Is their any engineers in here? I was asking is it fun to have a job like that?

Answer 1

There are a couple of hoggers besides me that visit here with some regularity and I'm sure they will have something to say as well.

As with any profession there are the good and bad elements that can make up one's day at work. And, it is work. But. unlike other professions, results are immediate, as well as the feeling of a job well done (or not well done). Each day is different.

On those days when the phone rings and the voice on the other end calls you for a pig (piggyback train, aka 'Hot Shot'), the world is indeed a bright place. Pigs are the "jet fighters" of the world of the engineer. Usually peppered with green signals, plenty of power and authorized to run fast. Oh yeah. These are fun.

But your fun can be spoiled by a "dynamiter", which is a malfunctioning control valve on a freight car, and usually on a 89' piggyback flat. This means you use the air only when faced with no other choice, which is not fun.

It is also not fun when cresting a grade with 10,000 tons or more looking at 80 miles of down hill, with grades between 1.8% and 2.4%, such as is the case when cresting the grade at Norden, the summit of that piece of railroad known as "the hill" on the old SP's Sacramento Division, which runs from Roseville, Ca., to Sparks, Nevada. Now sprinkle in a train that doesn't want to cooperate and marginal dynamic brake, and you have your hands full. This is also not fun. But if you win the batlle with the train you get into town and you KNOW you won. There's that immediate gratification.

But, sometimes the call is for a Barnum & Bailey Circus Train (They have two. The "red" train and the "blue" train). Now we're back to green signals and operating as heroes as crowds gather around the train. We are also back to having fun.

The list goes on and on. It takes a different breed of cat to be a railroader in any class of service, be it operating, maintenance of way, B&B, Round house personnel and a host of others. That cat behind the throttle is still another breed.

So, it is fun. And tricky, dangerous, dissapointing, rewarding, frustrating and, every once in a while, scary. So, to Kevin, who answered above, follow your nose and accept the challenge, and get good at it. You'll have more fun that way, and probably make it home alive again.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I'm not an engineer, but I'm a conductor, so I have a pretty good grasp on what it's all about.

We do things a little differently in Canada as far as the running trades. In the running trades, you hire on as a conductor/brakeman, and from there, you can throw a bid on for an engineer, when it comes up. Once you finish your training, you work on the "tail end" (conductor/brakeman), and can accept "head end" work as your seniority allows you.

Basically, if they run out of engineers, and it happens a lot, they start calling the "ESE's" (Engine/Switch Employee), which are qualified engineers working as conductors, in seniority order. Whenever the workload in the terminal calls for more engineers, they "set up" an ESE as a full-time engineer.

So, back to the question at hand.

There are ups and downs to the job, just like any other. There are some days when you walk away cursing and shaking your head, and there are some where you have an absolute blast.

Hoghead summed it up near perfectly as to what the job is like. It's definitely a challenge, but if you want that sense of accomplishment and the ability to take some pride in your work, this is for you.

I dabbled in some other fields before joining the railway, and I'm happy to say this is where I'll retire.

Answer 3

I'm not an engineer but I have had my chances to run a few trains. There really isn't anything like having control over a 4400 HP locomotive. Its awesome. My dad is an engineer for Norfolk Southern and hopefully someday I will be too. Been trying but haven't gotten there yet. So to answer your question yes its a fun job but the hours are insane and you really have to adjust your life to live a lifestyle like that.

Answer 4

Yes B E [Mech]
Master of Engineering [Production]
aged 65 yrs

Answer 5

Yep

Of course, HOGHEAD did a great job of answering the question.