What are my odds for yard/depo work vs Road work with calss 1 certification w/ the railroad.?

Question

I am interested in Joining UP at my local yard in Roseville CA. I have a family freind who has been with up for 12 years. I value his opinions greatly but would like additional opinions. What are my odds of getting a yard/depo assignment vs road work. I saw a recent post on this forum which cited that newbies are relegated to working the yard for less money, however, at the pay rate of 50000 annually I would be making a big increase.

With this cert, Do my chances of becoming a Yard engineer/conductor improve? See Prior Question: Can I choose to remain in yard "depot work" perm/ with occasional a to b road assignments. At 50,000 annually, I will be living well. Just wanna make decent money without the typical RR sacrifices if possible. I have loved trains from a young age. Any and all experiance/advise is appreciated.

31 minutes ago - 3 days left to answer. This Is a career I have dreamed about, however the more I learn about the Grouling hours, The more I am discourag

34 minutes ago - 3 days left to answer.

Answer 1

Every locaton differs, you might go straight to the road or an extra board that works primiarily road vacacies or you may mostly be in the yard or locals.

what is applicable at one terminal might be wroing somewhere else.

You really need local advice, ask some of the younger switchmen at the location you are looking at working in.

Or you can talk to the local chairman, they can give you pretty good ideas on what to expect.

Either way they are good jobs with good benefits and a very good retirement ifyou stay with it.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

The railroad does demand sacrifice of certain things in your life.The road jobs pay higher but you will be gone from home.Where i work i usually am gone for 2 days then home for 2 which can vary especially on holidays and weekends.One thing you need to be aware of...the UPRR makes you take promotion to engineer when they bulletin engineer trainee positions unless there are younger guys on the seniority roster that apply for the trainee spots.But someday you will be forced to take promotion.If you fail to make promotion to engineer you are done with the railroad.One thing ...you need to get your foot in the door if you want a career railroading ,so if you go for an interview tell them you will work any shift any days they want you too.If you tell them something along the lines that you don't want to work the road i'm pretty sure they will show you the door.Rango gave you good advice about talking to some of the younger guys and get their take on things.I'm not meaning to discourage you but there are things about railroading that's not for everyone.As for me I like the job including the weird hours.I must i've been at it for 31 years  lol Good luck to you