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A forum for teen railroad enthusiasts

Moderator: TAMR213

 #416193  by Otto Vondrak
 
No one "starts" their own commuter railroad. They are all money-losing operations funded by state agencies and operated for public benefit...

And I think the original question was if anyone was seeking employment on the railroad when they get older... so let's try to stay on topic.

-otto-

 #416239  by stevo
 
the only railroads anyone can start these days are short lines and scenic railroads. for short lines, you need to find a customer on an abandoned line somewhere, repair the line, get a locomotive, work with whatever other railroad is there for interchanging the cars, get the line from the state, etc...for scenic railroads, you need an abandoned line somewhere scenic, buy it from the state, fix it up, buy a locomotive and passanger cars...etc...it's just too much for any teenager to handle or afford.

so back to the original topic...

 #426082  by Joe Fox
 
I hope to work for any railroad one of these days. Just realize that you have to start at the bottom, and work your way up. I think I would like to be a track crew worker or something like that for a few years, and eventually become an engineer. The downfall to being an engineer, is knowing that one or more days out of your entire career, you are most likely going to kill at least 1 person in a train/car accident, unless you are a switcher engineer or something like that. Right now, I am happy working on the W, W, & F Ry as an apprentice firemen, track crew worker, brakemen, and assistant conductor.

Joe

 #426706  by bub-ole
 
i would like to have a job in the railroad environment right out of high school so i talked to some people about going to a community collage to take class' during the summer of 2008 and my senior year which will start in august 2008 i will only have to go half the year and be a mid year grad so while all my friends are in the classroom i hope to be in a rail yard somewhere. even if im not driving trains i want to be in the loco atmosphere.

 #438210  by jgallaway81
 
Hey gang.

I wanted to say thank you to you all for your enthusiasm and drive. It helped remind me why I started on the railroad 8 years ago.

I consider myself VERY lucky, having started on an excursion railroad and learned a bit about railroading from the General Manager, who started HER career on the Chesapeake & Ohio, and her husband, who was aconductor on the Baltimore & Ohio. After five years, I moved from WNY to South-Central PA, and less then a year later I hired on with Norfolk Southern out of Harrisburg.

The truth is: its a dirty, tiring, thankless job that has only one perk... getting paid to work on trains. Class 1 railroads dislike thier employees, shortlines can't afford to pay us what we're worth, and the public just hates us. However, if you can do the job well, and are willing to put in the time to build your seniority, the perks of having a large number of years can be rewarding.

Between my time on the A&A and Norfolk Southern, I already have five plus yeas of rail service, and by the time I can retire, I'll have just shy of 40 years of service on the railroad. That is, if I don't end up starting the scenic line I've been designing the last month.

If I get lucky and start teh GA&P, I'll post on RR.net job opennings for you all.

 #438223  by Joe Fox
 
If you start that railroad, where would it be located? I am looking to start out with a track crew for a few years of working on a railroad, and then I will probably move to engineer or something.

Joe

 #438489  by jgallaway81
 
In the Greater Altoona area... I don't want to get to specific because there are several people I want to get together to talk about it and make it a public/private partnership, and until I discuss with the people who would have to be involved, there is no point putting rumors out there.

 #438720  by Joe Fox
 
Ok, well please be sure to let us know what you find out. Thanks,

Joe

 #447162  by chuckmitchell
 
I hope to work for BNSF

 #447164  by Raritan Express
 
I would want to work for a NYC area passenger rail line (NJT, LIRR, MNRR, Antrak maybe) if I chose to work for a railroad.

 #454371  by acela 2036
 
Raritan Express wrote:I would want to work for a NYC area passenger rail line (NJT, LIRR, MNRR, Antrak maybe) if I chose to work for a railroad.
I would go with NJT if I were you. They have some great equipment and I hear they get paid great! Even if you work overtime!!

 #454372  by acela 2036
 
Raritan Express wrote:I would want to work for a NYC area passenger rail line (NJT, LIRR, MNRR, Antrak maybe) if I chose to work for a railroad.
I would work for NJ Transit then! I hear that they get paid great! Even overtime!!! PLus you gotta love the new equipment they have.

 #456305  by stevo
 
i'm not gonna be in the cab. i couldn't live with myself after hitting someone...even though it wouldn't be my fault, i couldn't do it. if anything, i'll work in the shops and do electrical repairs.

 #470336  by NS/CSX Pittsburgh Fan
 
Heres a few things Norfolk Southern really liked on my resume/application, this was only my second interview with them and after Tuesday i will probably be workin for the Thoroughbred of Transportation starting next year as a Conductor at only 18 and right outta high school this year probably makin more money than 3/4 of my graduating class starting in 2009. Don't let all the old guys get to you at the interview tellin you your too young and they won't hire you, there was just me another kid probably 18-19 years of age at the interview, every1 else was at least probably 27+, guess what me an the other kid did good on the 2 test an we were both invited to stay for interviews, if you don't do good on the timed test your basically finished but its not hard, i screwed up my first time cause i was nervous but the 2nd time i was ready an i aced it, out of 13 people allowed to stay me an him were the youngest, the rest being right around 30, all the old guys were wrong and they were the 1s asked to leave, they like young over old so they can get as many years as possible outta of you before you retire. If you get invited to an interview, dress nice, hair gell, dress shirt, pants, shoes and a tie, no scrappy facial hair if u have any yet, clean it up nice or shave it all off, preach safety and they'll love you, answer all questions honestly, if your right outta school they'll ask alot about school and be prepared to answer each question, ask them questions so they know your as interested as they are, research the company website and remember some good things you found an bring it up at the interview, that shows that you've done some research and they will notice it , tell them how you want to advance career wise with their company, i told them i wanted to become an engineer and do some stuff that will make your application/resume look better than every1 elses, scouting, fire dept, vo tech, get into something you can earn training certificates like i did with the fire dept, they were really pleased with my EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) an haz-mat training (hazardous materials) and they really appreciated my eagle scout and scouting career too, we had a lengthy conversation about scouting, the fire dept, school and whatever job expierience i put down. Also for the people who read the online applications an resumes, make the human resources people notice yours over everyone elses by braggin about good stuff you've achieved. If you want to work for a class 1, try some of my hints an tips at the interview that helped me possibly land a super sweet job right out of high school with 1 of the safest an hardest companies to get into.

 #488201  by Anthony RMLI
 
My goal is to move to Pa and work for the Strasburg Railroad or New Hope and Ivyland

Or. Work for the Long Island or New York and Atlantic RR
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