In the “Engineer Pay” topic thread, csxengineer twice mentioned January furloughs. What causes these furloughs, who gets furloughed, and how common are they?
Thanks
Jim
Wow.
From what I’ve learned here at this forum, and from reading Trains magazine, it strikes me that the RR industry is a hell of a way to make a living.
It seems to me that morale is low, including those employees with a neck tie on. It seems like you need a super attitude, and a very thick skin, to stay on. Is this true, or am I overblowing the situation.
And those of you that have many years on the job …if you were treated badly as a new hire, do you ever catch yourself treating those under you badly? Like a bit of meanness was grinded into you over the years?
Thanks
Jim
It wasn’t the railroad that made me bad tempered and ugly … it was my 2 ex wives…
Randy
Hey,
I got a ex wife, but no plans to make it two, the current wife is too good a shot!
Its like Mark said, you learn pretty quick what people are about at the railroad, either they “cut in” and get after it, or they realize its a lot of hard work, and either quit, or go into management.
Which is why some of us come off as rather hard nosed up front, inyour face folks, which we are.
But, unless your a little weed weasel, your one of us, and we always watch each others back.
Moral depends on the job, but most of us love it…ever work anyplace where you didnt have at least one grip about the job, or the boss?
Me neither…
And railroaders love to gossip…some of the guys out here run their mouths more that my 17 year old daughter talks on the phone!
You end up knowing everything about everybody, whether its true or not…
But, and heres the rub, you have to really love what we do, it puts tremendous strain on a marriage or a relationship, from both sides.
And often, your asked to do things you dont want to, or feel you dont have to, by people who couldn’t cut it on the ground or on the seatbox…which is frustrating in itself.
You dont see to many folks “give it up” though, which ought to tell you something about how we feel about our work.
[:D]Ed
Ed
you are right on! not only does that happen with Railroads but jobs everywhere.
stay safe
Joe
Got to agree with Ed here also. Don’t work on the RR but I couldn’t ask for a better place to work. Only 15 of us, and we all are very close. Got gripes with my job, and I got a lot of “fringe benefits” to boot.
It could be worse. There are a lot of unemployed people out there.
Brian (KY)
yep…i personaly like to call it the january blood bath… the first few days after the new years…csx loves to cut all the extra boards to blew bare minimum standers…and give eveyone that cant hold a postion after the bummping takes place…a furlough letter asking you to turn in your radio books keys and lantern…you can be furloughed only afew weeks…up to months…and from some of the older heads tell me…back in the 70s and 80s…up to years… also…they keep you on what is know as a furlough board…when they run out of manpower someplace…they start to run the furlough board for a body to work…and alot of guys also call crew managment to be put on the “call me becouse ill go anywhere” list… keep in mind…that you have to work a few days…i forget the exact number…in a 30day time period to keep your health insuarnce for another 30 days…and also to get 30 more days credit for RR retirement…so guys that need the insurance…will jump at the chance to work…
csx engineer
2exs…damn…i would have learned my lesson after the 1st one…lol… i will probly never marrie agin…if the wife and i split…ill just go back to what i was befor i got married…skin hound…lol
csx engineer
Things usually slow down in January and the best thing a low ranking employee can pray for is lots of BAD winter weather. Nothing like a big snowstorm and blizzard conditions or sub-zero weather to make the railroad turn because business is usually slow in January.
Furloughing, at least in my part of the railroad world, has been far less common than it was twenty or thirty years ago. The company has let trainmen hang on the boards even when it wasn’t turning any better than one trip a week. On the other hand, there were guys back in the early eighties when things were bad that were essentially furloughed with brief periods of being recalled for up to five years.
Railroading tough? Oh yes, it is, but other than the weed weasels, who aren’t out EVERY trip, for a road employee, you go out and do what you’re supposed to do and don’t see much in the way of supervision standing over you.
Train service is not the only place to work on the railroad. Try another department-it, enginering, law, finance, mechanical, marketing, etx. However, if you want to make good money (ie. $100k+)in any of these departments do not plan on a 40 hour week.
So if the mass furloughing occurs at CSX around January, and if I’m going to apply for CSX’s conductor training program at AMDG, should I wait until after January to apply for the class?
No, the idea is to establish a seniority date as soon as possible, ducking a month or two won’t help you. As has been pointed out many times on these (and other) forums, even one place can sometimes make all the difference in the world as to whether you’re working or sitting at home, riding the extra board or holding a regular job, working a preferred yard job, or stuck on a less than desirable job.
no…i would apply and get working…the sooner you get a hire date…the better off you are… you might get furloughed for a while …and it might happen evey winter for a few years… but if you go to the school…and get the job…you will work through the furlough times while you are training…(most of the time…a few years back…had a class of TT come through…only to get furloughed while they where training)…but in march they where called back to fin***hier training and get marked up…
but the sooner you get a hire date the better off you are… 1 day can make the differnce for your railroad carrer…if you want to work for the railroad…i would get my foot in the door as fast as you can!!!
csx engineer
Hey csx engineer,
Thanks for the input. I went ahead and sent in my online application. The next day I checked its status on the AMDG website, and it says I’m ‘pre-approved’ and that the next step is to sign up to go to an interview session. Any other input you might have would be welcomed.
-Rich
study study study when you get to the school… you want to make the grade to get the job offer…second… when you get on the job…listen up…ask questions…and learn learn learn…the more you learn the better… you are only going to be a trainee for a short time…the more knowlege you can get in the training time the better… also…dont come off as a know it all…as i said in other postings in here to new hires… when someone tells you something…dont say i know that…just say thank you very much for the information…being a know it all will get you blackballed fast!!! old heads will wa***heir hands of you if you think your a know it all…which makes learning the job all the harder… i have seen this done many times already over the years with trainees…get lost of rest… when your at home…and at the hotels… get sleep…but when your done sleeping…and your not called yet…get your maps and notes out …and study… territory fimilarity is a key to the job… learn where your absolult signals are at…learn where your defect detectors are at…learn where all sideings and spurs are at… learn the speeds… and learn where road crossings are at in relation to hold points… knowing how much room between a road crossing and a signal is very importaint… makes a differns in you haveing to walk back 100 cars to cut a crossing or not…
this is just the tip of the iceburg… their is alot to learn…it seems overwelming at first…it always is…it was for me…but slowly you start to get the hang of it…and then 1 day…its like someone turns on a light switch in your brain…and you get it…
csx engineer
csx engineer is entirely right! I have taken to heart many of his posts as well as others like Ed Blysard, Vallex X, LC, etc. As a new hire, I can tell you that I just went through AMDG in January of this year. If you go to Cincinnatti I can give you quite a bit of info on where the school is at, info about the instructors, info about the area, and which hotels are good. Also, like csx engineer said, when AMDG gives you you’re class start date, get on that website and print out the signals that you will be working with. It entirely depends on your location whether you’ll use Seaboard, Color Position, etc. Study those signals before you even start class so you can take the test on your first or second day of school and be done with it, then you can focus on studying for your daily quizzes and weekly tests.
When you are at the interview session, you will take a reading test, a color-blindness test, and a personality test. Take the personality test with this perspective… answer the questions the way your mother would want them answered. Do you like to party all night?? Even if you do, you say “no.” Do you like to skydive? Answer: “no.” Essentially the RR’s don’t want you to be a risk taker.
You better sign up now!!! School lasts five weeks, then you have one week OTJ at either Jacksonville, Cleveland, or Atlanta. After that you report to your home terminal for an additional 12 to 14 weeks of training. So, at the minimum it will be almost five months before you are marked up. Your seniority date is the first day of your OJT, which is “On the Job Training.” This takes place at one of the three cities I mentioned.
And like everyone else has said, look through the forums for posts like “new hires” “AMDG” “training” etc. And also ask any of us questions, we’ll be happy to answer them for you.
Rich-
I caught on this thread late, but I agree with what the other RRers, particularly CSX Eng and n. stephenson have said.
Take time to learn and reach out to some of the cranky old guys (like me) I found it very effective as they usually went out of their way to help the greenhorn if you were receptive. Learn your signals, they can save you.
Oh and splurge on GOOD work boots. Get the best. Your ankles will love you.
Feel free to ask more questions too…
Good luck,
LC
So what would you consider GOOD ones? Having had a tendency towards weak ankles when I was younger, this is probably advice I should take. And what do you think about steel toes? I’m not required to have them, but I can if I want.
Thanks…
Well, I’m pretty sure most RR’s will supply you with free work boots, but I doubt they are the best. I know some RR’s like CP will provide discounts on really good boots like Red Wings. I’ve been satisfied with the company supplied ones even though the ballast is already eating up the soles of my first pair. In reality you should have two pairs of boots. One extra in case you work in the rain all day and they get soaked, then you have a backup pair. Or, buy one pair a little oversized so you can wear an extra pair of socks during the winter. Working outside all winter, I could never keep my feet warm enough.
Nora-
At first I bought Red Wings and they were decent, but I did have one pair that the soles got very worn on the ballast very quickly. I went away from Red Wings after I had trouble getting the ones I wanted in my size and changed over to Lehigh Work Boots. They are a division of Edicott Johnson Shoes. I have three pairs two regular and one insulated. I would probably get another pair of the insulated if I was working the ground in the winter all the time. All are steel toe, because I think its a good idea. A friend (one of those really crusty old timers) had a chunk of scrap steel mess up his foot falling from an overloaded gon. The steel toe in his boot saved a couple of his toes and that made me a believer.
One of my uninsulated pairs is on its second set of soles and when I had them resoled I also had them stretched a bit and I wear them with ankle supports I had my orthopedic surgeon prescribe for me (covered by insurance no less). Although my ankles are OK, if I do turn one which happens occasionally when you work on uneven surfaces as we all do, I wear the supports for a couple weeks as added protection.
If I think it will help; I have no problem spending $ 150 or more on boots. Warm dry feet and comfortable walking are their own reward.
LC