The Trainmaster's Duties

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I have a few questions in regards to the Trainmaster position. I have some basic information about the position from various websites including the Class 1’s but am hoping for some insider knowledge. The reason I ask is because I was invited to a hiring session with a Class 1 railroad and would like to learn as much information as possible.

First, what is the primary responsibility for the Trainmaster? Does it vary depending on the Railroad?

What skills are needed for a Trainmaster?

What situations can a Trainmaster find themselves in?

What are the day-to-day operations of a Trainmaster?

Are there any current or former Trainmasters on this list that offer some insight?

If there is anything more one could add to this type of position or just tips on interviewing for the railroad I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for the help.

2

which railroad are you applying with?

3

CSX

Im really curious on the Interview questions that may be asked. I know Safety is key and I can relate some Construction experience I have with that, but I was told there would be some role-playing, group discussions and face-to-face interviews all in one day.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

4

While the job may vary from railroad to railroad it is primarily a field supervisory position over a certain segment of railroad line or terminal. The TM is in charge of everything and everyone in his designated area. He acts under the juristiction of the Superintentent and administers to the actual operations. He better know his railroading and the local particulars; he also better be good with people. The more he’s come through the ranks, especially the local ranks, it is assumed the easier he will be able to command with authority and respect. He makes sure all schedules and assignments are kept, all railroad property is kept in order, safe, and in operating condition. He will sit judge in matters of rule breaking, accident, or anyother circumstance deemed within his juristiction by holding inquiries and hearings and meteing out proper punishment should it be deemed necessary. He will qualify (or disqualify) all those who work within his juristiction. He is the manager, the superintendent’s proxy, He has to deal with unions, union rules, railroad rules, any and all other rules, He will mediate or commondeer a situation as he sees fit or as needed. He might hire and fire. He should understand railroading from the Board Room down and from the cinders up (one side or the other is the otherside at any given moment). There is no hard fast rules and definitions of “situations” he might face as anything can happen: You can expect a train movement on any track at any time in any direction.

5

To clarify what Henry is talking about, a Trainmaster is a first level supervisory position over train operations and operating personnel. Likely there would be a training period with heavy emphasis on Railroad Operating Rules, and Federal Regulations, assuming you passed the examinations you would be assigned as an Assistant Trainmaster under an experienced Trainmaster for a period of time. I would think that you would be given six to nine months to learn the job, after which you would be appointed as a Trainmaster over your own area, or shown the door. If you’re lucky the guy or gal you are assigned to will mentor you. It is easier if you have experience as an operating employee, but some railroads prefer to hire off the street as they prefer to instill their own ideas. BNSF’s Trainmasters are also qualified Road Foremen, but that requires an Engineer’s license which someone off the street won’t have.

Don’t sweat the knowledge of rules and regulations, they will teach you that. What they will be looking for is experience in dealing with people in a structured management way, not as buddy buddy. You can expect to work 60 or more hours per week, and be on call if there is a problem, day, night, and holidays. Railroading is like the military, if you are willing to learn and have a college education, you can climb the ranks. Many of the top railroad managers started out as Trainmasters, including Matt Rose, E. Hunter Harrison, Bob Krebs, and others.

6

The 1st or 2nd level field supervisor (depending on how you define the Yardmaster). You are usually the lowest level company “officer” The Trainmaster is responsible for EVERYTHING that happens on his territory during his tour of duty:

  • On time departures

  • Right car Right train

  • Crew performance

  • Locomotive utilization

  • Customer service

  • Crew starts and overtime

  • and anything else you can think of

  • the ability to lie (say what you want, the Trainmasters primary duty is to lie)

  • you need to know the Rule Book inside and out

  • know how switching is preformed

  • good communication and interpersonal skills

  • big shoulders - because everything is your fault (from both the crew side and the upper management side.

What don’t you find yourself in:

  • giving rules classes
  • diffusing crew conflicts
  • handling customer issues
  • responding to derailments, injuries, trespasser strikes, etc
  • monitoring performance metrics
  • making sure you have enough locomotives and crews to run your trains
  • you are also likely to be the company’s “face” at a grade crossing accident or high profile derailment
  • conducting company investigations - read trials.
7

Trains had a story in their June 2004 issue titled Rougemere Nights by Gabriel Meyer, who was a third trick assistant trainmaster at CSX’s Rougemere Yard in Detroit. I would recommend reading that, because it gave insight in to what his shift was like.

8

Holy COW!

Based on what Nick, and Beaulieu describe as the JOB requirements, the most likely candidate would have to have a sado-machocistic personality with the socially interactive habits of a person somewhere between a monk and a mad-dog.

9

The hours are not terribly different from what train crews work, but you are married to the job, with occasional visits with your family.

10

Here are two previous threads dealing with this topic:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/80110/955687.aspx#955687

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/93243.aspx?PageIndex=1

I participated in both, and the coverage is slightly more even handed. [8D]

Nick

11

That would be correct. In addition, you must deal with MoW, Signal, B&B, and Mechanical, and be able to get things done.

I must also agree, hiring off the street, gives you absolutely no insight what so ever of those you must lead. No amount of classroom training in the world can prepare you for what you face on a daily basis. If you don’t have realistic expectations of what can and cannot be done in what time frame, you are in trouble from the get go. This means, you must be able to smell BS from 10 miles out, and call that person on it, sometimes with tact.

In a Trainmasters position, the person who does well, establishes trust, expectations, and tasks employees regularly. He can get things done, and gets the co-operations of his employees and co-managers to accomplish it. If that aint happening, then he is not effective, and operations will show it.

12

Nick – would you rather be a “Roadmaster” (without the four holes on each side of your hood)?

Hays

13

Only one I knew was like that…and maybe one other could have been. Train crews swore several of the others were. But about 99.9% of those I knew or had contact with were great guys.

14

Guys, this isn’t my industry…I’m just interested 'cuz I like trains. I also like people…they were my business all my professional life. So, I am puzzled by the incongruity, or incompatibility, between what Nick asserted earlier and by the statement above. Liars don’t abet a culture of trust…they tear it down.

Help me out here…

-Crandell

15

Simple if you are my trainmaster and you get me out of trouble for what ever reason and smooth things over at the upper leavel then I and several others would start to trust you, then as you do guys favors they start doing you favors, and you disapline the guys who need it fairly then you start building trust with the guys. BUT if you come in and start to change the world and rule with the book cut no slack then you wont get anything from anyone below or above., your crews will make you and brake you, and you haft to BS the upper management as well as your crews. and in most cases upper managment will leave you alone if your crews are making you look good,

A old saying I have told many a trainmaster when they start trying the scare tactics and making life hard for us, Do as you want we have seen trainmasters come and go and i will be here long after your gone, ive seen 10 bosses in the last 5 years.

16

You’re right, Crandell. The railroad Trainmaster has a tremendous load on his shoulders with every railroad employee in sight under his jurstiction or affected by it. The mistrust comes in two main ways. First, if he is brought “up from the ranks” it is felt he has turned in his union card for a brass coller; therefore no longer “one of us” but a turncoat to the otherside, not to be trusted, “against us now”. Second, there have been instances whereby new MBA’s et al, have been hired right off the podium with no experience making a hitch, doing 12 hours or more on the road, or any of the mundane jobs railroad people face daily; how can he possilby understand a broken knuckle, doubling the hill, setting out a car in front of another train, why a switch was split or that its down hill one way but up hill the other and that makes a difference. It hinges on the age old delima of whether to promote from within or to bring someone from some other world; all businesses face that and I wonder if railroading is really that different. If it is that different it is maybe because, at least in the old days (oh,how I hate to say that!) a railroad setting was a tight knit community dependent upon (and trusting) each other to do the right job and do the job right. If it weren’t done right, then you’d cover for your brother or your neighbor knowing he’d do the same for you. The TM was the enemy to hide from and hide things from,

17

Crandell,

A lot of how a Trainmaster acts depends on which railroad he works for, might even depend on which division.

For the most part, a Trainmasters ultimate duty is to protect the company, be it in the area of risk management or liability.

So, if an incident or an accident happens, it is his job to lessen any liability the company or carrier might face.

If this means stretching the truth, or leaving out certain facts, so be it, that is his job.

I know several trainmasters, two of which I help train to switch, who are great guys, lots of fun, .and if I was ever in a position where my career depended on them, I would trust them to say or do whatever it took to make sure the company suffered no loss, even if that meant lying, fabricating evidence or ignoring any factor that might indicate the carrier may have any fault or blame in the incident.

It takes a “special” type of individual to stand there drinking coffee and swapping bad jokes with you, only to an hour or so later, swear up and down to the superintendent the switch that just split under your train failed because you failed to line and latch it, or maybe you lined it under the movement, even though he knows you reported it as hard to line or maybe gapped for several days in a row…

A few years ago, my crew got caught out on a train that was stuck behind a derailment on shared main line, our trainmaster brought us pizza because we were in a position where we couldn’t go forward and there was no place to back up to, so we were basically babysitting the train waiting for the other railroad to clear the track, then we were going to run out to Pasadena and yard this train.

We were a yard crew, and had not brought a lunch simply because we normally run down to a local hamburger joint and pick up lunch.

We had already been on the train past our first minutes, (lunch period) and it looked like we would be there the full 12 hours, so he sprung for 3 large pizzas, and brought them to u

18

Thank-you, Gentlemen. Your answers have helped me to understand the two contradictory responses provided by Nick and by Ken.

Yes, I suppose it is the same everywhere. There are those who are content to ‘slide’, who do the bare minimum, who have no great ambitions or dreams, and they can still be the salt of the Earth; hard-working and dependable, just not doing more than what the Terms of Reference, or the job description, for the work says he/she should do. There are others who slide, but who take an inordinate amount of time, trials, mentoring, supervision, chastisement, chances, and ultimately firing, despite all the good will from managers.

It applies also at the level of management. I have known incompetence in various forms, and it is never helpful or pretty. And absolutely, it does nothing for team cohesion, loyalty, or trust.

However, lying, in principle, is virtually never a way to improve a bargain. It is a form of theft. It polarizes the workplace, if it is practised in either ‘camp’, and that costs everyone in the end. It costs in trust, loyalty, reliability, and in a host of other ways that hamstring a corporation, costing it much in monetary and human factors. It makes a company less willing, or able, to agree to changes, particularly if one of the changes is in the form of bonuses, compensated time away from work, or outright salary. Changes of any kind cost time and money because someone has to do an analysis and then implement it if the go-ahead is given. A company weakened by mistrust and subtrefuge is going to be generally resistant to change…oddly, I know…but that’s the sociology for you.

I understand that sometimes you cut a person a break, but if that becomes the default, and not the justifiable exception, it becomes a sort of malaise that can be cancerous to an organization meant to have a decent RO

19

Yesterday, I heard on the scanner and viewed the following:

  1. Trainmaster set up a signal to “red” by shunting the rails with a cable. The next train thru had a “red” signal which they were allowed to pass thru at very slow speed…probably “restricting”. Train was running perhaps 5 mph around a curve.

  2. The train came to a stop. At that point in time a scanner conversation went like this…“EB xxx, you have permission to remove the obstacle and proceed”.

Obviously this was a test.

I didnt see the obstacle, but heard the conversation and saw the train slow and stop with the red signal.

  1. Trainmaster then removed the shunt from the rails.

Ed

20

I resemble that remark… The Engineering/Track department cultures and the Operating department cultures are thankfully different.

The operating side has created a viscious circle it may never recover from. Creating “instant managers” is indicative of that. There are plenty of folks on the operating side that I have respect for; there are others that should never have been allowed on the payroll. Probably true of any industry.

With all the whining about efficiency tests, the reason for them seems to have been forgotten here by some and regarded as only harrassment . (and it is amusing when one of the victims of a mandated efficienct test is a safety supervisor or a trainmaster wandering around in an obvious derailment cleanup construction zone in penny-loafers, no safety glasses and no hard-hat.[:-,])

(I always wanted to know how the Superintendent and Trainmasters could close out a derailment from 20-200 miles away over the radio as “wide gage” or “soft track” without being there. When I looked at the microphone on my truck radio, all I saw was lots of little Motorola holes…[%-)])