Got What It Takes?

[Kris94]

What do I need to have in order to become an engineer?

 

[cascaderailroad]

Not colorblind, good vision, excellent physical condition, GED's need not apply, College Degree ... Usually a Conductor first (@ $5000 outlay for your own money for an unpaid training course in Georgia)...

 

[oknotsen]

Able to speak the same language as the dispatcher, a healthy understanding of physics.

 

[Euphod]

Lack of desire for any unnecessary quality of life enhancers, such as regular sleep, a wife and family, recreational time, and all of the statements in the posts above or ..... a huge donation to the Union of your choice!

 

[steamboateng]

.............and in the US, a strong bladder, as random pee testing is a DOT requirement.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Also at a job fair there may be 3000 applicants show up, for 3 available jobs.

At employment testing there may be 60 applicants, for 3 available jobs

 

[JCitron]

"... Usually a Conductor first (@ $5000 outlay for your own money for an unpaid training course in Georgia)..."

This is no longer the case if going for CSX or NS. The company that used to do this training went out of business after bilking a lot of money out of would-be students. CSX and NS offer their own training at their own facilities. From what I've read, and have spoken to people about this, is these training courses are quite intense, require a ton of studying, a lot of tests, and a lot of discipline. Safety violations are grounds for an automatic dismissal. One foolish mistake, even fooling around, and you're out with no chance to try again. You get below a certain level on the tests. I think it's 85% on the exams, you're out. All of this can happen on the last day. You could pass all the quizzes and small tests, but flunk the final, and out you go particularly the rulebook and the signal test. You then have to pay your own way home. They'll pay your way down and back from the training facilities if you pass.

After that you go into a trial period, you then go work at the railroad terminal where you were hired, and go for more training later on. If you mess up then, you're out no questions asked. If you then pass everything, you go on to "mark up" and get put on the job boards, which you need to check for assignment. You go in at the lowest level first, get the worst jobs, and you must take them until you work up enough seniority. Marking off time, or not showing up without a reason, means you can get fired if you do this more than once or twice. A railroader's life is hard. There is little time off for holidays, birthdays, and other fun time. You work when you're called, and can be called 24 hrs, 7 days per week when you are on call.

Read the posts here on the CSX and other railroad's hiring process.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=3557428c245d9a5bb887c160a7a15ae0

I will be honest. The job hours and little time off are a lot like working as a computer operator, or system/network administrator. For over 15 years I worked in this aspect of the high-tech industry. For that period, I had no Christmas, Thanksgiving, or New Year's holiday off. While my coworkers went on vacations and spent time away, I was there rebooting servers, backing things up and replacing worn out parts. The reason is we had to work because the systems had to remain operation 24 x 7 365 days per year. We used the holidays to perform maintenance on the systems while the users were not there. We also ended up working Friday nights, other evenings and weekends to ensure systems were up and running the next day should a system need a PM (preventative maintenance) done. While everyone was out having fun on Friday, I was there rebooting servers, upgrading antivirus patches, and doing OS patches. All of this could not be done while the users were on the system because the systems could not be down while they were in the office.

John

 

[masterowner]

Being an engineer? Really? This has been brought up before, don't... Just don't, please...

 

[wholbr]

Hi Everybody.
As stated,working in the transport industry in any part of the world and in whatever job you do means commencing work at all hours of the day and night and working very long hours every week including weekends.

I have worked in the British road haulage industry since the age of 18 and from the age of 21 was a heavy goods vehicle driver, my dream job at that age. The above was exactly the conditions I worked with until I was over the age of 50. The railway industry in Britain has exactly the same working conditions since they were privatised in the 1980s.

Having said all the above, the transport industry can provide employees with much job satisfaction and you will come across and make many good workmates while working those long hours. I left school with very little in the way of qualifications and improved my education through the trade union education facilities after me and my wife had raised our three daughters through their education. That would be the advice I would give to anyone manually working in the transport industry " improve your education when you can and work your way up"

I went on to gain my qualifications as a health and safety officer for the industry eventually becoming responsible for eight large distribution centres. I now have my own safety business in the road transport industry and at the age of 68 it is doing well and employing five people. Therefore, if you do wish to work in the road or rail industries believe me the glamour of being a heavy goods driver or rail engineer will soon wear off and therefore you will soon be looking to work your way up to something better.

Remember, in whatever employment position you work with the exception of the top jobs, long hours, stress, and ill-health is the bane of many that work in the industry. Many never reach retirement age due to the foregoing conditions. Just think of that before you take the plunge.

I was one of the lucky ones
Bill

 

[whitepass]

We already have robot trains running so driving a train may not be a job in the next 10-20 years.

 

[oknotsen]

Our whole metro system can be run automaticly. Only reason there is still a driver in them is because the goverment doesnt allow it.

 

[JCitron]

Many of the bigger hump and flat yards use R/C locomotives. The engineer walks along with a giant controller, unhooking cars, and pushing them over the hump. In the old day, this took many people unhooking and driving the switchers.
R/C is also used around smaller switch operations such as around grain silos and processing plants.

John

 

[UPRails834]

Many of the bigger hump and flat yards use R/C locomotives. The engineer walks along with a giant controller...

Engineers do not run R/C locomotives. It is Switchmen and/or Conductors that are controlling R/C locomotives because the duties required (pulling pins, switching, etc.) are their duties.

 

[Truemac]

On US railroads, you don't start out as an engineer. You have to work your way up from brakeman or conductor. Getting through the door is tough. Staying in the room is even tougher.

Here is an article written by an engineer on how to get hired by the railroad. It's a lengthy read, but it tells you everything you could ever want to know about the hiring process. A must-read if the railroad is your planned profession.

http://www.railroad.net/articles/columns/hottimes/hottimes_20060602.php

 

[Kris94]

On US railroads, you don't start out as an engineer. You have to work your way up from brakeman or conductor. Getting through the door is tough. Staying in the room is even tougher.

Here is an article written by an engineer on how to get hired by the railroad. It's a lengthy read, but it tells you everything you could ever want to know about the hiring process. A must-read if the railroad is your planned profession.

http://www.railroad.net/articles/columns/hottimes/hottimes_20060602.php

Why can't you start out as an engineer? BTW the article is pretty long. That's some deep stuff. The really mean it, they don't play around. A lot of things I didn't know about. Well thanks for the backup. Now I can use it to my advantage.

 

[Truemac]

Why can't you start out as an engineer? BTW the article is pretty long. That's some deep stuff. The really mean it, they don't play around. A lot of things I didn't know about. Well thanks for the backup. Now I can use it to my advantage.

The main reason is that being an engineer is a seniority job. You have to show the railroad first that they made a good decision to hire you and that you know what you're doing (which you don't when you first sign on). After a few years as a conductor or brakeman, they'll "ask" you if you want to train for engineer (It's not really "Asking," per se. More like "Do this or you're fired.")

And, yeah, I agree. The article is great. My dad had found it when he was applying to work for UP as a conductor. He got the job, but he left after a couple of years. It's not that he thought the job was hard (He definitely loved the pay), but my dad's a family man. He didn't like the random long hours (or days, in some cases) away from home.

One thing he did tell me was that if you do decide to work for the railroad, do it at a young age. Before you get old and have a wife and kids.

 

[Kris94]

You think I'd fair better CDTX?

 

[Truemac]

Most passenger railroads require you to have worked a certain amount of years as a freight engineer before hiring out for them. Though if you want to punch tickets and get free train rides, that might be a bit easier.

 

[Kris94]

Most passenger railroads require you to have worked a certain amount of years as a freight engineer before hiring out for them. Though if you want to punch tickets and get free train rides, that might be a bit easier.

Well what are the age requirements? I'll try the deep end of the pool. I'm a risk taker

 

[JCitron]

For CSX and NS, it's a two year mandatory engineer "promotion". You start as a conductor, but then have to take the engineer test. If you don't pass the engineer test, you're out.

John