So, You Want to Work on the RR? Part II

There are good things about working on the RR. What do you like about working on the RR? I'll start...

I like to get on the train and go. I like to wave to the buffies and I like to see the world go by. I even enjoy walking the train in just about any kind of weather. I love to outlaw someplace close to a great little resturant. I love to turn the A/C up when it's hot and I love to turn up the heat when it's cold. I like cooking cans of Chunky Soup on the heater. I like that my kids and all their friends think I have a cool job.

-r

I enjoy the combination of both indoor/outdoor work. I enjoy not having to punch a time-clock, and not having some hoser constantly standing over my shoulder nit-picking every move. I love running through a beautiful forest in autumn. I enjoy looking back at my train, in a curve with a light dusting of snow swirling around the cars. I love running on a clear night when the moon is full. I love the camaderie that often develops with (some) co-workers. I love hearing the hot-box detector broadcast my speed at the maximum authorized timetable speed. I love seeing small children, in their parent's arms, waving at me. Mostly, I love not having to work for a living.

I love getting a nice early call, knowing I have a daylight run through some great scenery. I love finding out I've got an intermodal hotshot, no work between, 60 or better the whole trip with a crew change on the fly. I love getting the highball from the tower and kicking up my feet as we notch out and wind our way out of the yard. I love a perfectly repeated Form B. I love rolling alongside the freeway, keeping pace with traffic and getting the "horn" signal from passengers. I love the kids, the old timers and everyone else who stops to watch us pass. I love the sunbathers in August who are willing to "barter" for a few horn blasts. I love it when the dispatcher is right on his game and every meet is rolling with a clear block out the other end. I love giving the "Coast Starlight" a rollby and calling the hottest train on our railroad by name. I love when the old heads treat you like you've got a few whiskers and let you run the train, all the while telling you about the old days and each story is funnier than the one before. Most of all, I love it when my wife brings my kids down to the tracks to watch Dad go by in his big yellow train.

Good stuff! Thanks. I can identify with all of it.

I'm so glad to read some very positive things about RRing. I just applied for BNSF, been reading alot of forum stuff, in this topic it just helps confirm I'm making a good choice for a career change, It would be nice to read more positives like these in the future.....

Something I really enjoy, about my job. I like it when I'm called for a job, and show up to see my train is underpowered. I like the satisfaction of getting to the bottom of a mountain, and knowing the tonnage is more than the locos are rated to pull, up the hill. I like it when the train speed crawls down to single digits, the sanders are all blowing, and I have to put about 10-15 pounds, on the engines, to keep the wheel slip in check. I LOVE walking alongside the train, watching the wheels and sanders, and smelling the burning oil and grease, smoking off the cables and motor housings, while the amps are pegged off the meter. Occasionally, I might grab some sand, or cinders, from the ROW, and sprinkle the rails, when approaching that poorly positioned flange lubricator, praying the wheels will hold, and we don't stall right there. I REALLY LOVE it when finally, after what seems like an eternity, I can get back into the cab, as we crest another mountain, that by all accounts, was not possible to summit, with our train picking up speed, and knowing the dynamics are not working today either. I know it sounds crazy, but everday we accomplish the impossible, is another great day for me. Nobody but the crew on my engines knows what we did on a specific trip, but the thrill of beating the odds, again, is what gets me through the tedium, of the rest of this job. HIGHBALL !!!

wow, that all sounds great


even though i don't work on the road, i love climbing the ladder into the engine and hearing the engine power up

and i can't wait until i have it for a job

I love being outdoors breathing fresh air and soaking in God's wonderful creation on those "perfect" days. And yes, I even like the extra challenges provided by nature on those "yukky" days...... although I may not act like it at the time, especially when I'm soaked to the bone or clinging to the side of a boxcar covered with an inch of ice. I like the fact that no two days on the railroad are EVER the same. I love seeing smiles on the faces of our customers when our service exceeded their expectations. I love physics......and railroading provides a daily object lesson. I like a good work-out.......without paying gym fees. I love seeing the wide-eyed expressions on the kids' faces when they climb up to the cab for a short ride (yeah, we can still do that on our short-line without risking termination). I love being in on the "secret" of railroading, the safest and most efficient form of ground transportation yet devised by man, of which the general public remains woefully ignorant.

BTW razor, turning up the A/C?? On a short-line, that means propping the doors open on your 40 year old SW-1200 so that the heat from the radiators can blow straight into the cab when the shutters open!

40 yr old sw-1200? You lucky man, 900's and ancient sd-38's are what we have. Old fashioned a/c of course!!

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:i can't wait until i have it for a job

Apparently you're waiting for something, lol.

hooked up wrote:BTW razor, turning up the A/C?? On a short-line, that means propping the doors open on your 40 year old SW-1200 so that the heat from the radiators can blow straight into the cab when the shutters open!

Hey, I have to live with adversity too. Once in a while I have to touch light power (ick!) and every now and then I get an old loco with seats that don't recline (the inhumanity!) And once, I had a widebody with A/C that automatically shut down every two hours. I had to keep getting up and resetting the thing. Very hard to nap at a stop signal if the A/C keeps cutting out.

-r

Did I say "nap at a stop signal"? I meant "have a safety briefing at a stop signal."

-r

In the CSX rules, napping is permitted as long as:

1) Not on a moving train

2) Another crew member remains awake and vigilant

3) Not to exceed 45 minutes

4) This does not apply to Utility positions

We had a three hour safety briefing at a red block last night. Of course it would have been more enjoyable if I wasn't hanging halfway out my window gasping for cool air on account of the hog having the heat cranked up.

What is it with you engineers? Are you cold blooded and need the heat to survive?