Greetings,
Having lurked for awhile, I could not resist the debate such as represented by this thread. I am a crossover from another railroad site and you may recognize my sign in. This subject was also covered on that other board.
Do railroads tend to not hire known railfans? It depends. I am an NS retiree (refugee?
) who has first-hand knowledge of the subject. True, I have an interest in railroading as, let's face it, it was my life for nearly 30 years. The answer of the question, based on my experiences with fans, was YES. At least, the Division I was on was very "down" on known "militant" railfans. I heard trainmasters, terminal superintendents, terminal agents speak VERY derisively of them even MOCKING them mercilessly. And, yes, we, the regular guys did, too--unfortunately or fortunately, depending on one's point of view. This was on Southern and Norfolk Southern despite the steam program. Some of their reasons, tho sometimes extreme, were not exactly unfounded. This was the fault of those very "militant", very know-it-all fans that told US, the employees how to do our jobs. These are guys------you remember the know-it-all kid on the movie "The Polar Express" with the glasses and the nasal voice?
I don't mean to stereotype anybody, but, I'm sorry, HE typifies the fans that I ran into out on the Charlotte NC passenger landing when taking orders up to the head end of one of the steam trains!
Complete with patches from head to foot, red bandanas and fake "railroad" pocket watches, they would "correct" you, or question you over any action! Nevermind you were doing it under instructions from your agent. You were wrong! And no amount of explaining would convince him! We called these guys "The National Railway
HYSTERICAL Society" because they were always super hyper, super excited at the sight of any old dirty engine, etc. THESE were the extremely over-wrought fans that earned the name "FOAMER" in a big way. And they adversely affected how the management viewed the fan---ALL fans. If you "liked" trains in a certain way, you were one of those blinkety-blank *&%$# foamers!
End of story.
Worse, they had already had bad experiences with these foamers who kept their avocation secret-------until they were out in the yards and then:
1. They stopped working to gawk starry-eyed at some old freight drag.
2. They forgot where they were. DANGEROUS!
3. Their performance became sub-standard and they neglected their actual job to pursue some other railroad occurance more to their liking.
Um.......................to go gaze at a steam engine sitting in the yard?
4. They ABANDONED their duties and disappeared, going AWOL which caused the company to have to launch a search mission over the ROW to locate what might be an injured or dead employee. (That REALLY p----s them OFF, boys!)
5. They regaled other employees with useless data that no one gave a rat's --- about and interfered with THEIR duties.
6. They were hard to train because "they know all about trains" (sorry for the pun), and wouldn't listen to operation and safety instruction.
7. They came to work wearing all that "foamer" garb. (That will produce one of two results-----either being laughed off the right of way, OR a severe scolding)
8. They found out that there was NO "romance of the rails" and it wasn't
a 9-5 job with weekends off. IOW, you actually had to WORK!!! Dream OVER!!! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Sounds rough? Yes. Exaggerated? NO! I SAW it with my own eyes. Every one of those things happened during my 30-odd years on the railroad! Each incident further hardened the management person's perception of "foamers". One young man, fresh out of high school came to work in the 80's when I was a line-of-road clerk. He did every one of the above things, including being so "knowlegeable" about trains, he FLUNKED his rules exam despite the class instruction given before the test.
Then he BLAMED the agent that trained him TO the Trainmaster administering the exam for his failure!!!! WOW! BIG mistake, honcho! Now the agent was gunning for him, too! After going for 40-odd days, receiving adverse reviews from other line employees and supervisors, going AWOL to wet himself over some train arriving in the yard, he was sacked, not allowed to complete his probation. Fellas, that kind of "foamer" does not help 'the cause'. However, they ARE there and they create bad press within management. More importantly, the company doesn't want you killed no matter how "mean" they seem to be on the job. Safety is #1 and foolishness is not tolerated. That ONE extreme example is, unfortunately, the one the railroad remembers!
So having rudely come on here, perhaps, bursting some bubbles (or dreams), can you get hired as a fan? Well no, in the sense of donning a big neon sign and shouting to the world, "I AM THE BIGGEST RAILROAD BUFF ON THE PLANET!!!" That, my friend, is sure to get you disinvited to the next hiring session. OK, OK, it is FINE to "like trains", BUT...............
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Like the air coming down in the last sentence, keep the "brakes" on your enthusiasm for the railroad. Be polite, interested (obviously, else you wouldn't BE at the interview!) and willing to accept what they offer you. Wipe the slate clean: WHAT YOU THOUGHT IS NOT WHAT YOU WILL GET! Do the job exactly as told by management and the guys with the "whiskers" (seniority); they have been doing the job for years. YOU don't know Jack (censored!)
I don't give a durn WHAT you think! You DON'T!!!!!!!
Keep that in mind, welcome to the rough and tumble world of the railroad.
You will have a struggle for the next 30 years. Stick it out, and you will arrive.................................................................
like I did with the wrinkles,the gray hair, and the pension in my pocket!
Where did them (sic) years go?
Gadfly
