Pros/Cons of Railroading

[BNSF5767]

Give me some pros and cons about railroading in general.
I would like to be a engineer on UP or BNSF (my uncle worked on ATSF for 30 years) i wandered if it would be a good paying job. Thanks

[Kowak555]

Pros: Good pay

Cons: Too many to list. (especially at CN)




Steve

[batterymule7]

Pros: Decent pay, excellent retirement (or so I'm told), honest work, and more.

Cons: There are plenty like any job.

If you want to be an engineer, you'll have to work the ground first for a long time, or find the right board, but most likely the first choice.

[BNSFfan]

On a class 1 you have to start as a Conductor or Brakeman and work your way up the seniority list. If you get the throttle jockey position, you end up back on the bottom of seniority, the more seniority you have, the more pay you get.

[CRQ5508]

you all seem to be missing the biggest con of all... horrible hours. in most instances you'll be assigned to an extra board. what that is, is you fill in for other crew members that can't make a shift, or get trains where there just aren't any other crews available. One day you can take a light 'bare-table' train at noon time, the next a loaded coal train or something at 3am... you don't know when you're going to work, and you never know when you'll be back home. Unless you're operating on a shortline under 30 miles long, they're not going to drive you home at the end of your shift to sleep in your own bed. You're more likely than not going to end up in some hotel not far from the tracks. You can go weeks without even sitting foot in your home town. I had a family friend who worked for Southern and later Norfolk Southern back in the day, and he pretty much confirms what I say. This is not to detract you from railroading. Railroad jobs can be glorious. You can get excellent pay, and you can get to see some beautiful places, if you work for the right railroad. But it's like the military. You see the glorious side of it in all the advertisements; the benefits of the job, the respect you get, and the money. But they never show you the down and out dirty hard work you're going to be doing...

[TrainMan_112]

As far as I've heard there's very few pros and countless cons. Don't do it.

Like the above said, when you start out you probably won't have enough seniority to hold a pool, so you'll be put on the spareboard.

Most of the US railroads don't pay as good as Canadian ones. (As far as I know) Try and get on with CN, I believe they are the best paying Class 1.

I don't know what you consider good pay, but the railroad isn't a good paying job for what you have to sacrafice. You will have no social life, no established schedule, and you're constantly living in a jet-lag state.

You'll talk to some young railroaders who love their job, but the railroaders I've talked to hate their job.

Unfortunately I'm hiring on with a railroad in a couple years because I have no choice. I'm not looking forward to throwing my life away.

Sorry to turn you away from it but do something else. Don't chuck your life in the toilet.


If you get a cabride you'll know what I'm talking about. Listen to their life stories, it's pretty sad really.

[jay611]

Far too stressful of a job, class one operations atleast... I'd try a shortline.

[CSX4878]

Finish school first!
All class ones require expierence before they even let you around the trains.
Only a handfull of Shortlines and Regionals are the same way, but most when needing many hires, will give hands on training.
H.S. Education or a GED is required for any road, while most require Railroading Schooling. The NARS is best. ( http://www.railroadtraining.com/ )

I am currently waiting for a response back from Pan Am Railways as a conductor. No word as of yet, but I sent the Resume out on Saturday.

As stated. You must do ground work (conductor) for a good year or two before your the engineer. Work you way up the line is best, Thats my plan.


But before all. A good education is well needed.


Also Trainman, You pretty well throw your life away on any job! It's life, get used to it.

[maddog_2020]

As far as I've heard there's very few pros and countless cons. Don't do it.

Like the above said, when you start out you probably won't have enough seniority to hold a pool, so you'll be put on the spareboard.

Most of the US railroads don't pay as good as Canadian ones. (As far as I know) Try and get on with CN, I believe they are the best paying Class 1.

I don't know what you consider good pay, but the railroad isn't a good paying job for what you have to sacrafice. You will have no social life, no established schedule, and you're constantly living in a jet-lag state.

You'll talk to some young railroaders who love their job, but the railroaders I've talked to hate their job.

Unfortunately I'm hiring on with a railroad in a couple years because I have no choice. I'm not looking forward to throwing my life away.

Sorry to turn you away from it but do something else. Don't chuck your life in the toilet.


If you get a cabride you'll know what I'm talking about. Listen to their life stories, it's pretty sad really.

How are you gonna try to tell someone to not take a job and you yourself is going to try for it?

[TrainMan_112]

Trust me, I don't want to.

With the way i'm doing in school it's probably the only career path that has decent pay and doesn't require any post-secondary education.

Sure I could flip burgers and whatnot but I don't think the pay is too great.

Maybe some people would like it, but I don't think I will in the least.

[TrainMan_112]

Finish school first!

Also Trainman, You pretty well throw your life away on any job! It's life, get used to it.

Haha good point.

[csxtac4400cw122]

Im not in transportation, but railroading is long hours, lots of down time, waiting for that train that seems like its never gonna get there, management always trying to get you somehow. IMHO a crappy union. Good healthcare, dental, vision, prescriptions, guaranteed pension, it really is guaranteed, unlike social security. The work is not hard, but it is dangerous. Preached safety in the office, and meetings, but when in the field its get it done now. Its a good job, pays good, the people you get to know is another good thing. There is a supervisor that I work under that says that "The day you got this job, you won the lottery" That is something that it is NOT.

[maddog_2020]

Trust me, I don't want to.

With the way i'm doing in school it's probably the only career path that has decent pay and doesn't require any post-secondary education.

Sure I could flip burgers and whatnot but I don't think the pay is too great.

Maybe some people would like it, but I don't think I will in the least.

Truck driving, join the army, etc. There are other decent paying jobs for the railroad. Dont force yourself to do a job you dont want to. A lot of people would rather work with someone who wanted the job than to work with someone who thought that they had to get that job. It makes for a long trip to sit and listen about how much someone hates the railroad for 12 hours.

[jamesc25313]

Post office is always hiring :) I think the pay around here is $18 starting out. I called and asked about ti a few years back and they said come and do a class and take a test or something like that and Im in, not bad. All the railroaders I know hated the railroad and didnt want to talk about it much when I was around them and when you grow up in a coal town like me you see it as a job not as purdy trains or choo choos!

[CSX4878]

My family has always been into either Construction, Railroading, or Trucking. Me, I chose Railroading. :)

Three relatives worked for the railroad, two for Maine Central, and one for Grand Trunk(new england division)
My grandfather was a truck driver(moms side)
and my dad is a construction worker.

[TrainMan_112]

It makes for a long trip to sit and listen about how much someone hates the railroad for 12 hours.

I'm not the type to complain about something I alone forced myself into. I don't think I'd really talk with the other guy at all.
I'll just do my job, handle sitting in that chair for 12 hours (well, CP will have you off of the train in 10) as best I can.

[Kenny1234]

The biggest pro: Its one job that pays somewhat well right now that cannot be exported to a foreign country. However, will such pay scales remain so when Mexico is annexed and we officially incorporate a low(er) wage workforce into our already wage-depressed workforce?

The biggest cons: Terrible hours and the fact that you are in situations where your life depends on the weakest human link out there doing their job right. The threat to personal safety caused by some doped-up jackass in the hogger's seat on that train you are about to meet is little different than working third shift at an inner city convenience store. Your odds of going home in one piece are roughly the same.

[Turbo Bill]

Having been bitten by the lowest common human denominator regarding other employees causing you bodily harm on one instance and then there's the other real downside namely grade crossings. I've been bitten by those over five times in ten years with countless close calls some involving ambulances and even police cars. The last one was so bad it cost me my career due to medical problems stemming from acute PTSD namely a stress induced stroke behind my left eye leaving me blind in that eye. You will be involved in a grade crossing collision of nasty proportions, it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when. After a while you get used to people taking huge chances with their lives and the lives of others riding with them but the luck will run out.

The saddest part of it was I loved my career and the challenges many trains gave operations wise. As far as I was concerned, I got paid to play and my office took me to some of the most beautiful scenic areas in Northwestern Oregon. I got to run a huge variety of trains in my career, even long trains with a manned caboose on the rear. I also got to run a huge variety of locomotives spanning from then new AC-6000's to 50 year old SD and GP-9's with 24RL brake systems to piloting big steam being the Daylight and SP&S 700 with a short stint at running the latter one. I even got the run a restored Alco RSD-5 and F-unit in revenue service. I took great pride in my trainhandling abilities always striving to improve my depth at working the controls and I got the most student engineers as I gladly passed the intricacies of my craft on to new engineers.

While many hated the extraboard, I always bid it in over a regular assigned job. I loved it for the variety of operations, personel namely getting to work with many conductors, most had become good friends, and yes even different times on duty. Granted, back then, the RR I worked for looked hard and fast at fatigue issues and always tried to give me good rest. Yes there are dowsides to railroading such as having to work in rotten weather, and less time for your family. But some of us do enjoy the job overall.

I would suggest getting on board with a good shortline or regional. These RR's have one thing that is almost non-existant on Class 1's. That being regular jobs that start on duty the same time everyday. On a class 1 only the oldest and highest sceniority personel got these jobs, usually 30 years or more on the job. On the shortline and small regionals these jobs are the bread and butter of the RR's income and you don't have to work 30 years to land one. I was able to bid one in after just one year running trains. While many railroaders look down on shortlines and regionals, you actually have more freedom and you gain very good trainhandling skills on lost railroading techniques that Class 1's now forbid. I was qualified on over 600 miles of trackage ranging from CTC mainline to mountain grade territory to branchline operations. WE were allowed to kick cars, Dutch Drop, Drops on the fly, and get on and off moving equipment up to 10mph. Also many shortlines are the last stomping grounds for older unique deisels.

[BNSFfan]

I was thinking in 4 years, I'd try to go to college, and work for the Minnesota Commercial. That way the hours are regular, and i can attempt at getting some school in for some extra's. As Bill said in the above post. The MNNR has very unique diesels that you cant even find anywhere else now days, their RS-27's for example.

[CSX4878]

Thats why I plan to get with Guilford. GP7/9's; GP35's; SD26's; and that SD39. :)

Even though it's 12 hour shifts, I believe they are scheduled shifts.
Because I tend to see the same crew during the same hours different days.

[rdamurphy]

I talked to a railroad recently, at an OLI meeting, where he commented about being on a train for 12 hours, travelling 8 miles from the yard, going dead on the clock, and then being transported via suburban to the opposite end of the sub-division. 92 miles away. Where he sat in a motel for 3 days before getting a trip home.

He then went on a 30 minute dissertation about how much he hated the railroad he worked for and how much he loved the one he started with before it was bought out...

Robert