How many Females are in the industry?

Question

Some reason I just love trains! I am a woman, 20 years old. I want to work with trains, not for the trains (make sence?). What jobs can I go and get, in the Phoenix Area. I finshed High School. Plus how many Females work here?

Answer 1

Good for you - it's a good career choice and nowadays just about as easy for women as for men to get in, at least in my experience.

You might find this page interesting - the US top 101 cities for percentage of females in the rail industry:

http://www.city-data.com/top2/c851.html

Here's also an interesting chart looking at the UK and percentage of females in the workforce for transport industries:

http://www.guidance-research.org/future-...

I think you might find this website very interesting, all about females in the rail world, and you can purchase a book about women in the rail industry too:

http://www.railwaywomen.co.uk/

Sounds like you'd want to become either an engineer or work for BNSF locomotive maintenance?

Answer 2

http://www.bnsf.com/careers/faqs.html

http://www.unionpacific.jobs/

http://www.thetrain.com/

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

Answer 3

Trains are pretty cool, for sure. I've been working on them and around them since fourteen years old, when I was taken as an apprentice. That puts me at about seven years experience. There are women in the field, and it's not too hard to get hired. It definitely helps to know people, and it doesn't hurt to go in with a little prior knowledge. If you want, I can see about getting you some conductor's literature to look over. At the very least, you can familiarize yourself with the tasks of the job and what each crew member does. You'd be entering as a conductor, who does all the work on the ground when trains are being assembled and moved. Once you do that for a few years, you can start training as an engineer.

Answer 4

There are not as many percentage wise as you might expect but it is not because of hiring practices on the railroad.

As a woman you have exactly the same odds of getting hired but not a lot of women want the hours and conditions.

There are some and they do perfectly well, if it is somethign you are interested in, go for it.

Conductor and engineer have been merged into one operating department so if you start out in train service within a few years you will probably be offered a chance to promote to engineer.

It is difficult for a woman to have a family and work for a railroad in operating department so that is one reason there are not as many out here.

Women do quite well in train service, physically they are totally capable, if you try it you will probaly know within 6 months if it is a career you want to stick with

Good Luck!

Answer 5

It is easiest to get in to train service. You're trained as a conductor at first. My hiring class started with 20 people - 8 of those were female. The work in the first few years is the hardest and most challenging. If you stick with it, it gets easier. The women with no at-home family responsibilities are the ones that lasted. We've all scattered now (my hiring class) and I'm at my third railroad. But I still see some of those folks from time to time in different places and different cities on the job. It's great to see 'em again, and get together for a time to talk of the old days. I started out in Phoenix myself with the Santa Fe, about 20 years ago. It's too long of a story, but I ended up in Minnesota as an engineer on a short line railroad that only runs two trains a day.