For those of you employed in the railway business here on trains.com, I wanted to ask what the pros and cons of working in the rail business.
if your T&E service…
pros…
beats working in a factory or an office all day…each trip is differnt even if your going over the same miles of rails time and time agin…
the money isnt to bad for just needing a high school deploma or GED as the min educational reqirements
most and i stress MOST of the time you are left to do the work…without bosses beathing down your neck…
haveing thousands of horsepower at your fingertips and being able to safely control the largest moving land vehical on the planet is a nice rush…
benifits package isnt bad…
retierment pention isnt bad so far
cons…
never knowing when your comeing and going to work being on call just about every day of the week 24 hours a day… (yard jobs locals and some assigned pools aside… if you have the senority to hold one of them…then you have a set work scheucal)…
not being able to kick back and have a alcohoic beverage of some kind due to not knowing when your
working in all kinds of weather at all times of the year…
being stuck at a hotel at the other end of the road getting bed sores becouse the powers to be put you to bed to protect a train that is days way…
haveing to worry about breaking some obscure opporting rule and being suspended…
have to have 30 years of service and 60 years of age to get a full pention when you retire…
missing out of alot of family and personal functions due to haveing to work…
will wreck your social life…see above agin…
those are just a few i can think of off the top of my head
csx engineer
Working on a railroad isn’t that bad. Without getting into specifics about certain jobs (yard switcher, road jobs etc… not conductor vs engineeer) I’ll give you a brief run down…
The BEST pro, by far, is the retirement. You don’t have to worry about Social Security, but investing in a private retirement for yourself outside off the RRB is a good idea. Off the top of my head, it’s something like 90% of the first 710$ you make, then 35% of anything over that amount and under another, etc. RRB is going to be sustained for atleast another 25 years, and that’s fine with me [;)]
You do get to travel alot depending on the road you work for. Working for a short-line you may only see the same stretch of track each night, unless there are multiple jobs out of your home termnial. The sunrise and sunsets are beautiful, and you cann see alot of “scenery” during the summer if you catch my drift… [:-^]
Two of the hardest things that you’ll encounter as a RR employee are the work schedule and the weather. The last few nights for me have been nothing but POURING RAIN. I’m not talking light rains or the occasional shower, but full-blown DOWN POURS. And no, there’s not getting out of the work. It has to be done by someone.
The scheduling can suck. If you’ve got crew-callers that need you RIGHT AWAY after your rest, well, don’t look for any time off. The first three months I worked for a railroad I was on-off-on-off consecutively that whole time with only one or two days off a month to do “my stuff”.
Now the next two points are the ones you should follow, closely.
When I first started with the railroad, my engineer was an old-hog that had been around the block many years. He worked for the CV while under control of CN, the NECR, and now for my current employer. A direct qu
Pros: Good to great rate of pay (depending on what type job one may be marked up on–a long overdue pay raise just went in effect), excellent retirement, just improved health care coverage, doing little physicall work (most time sitting on your fanny and dawing what one is getting paid to do little actuall work–not bad), it does beat factory work (did it for 17 yrs before changing over) Cons: working all times of any given day/night in all kinds weather,on some jobs it is impossible to know when one may be called to work (several factors related to this), no life outside of the job, putting up w/management, rules testing for condrs every two yrs, constantly fighting w/timekeeping over pay issues (it gets old).Not the best line of work to be in but not by far the worst either.
Yikes…the best part of the job is the retirement? I hope not…It is so sad to see people marking time for the day they nolonger have to work…That day may never come. The best part of the job should be the day to day activities… if not…then it is time for another career.
That wise old engineer who said that train service is not a career has it wrong…Not everything can be about promotion and getting ahead. Some people can be happy without aiming for the next rung on the ladder… BE HAPPY with or without the promotion because in the end we all croak and that promotion doesn’t matter. [:D]
I’m not a promotion type of guy. No desire to go into eng service or management.Content just what I’m doing now and hope it can last for 15-17 more yrs. Really not a greedy type…but the mainline is starting to look desirable after a co worker stated what he was making out there. I could give up 6-12 months of my life for a change of pace and a hefty pay increase on the mainline.
The T&E guys have done a great job pointing out the pros and cons of railroading in the field. As for dispatching…
PROS:
Climate controlled office with an 8hour work shift and a minimum of 15 hours between shifts unless you’re on a Chief’s job.
For strategy/logistics geeks like myself dispatching is fun and challenging at times trying to make everything work.
There’s a lot of power/control at my fingertips. I point on the screen and can throw switches, line signals, and determine how to make train meets and who gets preference.
Just like T&E, each day is different and something unexpected has a way of popping up out of nowhere.
Working with a great group of T&E, Signals, and MofW folk that make it possible for me to do my job of moving trains; without these great professionals nothing would move.
CONS:
Being stuck in the middle of the never-ending fight between operations management and maintainence of way. The OPS officers want me to move trains and basically never stop them. However, there’s this thing called keeping the physical plant in operable condition. I tend to side with the MofW guys and let them look at the track, change rails, weld, etc. as much as possible. I’m not worried about delaying locals and freights for a little bit to make sure they stay on the rail.
Dealing with yardmasters who think that the mainline is an extension of their yard. When it comes to yardmasters in my experience, they are either great or a pain in my rear. Some yardmasters seem to be able handle anything thrown their way, while others will stop the world for pesky stuff. The biggest thing for me is communication. The more the yardmaster is willing to talk to me and work with the better off things are.
I am a 3rd generation railroader with My grandpa my Dad And Me And i have to agree with the above posts this job beats anything out there Its like I told my wife when i hired out in 1998. I will become the perfect husband. I have a job I love I am living a dream every time I step into my bib overalls. The pay and benifits are great and I wont be home long enough to get in the way As Always Larry
I’ve been a railroader for 10 years. Conductor, RCO Operator, Training Conductor/RCO Operator, Yardmaster, and Trainmaster.
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 baddly, 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-worker killed on the job.
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. [8D] 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.
Nick
You know Nick, my Dad could have written your post! He was an engineer when he retired in the early 80’s after 40+ years of service. He is having his 91st birthday this September. So obviously the hard work on the railroad didn’t kill him.
He had a good reputation through all those years, said he always became a railroader because it was the best job pay-wise in the 40’s (he was 2nd generation) but was very glad to retire and get away from the day-to-day strain of working on the railroad.
His life and philosophy mirrors yours.
Mookie
Hats off to you folks that work for the railroads. How in the world do you make and keep appointments? (doctor.dentist, car repair, etc)
hope you can make it in and out befor you get called into work… of you have to lay off for a day or so… and if your already on a train or laying over at an away from home terminal the day of the oppintment…you miss it and have to reschudual… the terminals i work out of all have days off for extra board as well as pool turns…so you try and make appointments on that day or days off if you can…but see above agin about already being at work or laying over… becouse your day off might be a lets say a thursday…donst mean for sure that your going to be home and off work thursday…you might get called out at say 2100 hours wensday night… work 12 hours…lay over at a hotel for 20 hours…work 12 hours on the trip home… so worked wensday night into thursday…spent all day thursday and part of friday in a hotel…then worked all night friday and into saterday to get home… now its saterday morning or early afternoon by the time you walk in the door at home… granted your now on your off day…but if you had any plans to do anything on that day you kissed them goodbye… granted this is a worst case…but it has happend to me and im sure it has happend to others at some point to anothers too… most of the time if there is somewhere i have to be…or something i realy want to do…i say screw it…and call off sick… that is one thing about the railroad… you call off sick when your well…and go to work sick…
csx engineer
I am a engineer the pros are the pay for the amount of work i do not do (I used to work in a steel mill), I work a assigned 6 day a week job which means I know all 6 days when I go to work.
cons see above.
Rodney
Based on my experiences working in and out of the industry since 1977 on three railroads (UP, CNW, and BN/BNSF), and two departments (engineering and operating) here’s my opinion on the pros and cons of railroad employment as follows:
PROS:
Better than average pay (much better than average for education required).
Very good health care benefits at reasonable cost to employee.
Railroad Retirement benefits are much better than Social Security and are earned at any railroad and any craft on the railroad. ANY compensation received during a month qualifies as a “service month” for time worked; 360 service months qualify an employee for full benefits at age 60.
CONS:
The previous posters have listed many disadvantages so I won’t list them again but will say that they are all too familiar to me also. One should note that some of the problems (not home much, etc.) are craft-specific and every craft will have different problems.
Here’s one disadvantage that I’ve noticed that hasn’t been mentioned:
Seniority: Virtually every agreement (union) position on the major railroads is assigned to the most senior bidder (vs. assignment by merit). PLEASE NOTE that I do not take issue with this but mention it as background only. The big problem is that a seniority system is the most equitable with stable or increasing employment and evenly distributed seniority dates, neither of which apply to the railroad industry. Employment has been declining since the 1950’s (if not earlier) and hiring has been in large groups with little or no hiring between groups.
Here’s how that plays out in practice: Suppose you hire out as a switchman/brakeman and see Joe Blow, the engineer with 30+ years seniority on the day yard job with weekends off, and think “gee, in 30 years that’ll be me if I’m patient.” Well, you serve 30 years of hard time and guess what, now the day yard job is gone, the yard is gone, and possibly that part of the railroad is gone. If,
Can’t depend on the factory, office, whatever being there either, and can’t argue with the seniority issue. It was my experience that the roster I started on is a far cry from the roster I will retire from but I have learned this in over thirty years. Many unexpected things happen if you make a career of it and the seniority comes with the unexpected things that happen.
I just finished a 30-year career yesterday and will have a good pension. For what it’s worth, the CPR/D&H at Saratoga, NY was an excellent, and is still a good place to work, with good employees, at least half of whom like trains as a pastime. Best job and best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. It will be a bit hard to gain seniority past the extra board now, but they are planning on hiring a couple of more classes. See the official CPR website. CPR is not the best organized outfit on the block, but their mistakes will always fill your pockets with money.
For anyone who is interested, don’t delay. Seniority is the name of the game and the more you have, the happier you’ll be. And from a past bad experience, I would not work for non-union railroads (commonly called scab railroads by we union workers), where new people off the street often get better jobs and make more money than those who have been there 20 years or more.
Bob Yarger
I’m not a railroader (yet) but one con I was told when Job Shadowing, is this (and it was told to me about as bluntly): That one day, your going to kill someone. In the line of work, your likely to kill several people. And whether or not it’s your fault, the question is how you cope.
I agree. [tup]
I’m a 13-year veteran with CPRS (plus 1 1/2 years with IAIS). For me, the big con in the first few years was the lack of seniority and working on 3rd shift both Saturday and Sunday night. Coming into downtown Minneapolis on Saturday night and seeing people out having fun while you were going in to work was tough sometimes. These days, I’m lucky enough to be holding a regular Monday thru Friday job with normal hours in Accts. Receivable. [:D]
Bob, FWIW, all those Saturday and Sunday nights on 3rd shift (plus 2nds on a lot of weekdays) I normally worked the NEUS (D&H) desk while I was in the Customer Service Team and knew a lot of the guys out in Binghamton and Saratoga.
This is second hand but my parents thought RR work was the best.
Mom was 3rd generation Frisco, worked in General Office as a keypuncher and she got paid better than any woman working in office outside the RR industry. She quit when she married my Dad, who started out as freight handler, then yard clerk and then inside clerk. He never finished high school and had a good paying job that he loved. He died before he had a chance to retire, but Mom lived 20 years longer on her small RR retirement check and widow’s benefit from Dad. Together, she made considerably more than SS would have paid.
It sounds like conditions are tougher today. Dad died in 1973 when Frisco was still alive & well. A classmate of mine just retired as switchman and he saw many changes, mostly downhill. Constant yard supervision and not the relaxed pace it was when his dad worked there.