and another one that knows how the “new railroad” works…
thank you for validating my point even more…
csx engineer
The game of railroad advancement is played the same today as it has been played for the past 180 years. I am working with more than enough 20/30’s men and women from more than enough areas of the company that proves it.
Not everyone that desires advancement will atttain it. That is the same as any industry or any company in existance.
No it isn’t. The majority of managers are now hired straight out of school or the military with zero experience. Same goes for dispatchers, and whatever else. Managers are not concerned with service - it is all about petty rules compliance so they can win some worthless award to look better. They changed the role of manager so much, that around here, anyone with a seniority date on the ground eventually goes back to the ground.
The problem is that the people that would succeed (and benefit the RR) most in advancing won’t becuase of the crap that goes with it. Sad fact of life.
I should have only made this topic about railfanning this subdivision and not about me becoming a conductor.
But this is what really goes on behind the scenes. It’s not pretty and it is very divided among the ranks. Don’t give up railfanning, just be informed about the lives behind the metal and glass.
I feel that I may be better off working for a regional railroad like SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) since it is local and I will recieve more better hours and make more money and earn a better life. They are a Union and are organized. Plus better benefits are involed. Hope somebody will agree with me. Since i live close to Philadelphia and the R3 Media line and the R2 Wilmington/Marcus Hook line, I will be more better off with this company. And they do offer on-the-job training and have classes. I should give it a shot.
Well… passenger railroads… you get the same thing as the freight, but the gov’t is involved, and you have to deal with John Q. Public. Give yourself options. All I have to say.
still get some kind of training besides the railroad… leave yourself an out…as far as living where you live…your senority when you hire out might not alow you to work that route or line… you might still be stuck working someplace else that isnt close to home… it all depends on how there union labor contracts are writen… look into that if you can find out from some of the workers how there senority and the zones work if you are determined to want to work near home…
csx engineer
In my office, of the last 20 dispatchers hired, only 3 were not internal employees.
that is true about the advancement…but the orignal point i was trying to make is that if you dont have something to fall back on in the way of a marketable skill or degree… you will find yourself trapped in the job… no way to move up out of the trenches and no way to walk away and find other lines of work that you might find more injoyable… that is why i stress and stand by the get something to back you up befor you hire out so if you dont like it or things in your life later down the road change to where this job is no longer doing it for you…you can look for other opptions… any job can trap someone in the sence that unforseen things that happen in life can lock you into it becouse of the money you make at it… divorce…wreck your car and have to bite off a new car payment…you name it… and walking away with nothing to fall back on is the equivilant to finanial suised… advancement or not aside… the big pic is here that without but a highschool deploma or GED is going to lock you into this line of work for the rest of your life like it or not… give yourself an out… take it from someone that made a few mistakes down the road of life and is trying his hardest change paths… but is trapped with very few real opptions to move on or move up…
csx engineer
I would agree with what csxengineer and some others have said about making sure you have a backup plan before you hire out.
In terms of your comments about SEPTA, I used to work for them myself and (not to discourage you) but I wouldn’t say it will be easier to work for a railroad like SEPTA. In most cases, you will start as a PA or Asst. Conductor, before getting to be a full conductor, and later an engineer if you choose that route. Understand that sometimes SEPTA will chose to cut some conductor jobs and you will conductors bidding in Asst. Conductor jobs. Understand that you must likely start on the extra board without a set schedule or start point. Just because you want to work out of Elwyn or Marcus Hook doesn’t mean you will get it. SEPTA’s higher seniority guys were largely on the south (ex-PRR) side of the RR and it was much easier to hold a job out of Roberts or Powelton, and it was much easier for me to hold a better job with lower seniority on the north (ex-RDG) side of the RR. I would caution you that it is necessarily less hours, when you consider there are very few jobs with are 5 days and in the low 50’s hours range. Expect most jobs to be six days on and one day off. The highest job when I was there was 81 duty hours, if you were unlucky enough to hold it.
Anyway, I hope you make the right decision for you, but that’s my two cents. Hope it is helpful to you.
The overwhelming advice here is to develop skills either thru college or military.
I am not in the railroad industry, but the advice you are receiving is very good advise. Without either of the two as a background, it is increasingly difficult to attain a good career. You can go the trades route (electrician, plumber, HVAC, etc), but that is equivilant to college with the union apprenticeship.
The military offers a great options (I am not, nor was I in the military, but I have met many who were).
At age 19 you have options. Be smart, be wise, and plan for your future.
ed
My dad is an electrician for a union in Philadelphia. He said there is a painter contractor that is looking for young teens just graduating high school. That is now my back up plan. Or I can become an automotive Mechanic. In fact, I was offered a few courses at CHI Institute that offers courses for plummers and so forth. My dad makes alot of money being an electrician and he hardly has to work weekends. I should follow in his footsteps and I should just stick to being a railfan. Great advice from everyone!!!
Thanks [:)]
Like anywhere else in the corporate world, advancement in the RR industry is a combination of higher education, WHAT you know and can do, and WHO you know.
The best thing my Old Man did was make me get a degree before I hired out. It provided some seasoning, the guys right out of high school didn’t have, gives me a fall back position, and opened the door to advancement. I’ll also admit there have been a few times, my name and my contacts have helped me out.
Like any job, the railroad is what you make of it. Yes, it can be a tad… ummm …backward in it’s dealings between labor and management. But it also produces a brotherhood of coworkers, with the exception of the military, I’ve rarely seen outside the industry.
It’s not something to go into blindly, because it can be a hard life. But if you hire out with open eyes it can be a good living.
Nick
I didn’t complete high school. Got a job in CP Telecommns and worked my way up. Was sent out of town on may courses. Took retirement after 37 years at the age of 55. I’m married and very financially stable Had some good bosses & some bosses that didn’t know the work and I had to train them. In the 1950’s when I started, this was possible but not now. If I had to do it over again, I would have stayed in school & gone to college or university to have something to fall back on. Just lucky that I stuck with it thru the good times and the bad.