I was wondering what your opinion is of going to RR school? Is it worth the money? What schools are the best? I have waited for my kids to graduate high school to try to get my dream job ,and the time has come. I have wanted to work for the RR since i was a littile kid.Any pointer would be great. thanks John
I’d suggest first applying to the railroad for which you’d eventually like to work–get yourself tested and screened by them. Then, if they tell you to, go to the school that they suggest. Otherwise, don’t waste your money.
Best of luck. (UP’s still hiring in places!)
What is the starting rate for a conductor or Engineer? What is the schedule expecting to work?
Starting rate varies by railroad and union agreement. Usually, new hires start at a training wage under a training agreement and once promoted move up to a percentage of the regular conductor’s rate advancing by promotion and time in grade to the full rate. To become an Engineer you must start as a conductor and await promotion by senoirty then attend locomotive engineer training and OJT pending promotion to Locomotive Engineer.
As far as schedule, there is none at first. You must work the Extra Board filling in for others on vacation or extra jobs. You are on call 24/7/365. If you miss calls you are considered absent without permission. Do it a few times and you will be subject to discipline, a few more an you will be fired. Even later when you have enough seniority to hold a pool or even a regular job you will still be called if they can’t find anyone else.
LC
LC
Do you know what is the actual amount?
CN is looking for people in various locations, I would shy away from the schooling, as I have never heard of anyone having any better luck going to a school as opposed to just getting on with a company and going through the normal training. Best of luck to you, just make sure this is what you want to do before getting too involved.
Stay away!
You’re best bet is to apply directly to the RR you want to work for. UP, NS, and CSX train new hires in-house. In fact, a reliable source tells me, NS will NOT hire RR University grads.
Be advised it is a 24/7/365 environment. You’ll be on-call, working days, nights, weekends, and holidays. It can also be very dangerous. I’ve been shot at, rocked, and buried a co-worker.
Nick
Not at present. Wages are generally pretty good once you are out of training. As I said above it varies by railroad. Small short lines may pay as little as $13 to $14/hour while class 1s pay be the hour (yard service) and basic day (road service) plus arbitraries in both cases and I don’t have current numbers for the national agreements. You may wish to contact the UTU for trainman’s wages or BLET for engineers wages as the unions should be able to give you the scales from the latest national agreements. Check the UTU website under agreements at http://www.utu.org/.
LC
I would be careful on buying into the talk of the rr schools. Just not worth it from what I have seen. The best bet on this is just like applying into any type job: go down to the local office and talk to the big chiefs themselves. Keep doing it, make a personal contact w/the supts, trainmasters & rd frmn. Let them get to know you, let them know that you are interested in any future openings. That is the process I did for nearly a yr until I was called in for an interview and hired. No spending 1000’s of hard earned wages for a school that can’t promise you a job to begin with. Now depending on what type job you will first start out on depends the timing on your hiring and the seniority of that terminal you hired at. New hires do not always start out on xtra brds. Back about 2004/2005, when business was very good, BNSF had condrs coming out of training that marked up on MAINLINE TURNS on terminals on the western end of the system. Again it just depends on the location you’re at. Most likely you will start on a local, yard job or a xtra brd. Buy no means is this a dream job but if you use common sense and don’t get egotistic about it, anyone out here can provide a good standard of living for themselves. The wages and retirement is what drove me here 10 yrs ago.
Schedule? There is no schedule. You work when they want you to.
Most curious! I can understand a Class 1 railroad training new hires, but why would a road like NS not want to hire a railroad school graduate? Perhaps I’m looking at this the wrong way, but is seems that the graduates would have a fundamental advantage of knowldege, safety, and equipment handling over new-hires coming in off of the street.
[%-)][%-)]
NS wants to teach you THEIR way, period. They don’t want you to come in with your own habits that they feel need to be unlearned.
Thanks Zugman.
I’ve read that some railroad management ideals are a bit on the abrasive side. I wonder though how these railroad schools survive without strong ties with the Class 1s for hiring graduates.
In the trucking industry, independent training schools and potential employers in many areas form good connections with each other that are mutually beneficial.
I’ve always dreamed of working for a RR, though I know it’s far from a “dream” job. What I have found out doing my own research is that Conductor/Engineer is one of the highest paying jobs you can hold without a college degree, but the hours are demanding and hard on family life.
Most of the class Is have interesting informational films on their web-sites about various RR jobs. NS, BNSF, and UP all have really interesting material, and it seems they prefer to train their own employees, whether operations or management! I believe that regionals may be willing to hire RR-school graduates, but their openings are usually quickly filled by experienced RR workers from the bigger RRs.
Thanks for everybodies input The school i m looking at is NARS National Academy of Railroad Sciences in Kansas I haved applied at a local rr twice with no responce.Working on the rr is my life long dream.I guess i`ll keep trying Thanks again John
Anyone gone to a school and then worked for a class 1-2-3?
That’s who we need to hear from on this thread.
rix
When I hired out on UP I got paid for the training, and UP trained you.
Me, too. I got paid minimum wage for those five days of class, and went up to 100% of yard helper rate the first day I worked.
I recall going through some sort of aptitude test, and probably a physical, when I hired out, and a rules exam after I went through the training. Now candidates have to be screened by a supervisor, given a drug test, a polygraph test, a criminal background check, a citizenship check, a check of their driving record, and the physical strength and endurance test. And, at least until the UTU gets its way, you start out at, what?–80 percent, and take several years to work up to 100 percent.
It’s kinda sad to find RR employees wanting to get out and
“want to be’s” to get in. One of my customers quit railroadiing awhile back. Seems to enjoy woodworking at age 50 or so and looks great!
He had enough of either CSK or NS but loved Conrail!
Will the RR schools please reply?
Interesting, what sort of questions did they ask you on the polygraph?