for it I have been with BNSF for about 5 years now, I got in the engine program with almost 3 years of service I presently work as a engineer now. Here is a few things that you must ask yourself, is your family supportive, are you willing to work some strange hours with the phone ringing at all hours of the day and night being that you will only get to work extra boards for awhile until you get some whiskers under you that means having to go to work at a drop of the hat it is hard to plan things, I will make make about 75,000 this year the money is good. Keep looking after the first of the year BNSF plans to hire more people, another thing that you can also do is look into the railroad training program at JCCC in Overland Park Ks we hire a lot from that class.
Rodney
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I like it,but I also know that you can layoff. I have never had a problem amking doctors appt's or special days with the family. Its called PLD days LOP and LOS. I dont abuse the system but if Ihave to be somewhere on a certain date I am going to be there. Hell I spent a holiday on the road no big deal. I have spent more on the road as a truck driver than I have here.
In regards to a regular job I actually have set hours and only been here a year. Will it last? Nope but I can go back to the extra list ( one I like anyway) and run from there for a bit. Thats the great thing about here you can float around.
Its up to you. If you dont come out here youll never know but if you do and dont like it, get out fast! Dont be like the bitter smurfs who are going to be above you who just female dog everyday. It brings those of us down who like to have fun.Also watch the gossip if you do come out here. It tends to make bad feelings ( but like our TM buddy up above says worse than old ladies, I think old ladies take offence to being compared to gossip RR's)
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
Hi Larry
May I suggest looking into the NS's hiring system if there's a location close to you to work.You will need to go online and place an online resume.It's about the only way the NS hires now.And you get paid to go to their school and not paying to goto school,to maybe not get a job.I know two people where I work at on the NS that never got a job with the CSX after going to CSX's school.
You will as mentioned,miss a lot of family,school functions.You will have some job security since more and more items are going to rail because of the economy.You will have a good retirement,and you would be pefect age for the 30/60 retirement.
I've worked for a little over 15 years on the NS now,and I won't lie,at times I hate it.But there's times you can make all the money you want.
I've also had to go 125 miles to hold a job,but for the last 13 years have gotten to stay in one place.
I know on the route I work (Pocahontas Division) the Ford closings have already eleminated two trains,the 184 east and the 277 west.After the first of the year I'm hearing the 274 east will also stop running.So that's things to consider about your current employement.Does your senority look to be good enough to keep a job where your at ?
I'm fourth generation railroader,and realize that there's downturns in the railroad industry,but all generations ahead of me worked a lifetime on the railroad.
So your the only one (besides your wifes input) that can deside this.But weigh all the good and bad and see what side comes out on top.
But check out those schools policies on job placement and if you pay up front or out of your paychecks once you get placed.
Good luck Larry !
Collin ,operator of the " Eastern Kentucky & Ohio R.R."
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