Do railroads hire 18 year olds?

My dream job has always been to become a locomotive engineer. I have always wanted to be one for as long as I can remember. Since I'm 18 now, I wanted to see if it was possible to get my foot in the door by getting a railroad job. Currently I'm still in high school, but I have way more credits than I need, so I'm slated to be done by December. I planned to start applying after I was done with school. As far as work history goes, I have never held a regular job before but I have a clean criminal and drug record and I'm also a soldier in the Army National Guard. The railroads that I wanted to apply to were SEPTA and Amtrak and I wanted to start out as an assistant conductor and hopefully get promoted or work my way up.

Yes. It does happen. Check your PM's. I'll shoot you one.

Acela150 wrote:Yes. It does happen. Check your PM's. I'll shoot you one.

I received it and I thank you, as it was very informative. I do have some questions, but unfortunately I couldn't reply due to being a new user.

So why do you want to be a locomotive engineer? I only ask because you are still young and surely it will be one of your interview questions someday so never to early to come up with a good reason.

Edit: I was 18 when I hired on as a trainmen, it's very hard to get picked up but not impossible. You probably need to build some type of work experience first, I know I had 2 retail jobs going when I got picked up.

8th Notch wrote:So why do you want to be a locomotive engineer? I only ask because you are still young and surely it will be one of your interview questions someday so never to early to come up with a good reason.

Edit: I was 18 when I hired on as a trainmen, it's very hard to get picked up but not impossible. You probably need to build some type of work experience first, I know I had 2 retail jobs going when I got picked up.

That's a hard question to answer. It's just something I always wanted to do. Obviously, I wouldn't say that in an interview (I know that revealing that you're a railfan is a no-no). I'm not even a huge "foamer" railfan but I do enjoy watching and riding trains. I also know that the pay is good and it provides a good opportunity to travel.

I'm assuming by "opportunity to travel" you mean freedom to roam around and work different jobs, different places, etc.? Let me say this. Crew districts (routes/mileages) are only so long. They have to be, because of union rules and federal Hours of Service laws. And once you've worked the same pieces of railroad both ways, and spent plenty of quality time at the various away-from-home-terminals... you get where I'm going. Yes, you might run several different ways out of whichever terminal you hire in. Yes, you might have other terminals nearby that you can easily transfer to. It will all be new and fun and exciting for maybe even as much as ten years. But a fellow does eventually reach a certain point where he feels like he's kind of "seen everything". It no longer feels like traveling - it's just another day at work. And if you hire on young, like I did (21) - once you get 10 years under your belt, it's kinda hard to swallow the idea that you still have ANOTHER thirty to go!

T&E on Amtrak has (mostly) nationwide seniority, subject to stipulations. Consider commuter roads CAREFULLY!- they generally have some of the best pay and bennies, but they also mean you're stuck in the same city, on the same few lines, until the end of time! Some seni districts on some class-1 roads also have sort-of-national seniority. In some cases in freight I've heard of fellows doing seniority+location "swaps", with other willing fellows, subject to mgmt approval.

No matter where you are or who you work for, if you ever decide to try a different company or a different craft, you WILL forfeit all seniority and start all over again.

I wish you good luck. Having the Guard on your resume will help you, but lack of work experience won't. If you don't get on as engineer right away, it's ok, 95% of people won't. Try again as trainman if you have to. Emphasize the Guard membership and anything you might be able to relate w/r/t long hours/harsh conditions. It's probably not a good idea to say that you want ANY job because of good money. It's better to say something like, "I'd like to work for a solid base upon which to build a family and a future"

EricL wrote:I'm assuming by "opportunity to travel" you mean freedom to roam around and work different jobs, different places, etc.? Let me say this. Crew districts (routes/mileages) are only so long. They have to be, because of union rules and federal Hours of Service laws. And once you've worked the same pieces of railroad both ways, and spent plenty of quality time at the various away-from-home-terminals... you get where I'm going. Yes, you might run several different ways out of whichever terminal you hire in. Yes, you might have other terminals nearby that you can easily transfer to. It will all be new and fun and exciting for maybe even as much as ten years. But a fellow does eventually reach a certain point where he feels like he's kind of "seen everything". It no longer feels like traveling - it's just another day at work. And if you hire on young, like I did (21) - once you get 10 years under your belt, it's kinda hard to swallow the idea that you still have ANOTHER thirty to go!

T&E on Amtrak has (mostly) nationwide seniority, subject to stipulations. Consider commuter roads CAREFULLY!- they generally have some of the best pay and bennies, but they also mean you're stuck in the same city, on the same few lines, until the end of time! Some seni districts on some class-1 roads also have sort-of-national seniority. In some cases in freight I've heard of fellows doing seniority+location "swaps", with other willing fellows, subject to mgmt approval.

No matter where you are or who you work for, if you ever decide to try a different company or a different craft, you WILL forfeit all seniority and start all over again.

I wish you good luck. Having the Guard on your resume will help you, but lack of work experience won't. If you don't get on as engineer right away, it's ok, 95% of people won't. Try again as trainman if you have to. Emphasize the Guard membership and anything you might be able to relate w/r/t long hours/harsh conditions. It's probably not a good idea to say that you want ANY job because of good money. It's better to say something like, "I'd like to work for a solid base upon which to build a family and a future"

Thank you for your answer. I wanted to hire on with a passenger railroad at first because I heard that the lifestyle was less rough. I know that you will still work long shifts and have a 6-day work week but you would still be going home everyday. Now I'm considering freight as well. I didn't expect to be an engineer right away because I know that you have to be at least 21 to become one. I do have one question though. When you do get promoted to engineer, does your seniority go back down?

When your turn comes up on Freight lines then you goto LET school. Could be 2 years or 10. Once promoted then you're Engineer Seniority is at 0. But you keep your Conductor Seniority.

Acela150 wrote:When your turn comes up on Freight lines then you goto LET school. Could be 2 years or 10. Once promoted then you're Engineer Seniority is at 0. But you keep your Conductor Seniority.

I sent you another PM.

Rewritten below.

There is a big world out there. I strongly suggest that you explore it. I love railroading, and have a hard time imaging working in some other field. With this said, it is not a land of lollypops, mermaids, and unicorns.

Railroading is still a tough and sometimes dangerous occupation. One slip up might get you injured, or even killed. You have to concentrate always. Never mind that old Alco, which is dead in tow, bound for some short line.

Traffic levels are also dependent on the season, weather, and economy. Having some other skill might be helpful. It is often several years before you will work year round. Even passenger service is not immune. Most passenger carriers are government funded. Look at 2008, where even the government was cutting funding to certain programs. The Tea Party is always trying to cut Amtrak funding. With little seniority, you would be the first cut off.

One other thought is retirement. You have to work to age 60. That means 42 years service (sentence). I hired at 25, and have to work almost 5 years past my 30 years service. The good side is that I have some extra time, in case something happens, I will not have to work to 65+, for example.

You are young get an education, and not just in school. Meet some girls. Few will put up with the fact that even in passenger, your low seniority will put you on the job with nights and weekends. Some friends will stop calling because you have to say no too many times to plans, or they are afraid to disturb your sleep.

You want passenger. Most commuter carriers pay pretty high, but look at how much it costs to live in a city like New York, Chicago, or Boston. This is where I got really lucky. My first job was on BN, in Aurora, IL. There I could work freight or passenger. I got cut off and had to move to Galesburg. This meant all freight work, but my expenses were cut in half. Rent was cheaper, and even auto insurance. My money went much further. The freight jobs which my seniority allowed were better paying than passenger.

You will not be Casey Jones on day one, as has been explained to you. I feel that a good railroading knowledge is beneficial to being a successful engineer anyway. The more varied jobs you work, the better. I also don't think that this knowledge is gained too well sitting inside a coach. A friend of mine switched to Amtrak. He says setting out a crippled car is a federal project to the passenger trainmen, while anyone who has set a car out in freight would already be on the move, even with the extra steps of disconnecting the 480v. lines.

It looks like a good soul searching in in order for you. I went to a state college. Many of my classmates were on a free ride, thanks to the National Guard. Use this path to full advantage for college or vocational training. Most other railroad crafts have skills which are useful outside the railroad. T&E service does not.

Engineer Spike wrote:There is a big world out there. I strongly suggest that you explore it. I love railroading, and have a hard time imaging working in some other field. With this said, it is not a land of lollypops, mermaids, and unicorns.

Railroading is still a tough and sometimes dangerous occupation. One slip up might get you injured, or even killed. You have to concentrate always. Never mind that old Alco, which is dead in tow, bound for some short line.

Traffic levels are also dependent on the season, weather, and economy. Having some other skill might be helpful. It is often several years before you will work year round. Even passenger service is not immune. Most passenger carriers are government funded. Look at 2008, where even the government was cutting funding to certain programs. The Tea Party is always trying to cut Amtrak funding. With little seniority, you would be the first cut off.

One other thought is retirement. You have to work to age 60. That means 42 years service (sentence). I hired at 25, and have to work almost 5 years past my 30 years service. The good side is that I have some extra time, in case something happens, I will not have to work to 65+, for example.

You are young get an education, and not just in school. Meet some girls. Few will put up with the fact that even in passenger, your low seniority will put you on the job with nights and weekends. Some friends will stop calling because you have to say no too many times to plans, or they are afraid to disturb your sleep.

You want passenger. Most commuter carriers pay pretty high, but look at how much it costs to live in a city like New York, Chicago, or Boston. This is where I got really lucky. My first job was on BN, in Aurora, IL. There I could work freight or passenger. I got cut off and had to move to Galesburg. This meant all freight work, but my expenses were cut in half. Rent was cheaper, and even auto insurance. My money went much further. The freight jobs which my seniority allowed were better paying than passenger.

You will not be Casey Jones on day one, as has been explained to you. I feel that a good railroading knowledge is beneficial to being a successful engineer anyway. The more varied jobs you work, the better. I also don't think that this knowledge is gained too well sitting inside a coach. A friend of mine switched to Amtrak. He says setting out a crippled car is a federal project to the passenger trainmen, while anyone who has set a car out in freight would already be on the move, even with the extra steps of disconnecting the 480v. lines.

It looks like a good soul searching in in order for you. I went to a state college. Many of my classmates were on a free ride, thanks to the National Guard. Use this path to full advantage for college or vocational training. Most other railroad crafts have skills which are useful outside the railroad. T&E service does not.

I realized that railroading would take up a lot of my time, especially when I first get hired. That part is not very appealing but I thought it'd be worth it with the pay and the fact that that's what I wanted to do. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to try to get hired now at my age. Another occupation I was interested in is law enforcement, and I considered trying to be a railroad policeman one day. Maybe I'll use my Guard benefits to go to college for criminal justice. Since you're an engineer, I have a few questions for you if you don't mind. How "hard" (for lack of better words) is it to operate a train? Also, what is the training like to become an engineer?

As hard as any large vehicle (Air, Marine) being operated in a specialized environment. Train handling is a science.
Training depending on the individual RR can be anywhere from a year, to two years approximately.
BTW, Engine service sure offers a skill outside the RR world. You demonstrated you have the aptitude and intelligence to pass rigorous training, achieve a Federal license, and be trusted with multi million dollar equipment and lives or cargo. If that does not look great on a resume I don't know what does.

I agree with EM2000. It's not hard to learn, and they spoon feed to to a point. You will have to still study rules (which you should be proficient at from being a conductor/trainman), air brake, mechanical, and the characteristics and timetable instructions of all lines which you work.

It takes more time to fine tune your skills. You will eventually know how to take best advantage of downhills, without speeding, to get the most momentum for the next uphill. The equipment figures in too, like where the loads and empty cars are. GE locomotives respond slowly, so any throttle advances need to come earlier, for example.

The real stress comes from paying attention to 1000 things at once. Sometimes I must control multiple locomotive consists in the train, other times it is being aware of your track authority limits, and formen. In the yard the yardmaster orchestrates the moves. This doesn't mean he sometimes make two conflicting moves. Every movement has to look out for the others, and able to stop. I also have to listen to what's going on in two languages, since I work in Quebec.

Starting young is not bad in some ways. In the first few years, it is likely for you to get cut off. Even in passenger this is so. It is government funded, so any cuts will hurt the junior employees. If you are young and smart, you'll save when things are good. Be like a camel which sucks up the water because he never knows how long to the next watering hole. Don't buy an expensive car, motorcycle..... until you are secure. This way you could afford to work at Walmart until recall. By the time you want a house, wife, two kids, and a dog, you will have accrued decent seniority.

I'd like to add something to my posts. My intent was not to discourage you from a railroad career. The first few years can be tough, at least until you gain some seniority. My goal was to get you set up right. I want you to be prepared. My uncle was an engineer, and gave me much of the same advice. This is why I finished college before giving the railroad a try.