Leaving the Military after 20 plus years....I'm excited to start my new career as a Diesel Mech at BNSF, received final Offer and start date last week. Originally I wanted to be an Engineer, but I think the Diesel Mech job gives me a little more stability in my personal life. Process took a few months.
Railroad Forums
Military to RR
- General discussion about working in the railroad industry. Industry employers are welcome to post openings here.
Moderator: thebigc
Thank you for your service, and welcome to the forum!
Next stop, Willoughby
~el Jefe :: RAILROAD.NET Site Administrator/Co-Owner; Carman at Naugatuck Railroad
YouTube Instagram Facebook
~el Jefe :: RAILROAD.NET Site Administrator/Co-Owner; Carman at Naugatuck Railroad
YouTube Instagram Facebook
Best of luck at BNSF. It's a good place to work.
We don't know what we don't know.
Just because you signed up to work on diesels doesn't mean that you can't become an engineer. I used to work with a guy who had been a diesel electrician. He did a craft transfer. In all honesty, there are many benefits of the job you took. You won't be on call, unless there is some emergency. You will have a regular shift, and not have to be on a spare board, or stuck for a couple of days at a hotel.Some guys work in a certain shop. There are some jobs that are based in the shop, but go out and service locomotives at outlaying locations.I'm sure these traveling jobs are bid by the more senior guys.
Good luck on the new job.
Good luck on the new job.
There are advantages to shop jobs like Engineer Spike listed. I started out in the shops as a laborer, never dreaming I'd end up a clerk/agent. But I got cut off, so I went on Line of Road. Mostly Extra Board. I, too, did not like the rotating shifts, never knowing when I'd have to work, when I'd be working. Weekends were scarce. And many of my off days were in the middle of the week. After a few years of this, jobs once became available at the shops. I also got wind that many clerk's jobs would be going away due to automation and consolidation. I liked the Agency work better than shop work, but I did not like the hours, and it would be many years before I stood for 1st trick. So I bid back to the Roadway Equipment Shop in the Material Management Dept. This was 7AM to 3:30, Mon thru Fri and that was just too good to resist! People somehow think that trains are all there to railroads; Everybody just must be an engineer! 
But there are a lot of good jobs on railroads, and diesel mechanic is one of them. This can turn into a traveling mechanic IF its something one wants, and other positions, too. The mechanics (we called 'em "pump knockers") follow the traveling gangs and repair track machinery. So you have a lot of options to choose from.
GF
+
But there are a lot of good jobs on railroads, and diesel mechanic is one of them. This can turn into a traveling mechanic IF its something one wants, and other positions, too. The mechanics (we called 'em "pump knockers") follow the traveling gangs and repair track machinery. So you have a lot of options to choose from.GF
+
Thanks Gadfly.... Do you know anything about the EFLS position at BNSF ?
GoNavy ! wrote:Thanks Gadfly.... Do you know anything about the EFLS position at BNSF ?I don't know what "EFLS" is. Different railroad sometimes = different names for stuff.
GF