CSX REDI Center

Anyone that might know? how different is the training at the redi between condutor school and carman school??

Anyone know if they have a Conductor class scheduled for November?

From what I hear they are starting a new class every week again. We have 9 news guys at Avon who got here last week and they say more are down there and more will be hired. Same thing as every year pretty much. Wait to long to hire guys, hire like crazy, mark them up in the dead season and furlough them, hope a few come back after furlough. Same thing Happened to me in 2011. Now I know they have a long term goal, but you think even railroad management would be smart enough to see that they get short handed the same time ever year and need to hire earlier lol.

trekker wrote:Anyone know if they have a Conductor class scheduled for November?

I start November 18, 2013 at the REDI center. anyone else gonna be in that class? (new hire freight conductor..Montgomery, AL)

mannw1989 wrote:

trekker wrote:Anyone know if they have a Conductor class scheduled for November?

I start November 18, 2013 at the REDI center. anyone else gonna be in that class? (new hire freight conductor..Montgomery, AL)

I just got out of there a couple of weeks ago. Get ready, because they dump a ton of information on you in a short period of time, but it's stuff you'll use day to day. Good study habits are really important, so find your groove when you get there and stick with it.

jheitz wrote:

mannw1989 wrote:

trekker wrote:Anyone know if they have a Conductor class scheduled for November?

I start November 18, 2013 at the REDI center. anyone else gonna be in that class? (new hire freight conductor..Montgomery, AL)

I just got out of there a couple of weeks ago. Get ready, because they dump a ton of information on you in a short period of time, but it's stuff you'll use day to day. Good study habits are really important, so find your groove when you get there and stick with it.

Thanks for the info friend! I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about the railroad and starting a career!

I will be there Nov 18th as well for Freight conductor.

Jheitz,

Thanks for posting with good advice.

I am a new hire with a tentative start date of Jan. 6th, dependent on the amount of guys HR gets together for a class. I will be working in Augusta, GA. I'm excited and motivated to get started!

Question: Could you pass on a pearl or two that you wish someone would have passed on to you before you sat for class at REDI? Maybe leave the IPAD but bring the laptop kind of thing? Avoid/assemble study groups, perhaps? Whatever you might think is valuable.

Also, is there someplace I can get my hands on a textbook, Signals book, NORAC rules for Augusta or whatever? Maybe online, ebay, etc? I only ask because I have two months between now and the start of class, and I would love to get a head start on studies. I do not want to fail any tests or quizzes.

This could be answered by anyone with the REDI experience, btw. Thanks.

rtmason7 wrote:Jheitz,

Thanks for posting with good advice.

I am a new hire with a tentative start date of Jan. 6th, dependent on the amount of guys HR gets together for a class. I will be working in Augusta, GA. I'm excited and motivated to get started!

Question: Could you pass on a pearl or two that you wish someone would have passed on to you before you sat for class at REDI? Maybe leave the IPAD but bring the laptop kind of thing? Avoid/assemble study groups, perhaps? Whatever you might think is valuable.

Also, is there someplace I can get my hands on a textbook, Signals book, NORAC rules for Augusta or whatever? Maybe online, ebay, etc? I only ask because I have two months between now and the start of class, and I would love to get a head start on studies. I do not want to fail any tests or quizzes.

This could be answered by anyone with the REDI experience, btw. Thanks.

If you're going for signals they'll give you the books when you start signal school. For right now you could get a book on basic electricity and study up on OHM's law. Anything more than that would just be confusing to you at this point. You need to keep your head as uncluttered as possible so as to absorb everything they'll be teaching you. In other words try not
to think to much till it comes time for you to.

Classes start every Monday, but they are booked in advance. Most have to wait a month or so for their scheduled class. I got lucky, I got notified my class starts within 2 weeks once I finished all my medical and physical, but that is probably because a spot opened up. Chances are you will have to wait a month or so for your scheduled spot, but a new class starts here every Monday so they have a ton of people moving through each week. They currently have two shifts, and it seems like they are now starting up a 3rd shift of classes, probably to get more people through.

Just got the word today from CSX to report for conductor training at the REDI on Jan. 6th.

Ready to start studying, training, and getting some OJT!

Hey my name is Andy and Im new to the forum. Just finished my physical and strength test for CSX! Hiring on for conductor out of Syracuse NY. I was told that the planned date for Redi start is the second week of February. Anyone else on here have that date and if you do where are you hiring out of? Cant wait to get started its been a long process! I would appreciate any responses!

crofut75 wrote:Hey my name is Andy and Im new to the forum. Just finished my physical and strength test for CSX! Hiring on for conductor out of Syracuse NY. I waf2f oos told that the planned date for Redi start is the second week of February. Anyone else on here have that date and if you do where are you hiring out of? Cant wait to get started its been a long process! I would appreciate any responses!

Congrats. .I applied for conductor for Atlanta yard.still waiting on interview if it didn't already pass. I have goggled railroad signals and switch and found some good info.plz let us knw how things turn out

For those heading to the REDI Center for Conductor training:

If you're assigned to the SOUTHERN region, like me, do yourself a favor and look up 'Seaboard Color Light Signals and Indications." You will be required to recognize and memorize the signals and their indications word for word.

Note: A new updated version of the rules book was issued January 2014. Anything before then, to include Signal Aspects and indications, is invalid. There is a lot of info on the net dealing with signals (ie. Quizlet.com), but the info is outdated. Some of the indications (definitions) have subtle changes from earlier versions. Be careful not to memorize outdated info.

Hope this helps. I'm at the REDI now in my 4th week. I wish someone would have given me this info prior to me starting my training. Hope this helps.

Mason

For those that asked me a while back about the REDI, sorry about not getting back to you. My terminal is a couple hours from my house so I don't have much free time. For those with dates to go, trying to prepare ahead of time might not be worth the time. For one thing, you might try to learn a specific set of signals ahead of time but when you get there they tell you that you need to learn another set. Also the study guides that they give are mostly workbook style, and the real information is in the operating rules books. They just changed the Operating Rules here at the beginning of the year, so getting your hands on an updated copy ahead of time might be tough unless you know someone that is willing to part with theirs for a bit.

I was one of those that was partially clueless when I went down there about anything railroad, and I think for me that was better. The information was all new and I didn't have to take the time to relearn things that I may have learned the wrong way prior to going. We had a couple guys with prior railroad experience that struggled a little because they had to relearn and drop bad habits they had picked up. This is just my point of view though, a lot of the other guys would probably say they wish they had learned signals before they went to make things a little easier. The workload is going to be heavy anyway, regardless of trying to learn things ahead of time.

Also, something to remember is the REDI is an idealized environment, with the "CSX Best Practices," but may not be how things are done out at your terminals when you get there. I've had to undo things I learned there because of the way my terminal runs, and each terminal seems to be a little different....just some gee-whiz information about CSX before you get to school.

Good luck to all those that got in and will be heading down to school. Your learning doesn't stop there so prepare yourself well, and try to have fun with it. The railroad is a good time. It's demanding, but there's nothing like it, best job I've had!