ive always wanted to be a railroad engineer (train driver) for CSX freight but is the railroad industry dying?

Question

ive met engineers that said that by the time i get finished with school it will all be run by satelite or dead

Answer 1

If the railroad was dying, I think that it would have already done so. Watched a program a few weeks back that had the president of NS on it and he said that in the past year they have grown a lot with the amount of freight being shipped. They will be looking in the next few years for a good many replacements with all the baby boomers retiring from work. I say . . . . go for it!

Answer 2

The railroads are some of the most stable companies in the US. Some of the largest Class 1's employ over 30,000 people and they are expecting about 40% of the railroad employees to retire within the next 5 years, so they are hiring like crazy to keep up with the work they have and to replace the people they will lose soon.

It is not a job for the Mon.-Fri. 9 to 5'er. They run 24/7/365, this is no exaggeration. As a new hire you can forget about being home nights, weekends, holidays. You will remember those times as "the good old days".

The sort line railroads have more stable work hours but there is a trade off, they operate on such tight budgets they tend to not pay as well, insurance not as good but more expensive, and safety is a nuisance.

This is a very dangerous job and not a job to jump into it is one that needs to be carefully considered.

Answer 3

Yup. But if you can afford that, how 'bout adopting me? Hell, I'll even run it for ya... mow the lawn on Saturdays, too. Addendum: Bravo Wolf! Few know the SP this well. But as far back as 1883 the SP had been holding hands with the ATSF with regard to operations over the Tehachapis, as well as the Cajon Pass (originally the "Southern Railroad" between L.A. and San Bernadino acquired by the SP), what became SP in Mexico, SD&AE property exchange for other trackage rights and a disapproved merger in the early 1980s. In Stockton Ca., we regularly serviced each others yards. ATSF was a long time competitor but they were essentially a "bridge" railroad, with service into Chicago but no direct access to the Pacific until later on and then only on a route from Mexico traded to the SP for direct access. It was probably in no small degree that the traditional corporate / operational relationship (very friendly) played a part in the disapproved merger that was the death knell for both properties. That, and communications development by the SP. If you are using "Sprint" and/or "Qwest," those companies were built on the backs of me and my coworkers, the latter of which we gave up three years of wage and benefits package increases that other members of collective bargaining agencies got after Phillip Anschutz of the DRGW said he was in it "for the long term." What "the long term" actually menant was that within two years Jerry Davis (from the UP) took the helm and three years after that (when the last of four massive fiber-optic cables were laid all along the right of way by a company owned by Anachutz [Qwest]) we were sold out to the UP in our entirety. You're welcome, Phil. Hey! Why don't we go deer hunting together some time? The world is a duller place without the Silver Santa Fe Warbonnet and SP Black Widow paint schemes, which have often shared the camera lenses of the southwest, side by side, for quite a long while. Uhmmmm... What was the question? (Designated ethanol night here...)

Answer 4

The railroads are a permanent fixture. Switching operations are done by remote control in many areas with a long list of derailments and collisions as its legacy. If the public only knew, they would be screaming at the top of their lungs to cease and desist these operations.

Though trains may be tracked by satellite there will always be someone at the controls. There is an iron ore carrier in Australia that is a remote operation, but it is 1,000 miles of straight, level railroad from the outback, fenced on both sides with no crossings.

The engineers you have been talking to are mis-informed, and ridgerunner is absolutely correct.

Answer 5

the rail way will never die. they ship far to much to be but in trucks. as for satelite trains? Sure some maybe but not all there is work to be done on line and if somthing happens there has to be some one to fix it and get the train going again. I do not think that you can be an engineer first. you start out as a brakeperson than conductor and then eng. if you pass all the test and training

Answer 6

No it ain't dying by no means, You have to go to school to be Train person first, then after about 1 year or so you will go to school to be an engineer good paying jobs but never home, Divorce rate is awesome, Best of Luck

Answer 7

absolutley not, theres no way it all can be shipped by semi. go to some of the bigger cities and look around instead of like where I live where a train comes thru maybe 2 times every 3 weeks.

Answer 8

csx is making good business and every day they making more use of the employee