Questions about life as Engineer

I have a couple questions about life as an engineer (I'm in college and latly I've been looking into maybe working on a railroad to make money before going into lawschool later in life)

I read that alot of engines do have air conditioning (I'm hoping BNSF and UP would have AC). Is that true?

I've read that locomotives have outlets in them and someone mentioned a fridge. How does that work?

I guess I'm curious about what amenities are offered. I think it's kind of cool if they do give you power because it could get boring sitting on a sidding for hours or waiting on a mainline (I saw a CSX train sitting on the B&O mainline so I would hope he could whip out a laptop or something.

Now for my final question:

What do you do when you have to use the bathroom? (especially on UP and BNSF)

I've heard the locomotive has a bathroom in it but do you have to stop the train or is that why they have 2 people so one can drive when the other uses the bathroom.

I have IBS so this is a major player in my decesion.

wondered the samething for a while.

what about raido's? i saw a brand new sd70m-2 i believe it was with a car radio installed at the bottom of the control stand. Like a small sony cd/radio.

what do they do to pass the time?

Other than a refrigerator/watercooler and a bathroom there are almost zero ammenities on a locomotive.
Only way a engineer can go to bathroom is by stopping his train or if the conductor is a certified engineer he could run for while.
Most railroads have rules forbidding use of personal radio's or tv's while performing service for company, on some railroads that means while running locomotive , on others it means while your getting paid.
Only thing to pass time is bring book, or read rulebook.
unofficialy crews do other things.

Be it in an a/c or non-a/c unit(older SD-40 type), or a unit without heat in the wintertime is fun too! Yesterday our coal train had three units and all three blew warm air. Now it was 100 degree outside running through the desert.

As far as having to run to the "bathroom" you simply go to the other unit (locomotive behind the leader) and do your business. Like Dutch said, if your the Hogger (engineer) you are stuck until you bring 'er to a stop. FRA rule as well as the company rule. You never want to do your business in the leader. Some are better than others but most of the time you pray that your get a decent run and make it home or to your away from home terminal without having to go out on the road. But it does happen. Especially with the hours we keep and the food we have to scarf down.

My Conductor yesterday is one on-line class away from getting his degree. He will "unofficially" read his material while going to the away from home terminal, do the computer work/exam in the hotel, send it in via e-mail, and have his next assignment ready to go when he gets home. He did this in about 2 years he said. Good for him and the RR helped pay for it. We have been instructed via our rule books that we cannot read or use electronic devices while on duty. But they also allow us to use either a PDA or laptop to store all of our rulebooks and order instead of having to lug this stuff around. So if a manager ever popped on board and saw you looking at your laptop or PDA, you just day you were looking at the rules, or if you have a newspaper, you were going to use it to wipe the windows clean.

As far as sitting in the hole, you will find yourself doing that alot. Power is on board some units in the form of the regular outlet like in your house and if not you can make take an extension cord, cut the plug off, clamp two alligator clips onto the cord, and clamp onto the blade switch in the circuit breaker panel for panel. It provides "dirty" power at 72 VDC, but it has powered my laptop, my Sirius Sportster boombox and cellphone charger. Some people have mentioned getting a thing called locovertor to clean the power up, but I've not had any problems just plugging into the outlet on the new units or using the clamp method described above. As far as sitting in the hole, sometimes it is fun and the views can be awesome especially at sunrise/sunset. Other times you are cussing and cannot wait to go. The railroad gives us 10 oz bottles of water and ice as well as "crew packs" which holds paper towels, wet naps, a band-aid or two, hand degreaser and toilet paper. Other than that, there you have it.

A new question and a follow up question:

How many bathroom breaks before they get annoyed at you for stopping and starting the train up?


Now for the real question:

Do you guys get uncomfortable when the tracks go through bad parts of town, especially at night or is the engine bullet proof and lockable?

gprimr1 wrote:I have a couple questions about life as an engineer (I'm in college and latly I've been looking into maybe working on a railroad to make money before going into lawschool later in life)

BNSF will pay for you to go to school.

gprimr1 wrote:I read that alot of engines do have air conditioning (I'm hoping BNSF and UP would have AC). Is that true?

Yes, most of the locomotives are equipped with the AC on the BNSF and UP.
BNSF has a rule, if the outside temperature is 90 degrees or higher, the lead locomotive must have AC in good working order.

gprimr1 wrote:I've read that locomotives have outlets in them and someone mentioned a fridge. How does that work?

Yes, locomotives do have the refrigerators, and outlets. Outlets have the output of 74vAC, which is enough to charge your cell phone. If you want 110 you must unplug the fridge, and then you can charge your laptop.

gprimr1 wrote:I guess I'm curious about what amenities are offered. I think it's kind of cool if they do give you power because it could get boring sitting on a sidding for hours or waiting on a mainline (I saw a CSX train sitting on the B&O mainline so I would hope he could whip out a laptop or something.

On most railroads the use of electronic devices like laptops is not permitted while on duty unless you can prove that you were looking up the rule or using it for work. A lot of crews have their rule books on laptops or PDA's

gprimr1 wrote:Now for my final question:

What do you do when you have to use the bathroom? (especially on UP and BNSF)

I've heard the locomotive has a bathroom in it but do you have to stop the train or is that why they have 2 people so one can drive when the other uses the bathroom.

It's rare to operate in intervals longer than 2-3 hrs. Quite often you have to stop at the red signals or sidings to let the trains from other direction pass you. This is when the engineers use the bathroom. But if you really have to go, than you stop the train and do whatever you have to do, just make sure that your conductor notifies the dispatcher. I had to stop the train once in the middle of nowhere on the main track to use the restroom. I really had to go. Also, I drink less than usual when I'm running/driving the train.
Conductor (by law) is not allowed to touch the controls. Only certified locomotive engineers can operate trains/locomotives.

I have never seen a Good conductor that could not run for me for 5 minutes while I set out a couple of bad orders.

Unfortunately, those days are over where I work. The roster of conductors is so young, that they don't know their own job, let alone to run the 10,000t train while I'm cutting logs.

You might consider just going straight to law school, then getting your office, where YOU can decide when it's time to "pinch a loaf", instead of worrying about if you get time to do that on a train. Just a thought.........

Unless U plan to make this a career, don't consider this vocation as an interm job till you get your degree. Pursue your primary career goals. You'll be much happier and fulfilled in the long run.

GOLDEN-ARM & roadster: Better advise has rarely been offered. Hope gprimr1 reads and heeds.

Yeah.

It's just a personal issue. I'm trying to learn more about it because when I think about being a lawyer I dont get that excited, but when I think about being an engineer or conductor, even more girlfriend said that my eyes brighten up and such.

I've never had one thing I'm really interested in so it made choosing a major hard.

I just have the problem that my family will be putting my sister through college when I go to law school, and I don't qualify for financial aid so I'm on the ropes you might say about what I want to do.

I've also been looking into being an assistant conductor on the NEC w/ Amtrak.

I def will add the advice given to my decesion making process.

also a point that no one has made to you, is that you are going to have to spend some time in most railroads to make engineer, some guys are waiting 10-15 years so you would likely be hired as conductor or brakeman depending on the railroad. Then after experience of about 1 year, and an opening you will be out in training for a engineer position and training.

another point. If you work for a freight railroad, you work in all kinds of weather. Rain, snow, hot & cold. It is also heavy, dirty work.

and for sure would take away from your study time for your law work, which everyone knows is alot of studying