How hard is it to drive trains?

Question

I'm thinking of a career as a train driver and i would like to know how hard it is.

Thanks! :)

Answer 1

It's rail-ly easy.

Sorry, that's all I got.

Answer 2

A very skilled job. You need to be in perfect health and have 20/20 vision.

I don't drive trains myself but have met plenty of people who do, and they tell me it's hard work but very satisfying.

Answer 3

If you are seriously thinking about it as a career, good for you.

It is not easy but the railroad offers plenty of on the job and classroom training.

They dont want anyone in a postioin of responsibility that is not properly trained.

If you are willing to work at it and are lucky enough to get hired, you can do it.

good Luck

Answer 4

Well i run freight trains and learning to run a train is fairly easy.Learning to run one well takes time.I know engineers that have been running trains for years that i don't consider good engineers.When your running a 20,000 ton coal train that takes almost 2 miles to stop there isn't room for much error.Passenger trains are much easier because they are much lighter,don't have all the slack freight trains have,and they use a different brake system with regards as to how the brake valve operates.On the railroad i work for it's a 2 year training program now.

Wally Z you think it's easy?Have you ever ran a train?I'll quarantee you there's nothing easy about running down a mountain in fog or a blizzard and stuffing an 8000 foot train into a 8200 foot siding when you can't see 50 feet in front of you.

Answer 5

running a train is not difficult, running one well is a different story.

There are a variety of things that make running a train difficult.

1. the 'soup' (what kind of cars you have ... empty or loads, and cushioned drawbars, solid drawbar, loaded tanks)

2. Grade (percentage of rise in the track... 1% and higher is pretty steep)

3. frequency of change in grade (if the track goes up, then down or if you are going up at a 1% then back down at 1% there is alot of stress at the crest of that hill)

4. Running in a fuel efficient manner, or run for a smooth ride (what we like to call stretch-braking)

5.1 the territory that you run on.  for example if you have a 100 mile run, you need to know what is atleast a mile behind where you are at, and a mile ahead of where you are at so that you can run your train efficiently, and smoothly. for a total of 200 miles (100 miles from point A-B and another 100 from point B-A) If you work in a terminal that runs in multiple directions and it is consolidated onto one extra board then you will need to know the territory covering all of those directions.

5.2 again in territory, what are the permanent speeds of turnouts, curves, through towns, over interlocker's etc. and for temporary slow orders (form A) for temporary speed restrictions that do not show in the prescribed speed for this particular piece of track. (in the timetable)

6. one of the hard parts is the amount of rest you get.... you may show to go out at 0800 so you stay up all day before so that you will be 'rested' before you go to work, but then the person ahead of you takes a day off so now you go to work at midnight (0001)

7. running a train at 10 miles per hour will work you to death because you don't have the momentum you need to keep from always changing something (more brake, more throttle, etc)

Over all it is a great job as far as jobs go.  Your co-workers are usually your friend because you have a common enemy (the carrier... which is whatever company you work for), the only real turn off to the job is the jobs that you will have to work when you first hire out, you will be bottom of the barrel, so you get the worst ones that are in that terminal... and assuming that you have enough conductors seniority after a couple of years to get into an engineer class, after passing your test you will be at the bottom again.

Good luck if you really want to do it.  I didn't know that i wanted to until i heard how good RR retirement was. (that was almost 3 years ago)  I have been working for BNSF for almost 3 years now and have been an Engineer for over one year. In no way do i know everything about railroading, but i try to help out as much as possible.

If you hire out, you will want to go with one of the Class-1's

BNSF Burlington Northern Santa Fe

UP      Union Pacific

CN      Canadian National

CP      Canadian Pacific

CSX   ??

NS       Norfolk Southern

KCS    Kansas City Southern

Choose one that is in your area or the area that you want to go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_I_rai...

BTW after reading some other posts i thought that i would clear up something that someone else said.

Mandatory time off is only 8 hours (this includes time to go home eat dinner, shower, sleep, take your 1.5 hour call and be back to work in 8 hours) 1.5 hour call means that you only have 6.5 hours max for sleeping assuming you slept in your car at the depot.  This time is increased to 10 hours if you are DOL (dead on the law) which is after having 12 hours (or more) on duty... my longest to date is 23hrs45min (got stuck in blizzard in Wyoming April 2007)

Any more questions ask and i will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Answer 6

Curious to see the answer on this one.

Answer 7

Man driving a train is easy... i could tell you how to get a trian moving. just let me know if u need help.

Answer 8

They are very difficult to steer

Answer 9

Wait I'll ask my retired engineer Dad a real hoghead. Hey Pops how hard is it to drive a train? Answer,,,, It's a life long learning experience. I tried to get him to drive a train on Microsoft train Sims. He crashed...lol

Answer 10

I'm Going tell you the underlying story, about working on the rails. There are speed limits on the rails, and on the locos they have black boxes, cameras, mics, and other devices that can get you fired from you job, if you tamper with them and the locos. Not having weekends off and they can call you and time to be on a train. Crews have to be off duty for 12 -14 hrs mandated by the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration), but they can call you in to work at 10hrs. But as for driving a train you can learn how to do it in a day. To know how to use that knowledge takes a life time.

Answer 11

As with all things, it depends on a person's innate abilities.  Some take to it rather easily, while others with less aptitude struggle their whole career.

Both types will get from point "A" to point"B" eventually, and usually in one piece.  The difference is, one of 'em will be runnin' scared for thirty years...

Beyond that, it's quite difficult to describe with words, when one has no point of reference.  It is so different from all else, it would be like trying to describe the color "green" to one who has been blind since birth.

Answer 12

It is rather easy to operate but quite hard to get into that business.  It is often a union job and it might have to talk to the local to see if they have any apprentice programs.  

Also the responsibilities can be great if your train is involved in some accident as often people die in them.

Answer 13

if u get trained for like 2 or 3 years then it wouldnt be that hard but if u just start to drive it. it can be really hard lol

Answer 14

This is an easy question to find the answer to and you dont need us to get it.

Go to your local rail yard and watch and listen to the people who are driving the trains in your area.    

If those guys can do it just about anyone can.   Yes it does take a lot of training (long time) but its not a difficult thing to learn.   Much of the training is hands on.

As I say the proof is in the quality of the drivers you see.

Answer 15

Learning to run a locomotive well depends on your experience with engines and vehicles in general. If you really want to know what you're doing, you actually need to know what's happening behind you and beneath you (and sometimes in front of you) when you move the controls. In a car, all you really need to know is where the accelerator, brake, shifter, and steering wheel are. But with a train, you need to know what's going on under the hood.

Let's see here. You need to know a lot about the air brake system and how it works, both in theory and in practice, and how it's affected by varying temperatures and humidity. You need to know about the behavior of rolling stock, including slack action, the timing of brake applications, the forces resulting from differently weighted cars, and on and on.

Before you become an engineer, you'll train as a brakeman, also called a conductor. While the engineer goes forward and backward, the brakeman does everything on the ground. Tasks include coupling and uncoupling cars, managing the air brake system, lining switches, and all that stuff you read about. That's when you'll learn all the basics of railroad operations. As a brakeman, you'll also be in the cab a lot, which means you'll see what your partner is doing. And once you have the brakeman thing down, you can train as an engineer.

Now. The best engineers are the ones who remember what it was like to be a brakeman. For example, good engineers will do everything they can to keep the slack under control, because they remember what it was like to ride the side of a boxcar and worry about getting thrown off the thing.

As a rule, just be ready to learn, and don't get too secure with everything you think you know. Trains tend to surprise you, because every one is different. And of course, keep safety in the front of your mind. Work at a somewhat leisurely pace, and don't let anyone try to speed you up, because that's when accidents happen. For the same reason, don't cut corners. It's better to work by the book than it is to get home twenty minutes earlier.

That's my two cents. The others should have more to contribute.

Answer 16

My son has been a locomotive engineer for 12 years, and pulls freight trains.  From talking to him, the hardest part is keeping the train "tight", with no slack between cars...In the case of a 150 car freight, part of the train is going uphill, while part of it is going downhill, and speed and brake control is the key to running the train smoothly...Once you are hired by the railroad, train for the conductor job, and by seniority, you will become eligible for Locomotive Engineer School...I think it is a three month course, and held on Federal Regulations, emergency procedures, and many hours in a simulator, as well as actually running a live locomotive...