Hello, My name is Anthony. I watch trains on the philadelphia subdivision near Homes, Pennsylavania. I am curious to find out how many people on this forum watch trains along the Philadelphia sub. I also applied to be a freight conductor for CSX and I am only 19 and just graduated high school. I figure I give it a try since I am young. I know that the philadelhia sub is not considered a hot spot but, i do catch alot of train action on Sundays. I am also a dedicated Trains magazine reader. I hope to discuss some topics about the Philadelphia sub in this forum.
Welcome to the forum!
I don’t live anywhere near Pennsylvania (though I have visited there), and I’ve never worked for a railroad outside of a tourist line in Iowa, but I’ve heard from some railroaders it’s not a bad idea to break-in with a short line. It provides valuable experience and you won’t have to be away from home so much. But, when I was 19, I was interested in: Girls, parties, girls, college, in that order, so what do I know?
[#welcome]
go to college or the millitary… get some kind of degree or training in something you can use in a differnt line of work… then try and get onto a carrier… at least have something to fall back on in the way of job skills or education so if you dont like it…you have a way out… dont be like me and get traped…
csx engineer
My advice would be, if you are offered a position /any position/, with a railroad, take it and dont look back!I was 3 years younger than you when i was hired.
You are only trapped by you railroad job if you want to be. The opportunities exist for one to change their career path within the company, if you have the will and develop the skill. There are numerous crossover opportunities to those who desire them.
belive i have been trying to just that… but like i said… you can be traped and i am traped for the time being… i have tried to break into mangement on a few ocations… and put in for the trainmaster training classes they offer…only to be past over time and time agin… i have thought about trying to get aditinal education to advance myself in the company but that presents another large obsticals such as finding the time to attend classes do home work and yet be avalible to work for the railroad at a moments notice… (T&E craft jobs arent exactly condusive to the real world and the college enviroment).the money to pay for the classes…(have to pay them out of pocket or take out masssive loans…dont quifly for any type of tuistion assistance…make to much money)… so yes you can be traped in a job if the higher ups dont consider you to advance… or you cant get the additinal eduction to try and make your resume better to be looked at alittle closer… i stand by my statement befor that anyone wishing to join up with a railroad should go to the millitary or college and get something to fall back on… this job isnt as rossie as it looks trackside…as far as changing crafts… that presents another situation such as a loss of senority… possablity of less pay… riskes of forlow that you might not have in th
[quote user=“csxengineer98”]
belive i have been trying to just that… but like i said… you can be traped and i am traped for the time being… i have tried to break into mangement on a few ocations… and put in for the trainmaster training classes they offer…only to be past over time and time agin… i have thought about trying to get aditinal education to advance myself in the company but that presents another large obsticals such as finding the time to attend classes do home work and yet be avalible to work for the railroad at a moments notice… (T&E craft jobs arent exactly condusive to the real world and the college enviroment).the money to pay for the classes…(have to pay them out of pocket or take out masssive loans…dont quifly for any type of tuistion assistance…make to much money)… so yes you can be traped in a job if the higher ups dont consider you to advance… or you cant get the additinal eduction to try and make your resume better to be looked at alittle closer… i stand by my statement befor that anyone wishing to join up with a railroad should go to the millitary or college and get something to fall back on… this job isnt as rossie as it looks trackside…as far as changing crafts… that presents another situation such as a loss of senority… possablity of less pay… riskes of forlow t
Sorry for posting this dumb topic! Who cares if I do work as a conductor, I was told by someone today that I am young and that is it, being a conductor is a tough job to handle for some people and I may be one of them. Maybe I should listen to you guys and not take the job.
and there you have it…by your own statment… its harder to get ahead and some might never make it in the end… so one CAN be trapped…and that is why i stated above to get something to fall back on so you can get out should you find it not to your likeing…
csx engineer
if you think you can handle being away from home for long periods of time… days in some cases… being away from a girlfriend or child or other family your close to… miss out on parties becouse your stuck at work or laying over in a hotel…and if you do go not being able to drink becouse the phone could ring at any moment to report into work…
the job itself isnt that hard or even that labor intensive… once in a great while you will have to walk a train to fix a problem (normaly in the worst weather of the season becouse that seems to be the only time things break…lol…)…most of the job is just making sure you know your way around the yards to make up and put your train away…or the industries you might have to work… yard work is alittle harder in the sence that your on the ground switching cars the whole shift… but it isnt that bad either…just follow the paper…car 1 goes to track 4 car 2 goes to track 7…ext ext ext… the biggest desideing factor of the people that can make it and cant is the lifestyle…and that will be the making or break it for someone that is young as you are… i have seen in my 10 years so far…people of all ages come and go becouse of the lifestyle…not becouse of the work…
its not rocket science by no means…but it dose take some time to soke it all in and get the rythem of how the job works…
but trust me…get some kind of education that you can use off the railroad… it can make all the differnce in the world in moving up or getting out into something else if you cant take the life of a railroader…
csx engineer
The RR is a different place now. USed to be you could go between crafts. I know old RRers that hold seniority on a half dozen lists. But now, they don’t want you to change crafts (at least where I am). I tried twice… failed twice. And I even have a 4-year degree. Heck, to qualify on additional territories you have to do it on your own time. Where I’m supposed to get this time I have no clue [sigh] .
It is getting worse out here… they don’t want to give you options. They want you trapped like rats.
thank you… someone else that knows how the “new railroad” is…
csx engineer
Well, there is only one simple answer for me: DON"T DO IT!!!
Thank you everyone for the advice.
I mean that.
Go get some education… get a skill… something. Then you can always hire out. Give yourself an option.
Way back when, I was able to move out of train service into a clerical job. By no means was it a promotion and I made quite a bit less as a clerk. Even at that, it took a little help from a good contact in the department I moved to.
My primary reason for making the move was to have a “8 to 5” so I could continue my education, at least part time at nights. I have to agree that the biggest drawback to T&E servce is the fact that it is a 7/24/365 give or take some vacation time. CSXengineer is correct that unless you have post secondary education from some source-trade school, college or military service-that would give you some job options, getting a job in train service may get you “stuck”.
Obviously, train service is not the only kind of railroad job. If you Google “Railroad Jobs” or go to the individual railroad’s web site, you will find extensive listings in all fields.
Those who are easily defeated in their attempts to advance will always be trapped in their jobs.
Well, yeah… I mean if you’re not selected to “advance” you are stuck where you are. Maybe I’m missing the point of your post?
Natural progression for me would be…ugh…trainmaster (they call that advancing???). And I’m sorry, but those guys do not get paid enough. Yes you can apply willy-nilly for everything, but I want a little more control than to hand my life over to the RR like a blank check. The railraods want to suppress their internal talent, then so be it. They want to hire people off the streets that never threw a switch, so be it. There’s other jobs out there. For the present I’ll stick where I’m at. I got somewhat of a scheduled run.
Great advice! Pretty stellar if you ask me. Whatever job you end up doing you are going to work for many, many years so don’t be in a hurry to get started. It is a lot easier to go to college when you’re young. Besides the learning aspect, college can be an awesome experience. Heck of a lot better than 99% of the jobs out there.
i dont buy that line of bull… in the statment from you above and i quote “The railroad is not an easy life at any level, and it is that much harder to advance the various ladders…not all succeed”…goes to show you that no matter how hard one might try to advance it might not ever happen and with no real way to better ones self with going back to school or picking up a skill due to the lifestyel that a railroader has to lead in onder to put food on the table and money in the wallet… someone can be trapped in a job with no real way out short of just out right quiting with nothing to fall back on… tell the bill collecters that you want to better yourself but have no income anymore… they will just repo your stuff… so it becomes a choice of keeping the lights on and going through the motions day after day showing up for work to earn a living or walking away… a pay check is a pay check… that is the only reason why one goes to work anyways… to put money in there pockets… you said you had over 40 years service with a carrier… well alot has changed in 40 years in railroading… the “new” railroad isnt what you hired into all them years ago… they want someone with a college degree of some kind… and that goes back to my statement above… the lifestyel makes better ones self with eduction next to impossable… with nothing to fall back on…and no way to better yourself… what is there left to do…but be trapped and show up day after day trying to earn a living and watch as the place losses alittle bit more sanity… you speak noble thoughts but your thoughts are rooted in a byegone era of railroading… hire out now and you will see… zug and myself and im sure others can attest to it that what it is today isnt even close to what it was 10 years ago…let alone 40+…
i speak
I have tried…I am trapped. It’s not the same as it was for you ‘old timers’. NO transfers to new territories unless it is a hardship(good luck with that). And even if you are lucky to get a transfer on your 100th try, you lose your seniority…and learn the new territory on your own time. Advancement is just as hard. If management doesn’t like you or know you exist (ie: you aren’t on the safety team, diversity committee, etc.), you are not going anywhere. Now here is the real kick in the pants. If you are one of the chosen ones who get to go into ‘management’, you are MOVING! Gone are the days when your territory need a new road foreman and one of the most ‘qualified’ guys there got it. Now if you want to be a trainmaster, road foreman, etc., tell the family good-bye.
The railroad pays well. You don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder all of the time. And so on. All of the pros and cons have been discussed over and over. For the young guy who asked the question, no person here can answer your question. It is up to you to do a little lot of research. Ask some of those guys on that subdivision you railfan on. Read as many of the past threads on this and other forums that you can. Think about whether you would consider moving away from your family. Different railroads need people more in different locations. You don’t want to get stuck in a location without a lot of room for change or advancement in your seniority. Most of all think about getting that education as another option.
Good luck