Hours as an Amtrak engineer on the NEC?

While it seems the consensus on these boards is that all engineer jobs require near 24/7 availability, can anyone shed some light specifically on what 'normal' hours for an Amtrak engineer on the Northeast Corridor are? What is life like on the extra board? Is it at all predictable? Is there any sort of time frame to go from the extra board to regularly scheduled runs? How do days off and vacation days function?

I ask because after browsing some posts, although I understand the '24/7' generality, it seems like freight and Amtrak are different worlds, that people who go from freight to Amtrak rarely regret the switch, and part of that is the schedule seems better despite losing seniority. Can anyone verify this?

I appreciate any help with this. I may have an opportunity for railroad work, and I'm no stranger to weird hours, but I need to evaluate the 'pain vs. gain' of said opportunity and its hours compared to something with more stable hours, albeit less lucrative.

The timeframe for holding a regular job is all about seniority. There may be a yard job that works nights with weekday days off. Some times these are forced to the junior man. Otherwise, it depends on retirements, new assignments....

The board in passenger is somewhat more predictable. Most jobs are scheduled. If conductor Smith is off, and you are first out, then you know what time his job goes to work. On the other hand, there is always the unexpected. A storm could disrupt service. Crews could outlaw, power could go bad order, etc. Conductor Jones could get sick at work. This could cause the carrier to mark an extra job.

The extra board is 6 days on call with one assigned rest day. Engr's can take hold downs
(A hold down is a temporary vacancy of 5 days or more, i.e. another engineer goes on vacation and you
work his assignment until he returns.) but that goes by seniority. So if you are new,
expect to work day to day for some time.