[Hotwheels]

Didn't want to hijack another thread, so I'm just throwing this out there for guys to check out.

Railroads pay pretty well, the big ones anyway, and depending on the job you take you can be home every night or be on call 7/24. If there is interest I can give you a lot more details as I have been in the industry for about 15 years.

Here's some links to check out;
Railroad retirement board- http://www.rrb.gov/pands/jobs/rrjobs.asp

http://www.railroadjobs.com/

In train service as a new hire conductor you should make at least 60K/year. Engineers with some seniority are commonly over 100K.

That's working road trains, Yard job, common in larger cities will be a bit less. It all depends on how much you work.

They have been hiring. Not all jobs are listed by any means on the RRB website. But if you scroll down you will find links to all the major railroads and some of the smaller ones. Go to each companies website and look for the employment page to apply.

Since North Dakota has been a hot topic here, I'll mention that BNSF hired about 350 people in the state last year and as I understand it they are adding more as they ramp up capacity for hauling out the Bakken crude.

Canadian Pacific is also hiring out there as shown on the RRB page. (Soo Line is part of CP)

Like I say, if anyone has need for specifics post them up and I'll answer them.

I should note that railroaders do not pay social security. Instead, we have railroad retirement. You pay a bit more in but you get a LOT more back in the end. Retire at 60 with 30 years in.

[Deb Auchery]

$60k to check peoples tickets?, wow.

[MikeCF]

Nice tip.

Warren Buffett recently bought a railroad, so you know the business is looking up.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23...eline.html

[el mechanico]

We had this dick neighbor who was a conductor when I was a kid. My father found out how much he made a year one day and got pissed (hater) because he used to feel bad for him with 5 kids on what he thought was a small income. The same thing happened when they posted anothers salary in the paper who was a Lieutenant. Both of them were over 150k in the early eighties

[Screwston]

Are all the jobs physical labor? Is experience or a degree required? Is it a year round job or are there positions on and off for weeks or months at a time?

[Hotwheels]

(06-26-2012 05:12 PM)Deb Auchery Wrote:  

$60k to check peoples tickets?, wow.

I'm not sure, but I think the guys on the commuter lines and Amtrak make more.

We're talking freight railroads here.

However, I did meet a guy that was an attendant on Amtrak that claimed to make over 100K due to tips. Banged broads on the train too.

The long distance Amtrak trains have sleepers...

[Hotwheels]

(06-26-2012 05:45 PM)houston Wrote:  

Are all the jobs physical labor? Is experience or a degree required? Is it a year round job or are there positions on and off for weeks or months at a time?

Generally they are all year round jobs unless you live in the northern states. Then as a low seniority maintenance of way guy (engineering. In other words working on the track)) you would likely be laid off as the track gangs shut down and the older guys go back to what are called section jobs.

If you go into anything else it should be year round. I'm sure some areas of the country have slow periods, but as a rule it's a full time, year round gig.

Edit-Train service jobs are not physical labor by any means. The track stuff and B&B can be but most of it is mechanized.

Here's just some of the jobs on the railroad;

Locomotive engineer (Promoted from conductor. Not hired off the street unless experienced)
conductor
track laborer
machine operator
section foreman (the "section" maintains track)
gang foreman (Runs the steel and tie gangs. Gangs travel)
diesel mechanic
electrician
signal maintainer
boilermaker (You don't actually make or repair boilers for the most part anymore)
bridge and building crew (carpenters, etc)
track inspector
clerks

And of course they have jobs for civil, electrical, etc engineers and other assorted professions.

Working on a train crew, where most of the hiring is, you will generally start out on what is called an extra board. You will fill vacancies, recrew trains that have expired on hours, etc, so you are on call basically 7/24. The most you can work is 12 hours and you have a minimum of 12 hours off between runs.

On road trains you will generally lay over at "the away from home terminal" and bring a train back to your home terminal. On these you will usually be gone about 30-40 hours and home anywhere from 12 to 40 depending on staffing and traffic.

The "hours of service" law is kinda complicated and beyond what can really be explained in detail here, but if you work a lot you are required to be off for 48 hours after 6 days or 72 after 7.

There is so much to explain, especially with the various jobs, I can't really do it all in one post. So, if there is a specific job or question ask away.