Is working for the railroad(s) a good job to have? Which are the better companies to work for?

i agree with the bnsf guy i,m a conductor for norfolk southren been there 4 years this feb. i am on a extra board up by lake erie in ohio great pay none like it u do work in all kind of crazy weather but u also get to be outside in the summer so it goes 50 50 lol but them cold rainey wet nites ur like what am i doing here lol back to the extra board u are on call 2 hr call 2 be 2 work but alot of times u no your going allready now alot of areas have garrented pay 1500 every 2 as long as u dont call of u get paid no matter what u are a num. im still not in the door to get one them jobs where u got set hrs wich we call locals or yard jobs but goverment is trying to make it more 9 to 5 blame injurys and deaths on lack of rest i would tell u to go for it i have wife and 4 kids i only have a high school diploma and who else going 2 pay me all this money lol money is great i would tell u go for it any more ? let me no

I work as a conductor for Kansas City Southern. I've had quite a few jobs, 13 years in the Marine Corps, and then after I got out I worked Supervisors job in 2 different production plants Air Conditioner compressor and Plywood. The problem with that is I had about 25 people working for me and it was like babysitting a whole bunch of grown *** people, and you could never satisfy your boss even if your making production goals they always still want more. When I first started with the RR of course I started on the Extra Board and I had to serve my time and gain seniority but it didn't take me no more than a years to gain a permanent position. I worked the road when I would take a train from Alexandria Louisiana to New Orleans, Spend the night in a 5 star hotel and then bring another back the next 12 hours of rest. Now I am working on my 3rd year and have been working a permanent yard job for about a years now, so I go home every night. It just myself, my brakeman and my engineer. We get the job done, make our money and then go home. I absolutely love it. Takes a minute to get use to the lifestyle but it has definitely made my life better. Now I can say this, if you get "fired" which is actually a suspension if you've purchased job insurance, regardless of how long your fired you still have the option of making anywhere from $150 to $300 a day while your sitting at home or taking a suspended vacation and that a payment of 7 days a week so you do the math. Well I hope that this helped. Gerald

I am a Conductor for UP. Its a great job if you work in the right area and have good seniority. I work in the best Sub-Division UP offers in terms of weather (no earthquakes, snow, tornadoes, hurricanes) , freight movement (From West coast harbors, East coast, and Mexico) and projections for growth (soon to be all Double Main CTC) , which is the SUNSET. My longest route is on the East end and its 310 miles and it pays just about 485 + Held away pay. Roughly 3800 every two weeks. I technically work half a year and make 70k - 80k because I work about every 2 - 3 days then go to the bottom of the board. But here's my point, I get paid a full time wage for a part time job. And it gives me time to moonlight at another job. YES, your going to get furloughed maybe at first. My first year out I made 16k working randomly. Then it doubled the next year to about 32k, and after that it pretty much as leveled off at around 70 to 80 because I was able to hold the Road. And if you go on a Borrow Out... your making money hand over fist. 10k - 12k a month... Plan for set backs by saving when the times are good. Because if theirs another 08 melt down, what you saved is what holds. Do be like the idiots in my class that went out and bought Corvettes and New Trucks the moment we got off our derail and could pay for it when work slowed...

To the guy who stated that Railroad Retirement is comparable to Social Security- it most certainly is NOT!! You can raise your RR by working more (it is an average of a certain number of your highest earning years, 3 or 5 I cant remember) and it is easily 3x+ higher than social security. Oh and it is not taxpayer funded and not tied to any control of funds by US Government- which means it is solvent for the next 30+ years as of right now. So when Social Security goes bankrupt you will still have your $4,000+ a month retirement (on top of your 401k and Management pension should you choose to go that route). And your spouse gets %50 of what you get simply by being married to you as well ;)

The problem with the railroads these days is that you have better chances in some regions but not in others. I work up in New England for CSX, and while they haven't hired a lot of guys, they do hire, and they haven't laid off (furloughed) anybody. In other regions, like Evansville, IN, or Detroit, they have (in the past) hired some guys, had them trained up and work for a week, and then furlough them all as train traffic drops. It's a tough call these days - with the price of fuel going up, rail transport is a better way to go, so business should pick up. However, if the economy really tanks, industries won't make anything (so no need to transport) and people won't buy anything (so no goods get shipped to them). If you're in a good region, there will be work, but if you are in a bad region, you may need a second job. About all I can suggest you do is find out what unions serve the workers in your area, and give them a call to see what the real scoop is.

my father worked for conrail its now csx he worked so much i was not funny he worked for them for 40 plus years.moving freight it thats all i can tell you he made a very good living there plus all bens too go for it.

If you retire from the RR you get RR retirement with is about the same a Soc.Sec.maybe a little more. Retire from a big corporation with retirement you have their retirement pay plus Soc. Sec. RR is hard work, lot of safety regulation, sorry management, but you can make lots of money with higher wages & O/T. You also have to pay high Union dues and part of RR retirement,

A recent issue of Trains Magazine had an interesting article about working on the railroad. Very enlightening. Get a copy and read it.