Summer Railroad Jobs for teens?

[Conrail1990]

Any body know if there is an age limit to volunteering on the Wilmington and western Railroad?

[Joe Fox]

I don't think so. I have a friend that went to RailCamp, and he is a volunteer on the Wilmington & Western.

Anybody who is looking for a good chance to be able to be a brakemen, conductor, firemen, engineer, or track crew worker can volunteer at the W, W, & F Ry museum in Alna Maine, which is five miles above Wiscasset. I am a brakemen, apprentice firemen, and track crew worker there, and we are all ways looking for younger people. There is no age limit on volunteering there, however, you can't do brakemen until you are at least 14 or 15 I think. But you can throw switches and what not. But in order to start training to become a brakemen, you have to put in 150 hours of volunteer time, so that way you get an understanding on how we do things, and why we do them that way.

Joe

[jgallaway81]

A point of consideration regarding railroad jobs for minors...

The entire rail industry is classified as heavy industry (not including things like clerical and management). Because of this, it is illegal to hire minors for rail service under teh Child Labor Laws.

I hired on with the Choo Choo Shop, the sales subsidiary of the Arcade & Attica Railroad when I was 16. It took two years of volunteering on the track gans and other work to be able to get a position as a paid employee once I turned 18. Even then, I didn't carry the seniority to work the passenger train crew, or even the freight train crew until towards trhe end of my tenure with the A&A.

My 5yrs on the A&A and 1 1/2 yr volunteering on the M&H got me in the position to be able to hire on with Norfolk Southern out of Harrisburg Terminal in 2004. I just celebrated my 26th birthday this past july, and on August 2nd, I was promoted as a licensed Locomotive Engineer on NS's Pittsburgh Division with Altoona as my home terminal.

Its a lot of work, the lifestyle sucks cause until you have atleast five to ten years seniority, you can expect to work the extra board. I got lucky, I hired on just right that I can hold a few decent jobs, but not many. However, even working the Jersey pool out of harrisburg, I was frequently being ordered back out of the terminal on my rest. Made for a first year check of 52k, but I think I spent more time in away from home hotels then I did in my apartment in Enola.

If you are interested, try out, you lose nothing by trying and have everything to gain. But I caution you, if your used to coming & going when you want, this might not be th ejob for you. It has great rewards... but its not for the timid.

[10more years]

Most traditional railroad type jobs (engineer, trainman, conductor, track workers, signals, car inspectors and such) aren't exactly "summertime type" jobs. They require a certain amount of training and are more dangerous than they appear. Certainly more dangerous than an employer is likely to let a minor perform. And for the most part these are full time jobs, not exactly conductive to part time work or schedules.

[Joe Fox]

I have contacted a few railroads, and asked them about my volunteering experiences with the W, W, & F, and they said that those would be of a lot of help in me getting a job for the railroad.

I think that I will be great working for any railroad, because unlike many teenagers, I love hard, manual labor, and I also actually want to work the long hour days.

Joe

[conrail_engineer]

If you're 18-plus, you could try applying to the Cedar Point amusement park, which runs the Cedar Point & Lake Erie steam railroad. It's staffed mostly by college kids - a friend of mine was a railfan, and he worked his way through college as a hogger on one of their Vulcan locomotives.

The park is located near Sandusky, Ohio. They do, I believe, offer summer dormatory accomodations for their help. Don't look for breathtaking wages, though.

[Joe Fox]

Thanks. I am the firemen on a Vulcan engine, that used to be a 30" gauge, but Edaville regauged it to 24" gauge. She sure is a good little engine, and will allways have a place in my heart. However, our cuurent restoration project #9 has the other place in my heart, for trains that is.I will start filling out job applications sometime this fall and this winter for different railroads in New England. Thanks again Conrail Engineer,

Joe