When you work as a conductor or engineer for the RR hours don't matter. You go by "starts". You get paid by miles. As a young conductor in a big terminal you would probably work the yard extra board. Basically you would fill in for other yard conductors who call out o are on their off days. You could be a hostler. They are conbuctors who specify in moving and switching engines. Some places have preference boards. Those are boards where the most senior guys get called first, take the best jobs, then everything else goes down the list. Those are generally the low seniority jobs.

All the conductor work I know of is guaranteed. Meaning no matter how much you work or haw many hours you put in you get a base pay. You can earn more than guarantee by working alot but the guarantee is there so you can still make money if business slows down, or if you are the extra board and you don't get called for awhile.

Usually you will work alot. Alot. I have been working for the RR for almost six years and that is still low seniority. I am still on the extra board. The last month I have twenty eight starts, and the last two weeks I have over one hundred hours. That is not conting hotel time. I have not drwn guarantee for quite awhile.

Again this is as general as I can get, like I said earlier every RR and terminal and district is different. There are some many different contracts and rules and local union bylaws that could change what you would be doing and where you would be doing it.

I just got called for work but one more thing that might help.

As the new guy you will work "on your rest" more often than not. Meaning you will be home for ten hours to get rest then you be called again. When business is heavy that will be the routine. Be home for ten hours, get called for a train, spend twelve hours on the train, sixteen hours in the hotel, get called to go home, then another twelve hours on a train, go home do it all over again.

The work is easy and the pay and benefits are good but the schedule is..... grinding.

Get hired stick out the early years and you're golden.

I worked as a Locomotive Electrician at BNSF for 3 1/2 years in between getting laid off as an A & P (Airframe and Powerplant) Mechanic at the airlines. You will not be able to hire in off the street as an Electrician or Diesel Mechanic unless you have similar technical experience somewhere else. They did take a lot of laid off aircraft mechanics because of their technical background. Also the Diesel Mechanics came from jobs such as heavy equipment and truck mechanics.

If you don’t have the experience you should try to hire in as a Laborer and get into their apprenticeship program for Electrician or Diesel Mechanic. I think it was a three year apprenticeship if I remember correctly. They would rotate those guys around the shop to learn all the jobs. Plus they would send them to schools too. If you have a choice, try to get an Electricians job. It’s a lot cleaner. Those damn Locomotives are filthy, nasty and everything on them is heavy. I myself was glad to leave but then again I have worked on airplanes for 27 years and enjoy it more.

Well, if one ever breaks apart in mid-air, we know who to blame now.

When I was a little kid, there was a neighbor across the street. My mom once told me Mr. Fisher is an engineer. I thought he was the coolest cuz he got to drive trains all day. Silly me, he worked at a desk designing flood plains or some shit.

Hey now. I troll here enough to know what you are talking about. :)

All of the electrician/mechanic/carman jobs I'm looking at are apprentice jobs. I never thought about how filthy the locomotives can get. It doesn't really bother me, but I guess it could make a difference.