Where can i learn how to become a freight train or passenger train engineer?

Question

is there a certain school? is there pre-training or schooling i should get first? Is it only on-the-job training? if so, i do i get put on-the-job if i have no idea how to drive one of them? what kind of pay can i expect to start and 5 years into the job? are there only certain states where i would work? how often would i be home? for how long could i expect to be away? How big of a lunch should i pack? do i get to sleep on the train or will i be put up in a hotel? tell me everything and anything you can about this business.

Answer 1

If you want a more lightweight exposure to being a train engineer, find your nearest historic railway museum (non-profit), and volunteer.  You'll need to "join as a member" (under $40 a year) and then they will be happy to teach and certify you, and then have you run trains for them.

A "tourist railway" is a for-profit version of a railway museum, and they sometimes accept volunteers to run their trains.  You gotta ask yourself how you feel about helping somebody else's for-profit enterprise for no pay.   A few tourist railways and short line railroads also pay, so sometimes you can get a job, or volunteer work (there or elsewhere) can lead to a job.

Now, this doesn't mix with some drugs.  Not just the illegal ones, but liquor and many prescription or over-the-counter drugs as well. So if you are a drug user, no matter how responsible your use might be, you better research and get clear on the legal impact of that.  Testing is obligatory (by law) after an accident, and you never can tell when an accident could happen.  So for all practical purposes, all railways have random testing, even if it isn't their formal policy.

Answer 2

No one hires out in engine service any longer.

Although trainmen (conductors) are considered first, the railroads recruit from other crafts, such as Maintenance of Way.  The ticket is to get on with a railroad in any capacity, with the proverbial 'foot in the door.'

As a conductor, when need arises for additional engineers, you may be required to take promotion to locomotive engineer.  You get two shots at it.  If you fail after the second attempt, your employment will be terminated.

It's not for everybody and the responsibility can weigh heavy on a person.  Anyone contemplating railroad employment needs to consider these things in addition to the other downsides, such as absence from home.

Trainmen hire out at 75% of full scale, and after five years can expect to be working at full scale.  If working the road, you can expect to be gone at 36 hours a whack, have 10 or 12 hours at home, then gone again for another day and a half.

Bring a big lunch.  Even a 'dog catcher' trip (called to relieve a crew expired on the hours of service and bring their train into your terminal) can wind up as a 12 hour trip.

Sleeping while on duty is prohibited, but as long as one person on the crew is alert (while stopped to meet another train on single track) sleeping is tacitly tolerated.  If observed sleeping on a moving train discipline will be the result.

All railroads provide away from home lodging, or a lodging allowance if electing to stay in other than company provided lodging.  Most motels are OK, but I have been in some flea bags.

Trainmen have system seniority.  Engineers don't.  So, where manpower is needed, you can be forced to work at that location, whether on an adjoining seniority district or out of state.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is this.  The pay is good, so most people fall into 'the trap'.  Buy a new car, plane, boat, motorcycle, etc., etc.  Then you are trapped and cannot walk away once you have had a belly full.  After ten years, you are vested in Railroad Retirement, as you do not participate in SSA.  the amount of pension will be reduced and not payable until reaching retirement age, which these days is 67 years of age, with 30 years (360 months) of participation.

The pension is much, much more than the annuities payable through SSA.  I retired early, account disability (in this event, you need 240 months paid in to qualify for full pension) after 28 years of service (I hired out 3 days after graduating high scool in 1971) and my annuity is just over $33,000 per year.

But, there are other 'perks' to being an engineer, although they are not measurable.  It is you against the machine, and when you get an uncooperative train into town, there is a certain amount of satisfaction that goes along with it.  You won.  Today.

Another downside, your average engineer, over a 30 year career, can expect to kill three people.  It can be traumatic.  I know a man who hit a pleasure van full of teenagers on Graduation Night, killing all eight of them.  One young girl died as he cradled her head in his lap, a piece of metal driven into her skull.

This is real deal no bullshit stuff and it should not be taken lightly.

If you are the right type of person, your satisfaction will be its own reward.

I wish you well in your endeavor, and keep the wheels on the steel.............

Answer 3

Most railroads will hire you on as a conductor first, then, depending on your seniority and safety record, you can go for engineering training.  There are schools that offer training, such as NARS, which will obviously give you an advantage over other applicants.  But you can also be hired off the streets with no prior RR experience.  Pay varies from RR to RR, but 40 grand or more can be expected depending on how much you work.  How often you're home depends on what kind of job you work.  If you're lucky enough to get a yard job, you're home everyday.  If you're on a road job, get ready for being on call 24-7-365, except for vacation days, or personal days.  You get put up in hotels when working on the road.  What RR you work for and where you work will determine how long you are out on the road, and how long you will be out for.  

If you enjoy working and don't mind missing out on some thing with your friends, or significant other, then it's a good job.  But if you have alot of things going on that you need to be at or like to make plans to do things, find a different career.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

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