Ive always wanted to be a railroad engineer (train driver) for CSX freight but is the railroad industry dying?

Question

ive met engineers that said that by the time i get finished with school it will all be run by satelite or dead

Answer 1

The railroads are a permanent fixture.  Switching operations are done by remote control in many areas with a long list of derailments and collisions as its legacy.  If the public only knew, they would be screaming at the top of their lungs to cease and desist these operations.

Though trains may be tracked by satellite there will always be someone at the controls.  There is an iron ore carrier in Australia that is a remote operation, but it is 1,000 miles of straight, level railroad from the outback, fenced on both sides with no crossings.

The engineers you have been talking to are mis-informed, and ridgerunner is absolutely correct.

Answer 2

the rail way will never die. they ship far to much to be but in trucks. as for satelite trains? Sure some maybe but not all there is work to be done on line and if somthing happens there has to be some one  to fix it and get the train going again. I do not think that you can be an engineer first. you start out as a brakeperson than conductor and then eng. if you pass all the test and training

Answer 3

absolutley not, theres no way it all can be shipped by semi. go to some of the bigger cities and look around instead of like where I live where a train comes thru maybe 2 times every 3 weeks.

Answer 4

The railroads are some of the most stable companies in the US. Some of the largest Class 1's employ over 30,000 people and they are expecting about 40% of the railroad employees to retire within the next 5 years, so they are hiring like crazy to keep up with the work they have and to replace the people they will lose soon.

It is not a job for the Mon.-Fri. 9 to 5'er. They run 24/7/365, this is no exaggeration. As a new hire you can forget about being home nights, weekends, holidays. You will remember those times as "the good old days".

The sort line railroads have more stable work hours but there is a trade off, they operate on such tight budgets they tend to not pay as well, insurance not as good but more expensive, and safety is a nuisance.

This is a very dangerous job and not a job to jump into it is one that needs to be carefully considered.

Answer 5

No it ain't dying by no means, You have to go to school to be Train person first, then after about 1 year or so you will go to school to be an engineer good paying jobs but never home, Divorce rate is awesome, Best of Luck

Answer 6

If the railroad was dying, I think that it would have already done so.  Watched a program a few weeks back that had the president of NS on it and he said that in the past year they have grown a lot with the amount of freight being shipped.  They will be looking in the next few years for a good many replacements with all the baby boomers retiring from work.  I say  . . . . go for it!

Answer 7

csx is making good business and every day they making more use of the employee