Locomotive Engineers

[Pullin4u]

Any Locomotive Engineers out there besides myself?

[SLSF]

sshh ya don't want to wake the conducktor. But yes you are not alone.

[choochoo]

Retired 13 years ago.

[braska]

I'm a furloughed ground hog. ave card, but haven't been able to use it in over a year.
Only enough to keep it valid I should say.

[throttlejock]

Braska,
Just having that card should mean a lot. You could probably go to any RR and get hired on with a good current certficate. I know Amtrak is always looking for some. Something to think about is on Amtrak the union signed off on a deal allowing the new hire engineers to come on board at 100% and your vacation follows you too. With Amtrak adding new crewbases what seems like every month, one maybe coming to a city near you very soon.

[NSBrakeman]

Yup, I'm a locomotive engineer too! For about um-teen years too. Hard work but I must like it if I keep going back for more!

[This message has been edited by NSBrakeman (edited 03-18-2000).]

[E-8]

Just to let you know NSBrakeman, if you make a typo, you can edit your own message by clicking on the little edit icon at the top of each message you post.

Have fun http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

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Ship It On The FRISCO!

[AFN]

HI. I am an engineer for the CSS in Northwest Indiana. Prior to coming to the South Shore I worked for the Santa Fe, EJE, and the Rock Island where I started my railroad career in Ottawa, Il. in 1979.

[wt&c]

Does any one here work for CSX ?

[throttlejock]

So so far we have Amtrak,BNSF,NS,CSS,and one smart guy who retired where from ChooChoo conrail? and Pullin4u are you Soo or WC or isn't there some UP around there too.

[DRGWEngr]

Hi, I'm an Engineer for the UP. Hired out DRGW/SP working out of Denver. Ran Denver to Grand Jct, Denver to P-burg,Denver to Pueblo And for sixteen months had the privilage to run Pueblo to Minturn over Tenn Pass.
Defy Gravity - Ship Rio Grande!

[BrianS]

I'm an engineer in training for the tourist line I volunteer on. Of course, I've got a few years to wait since I'm still only 16.

[Pullin4u]

I am currently WC...
Looks like we have quite a variety on this board....

Pullin4u

[NSBrakeman]

Pullin4u-
Actually, I do not work for the NS (formerly Southern Railway) anymore, now I work for Illinois Central. I worked for a brief period at NS a few months after the merger and was layed off because of all the Union rules/changes, so I went to the IC. I still put that on my name for some reason, that's all. I guess you could say I'm from Southern Railway..now THAT's variety!
-NSBrakeman

[makinbaconline]

im an engineer on the ns out of decatur,il. been there 3 years and still cant get a day off for nothin. oh well you guys know what its like, just think of all that money my wife sees at the end of the half.

[rail_fan]

I`m an engineer on the Swiss Federal Railways.Been there 10 years but my great
passion are US railroads.

[ljblanch]

HOW ABOUT AN EX BRAKEMAN,CONDUCTOR,TRAINMASTER/ROADFORMAN,
ENGINEER. AND YES I WORKED FOR THE CSX, ALSO THE ROCK ISLAND AND FOR A VERY SHORT TIME THE EJ&E.

THE ROCK ISLAND WAS ALWAYS MY FIRST LOVE, AND THE ONE I LIKED AND RESPECTED THE MOST.
RETIRED FOR A MONTH THEN WENT BACK TO WORK ON THE SCENIC RR. (CVSR)CUYAHOGA VALLEY SCENIC.

LJBLANCH

[Ironhorseman]

I'm an engineer for the Yreka Western RR, a shortline in northern California. I'm trained to run our best, up-to date equipment, such as a 1915 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikido, (pulls a consist of tourist coaches) and MU 2 1958 SW-8's for freight! *grin*
We don't go far, (8.5 miles one way) but we have lots of fun! http://www.trainboard.com/redface.gif)
It's hot, noisey, heavy work ... but I love it!
Come visit us some time!

[BC Rail King]

I would love to be an engineer on BC Rail, however, I am 13!

LOL

Have a good day,

//BC Rail King

[This message has been edited by BC Rail King (edited 25 March 2000).]

[Pullin4u]

BC Rail King:
By all means pursue a railroad career- but only if you REALLY, REALLY love trains. It makes up for the stuff you have to go through in the course of your job. (grade crossing accidents, mistreatment by RR management, etc)
Don't get me wrong, it's a great job and I wouldn't trade it for the world (well maybe). I'd never want to sit in an office all day long in a suit and tie. Just remember that it isn't all running carefree down the mainline and waving at the 13-year-olds who want to be engineers someday <grin>.
Investigate your options thouroughly and by all means find an understanding woman. I don't know how my wife manages to put up with it somedays...

Pullin4u
BLE Div 173
"always wanted to be an engineer"

[eddelozier]

Reading the comment from 13 year old gives me the chance to say I was a engineer for 15 minutes or so when I was 10 years old.
This was back in 1950-51 and the first prize for winning a model train race was the pleasure of running a PRR E-8 down through the yard.
It was in Altoona, PA.. I would still like to hear from the engineer on that engine...as we climbed through the center door and walked to the cab, he fired up the diesel. I almost jumped through the little round windows.
I got to sit on the engineer's seat, foot on the 'dead-man's' break (still called that? still such a thing?), then two toots on the horn and pulling out the throttle a couple of clicks I made that monster move.
I'm sure the engineer from that day is far retired .. sad, no one took pictures!
I guess I got the 'I want to be an engineer' out of my system that day, never went on to be one. Grandfather pushed PRR steam up the Penna. mountains.

...Eddie

[ChrisDante]

Wow, reading eddielozier's post just above me brought back some interesting memories.
I was about 5 or 6, BTW I'm pushing 60, my parents dragged me along on a cross country trip to Tucson, Arizona. We traveled by train, OF COURSE, and I remember this scene as vividly as if it were yesterday.
It's about 2 in the afternoon, we're somewhere in Texas at a water stop. My dad and I walk up to the head end. The fireman, at least 100 feet above me, leans out of the cab and invites us up. I'm not sure of the size of the engine but I want to say it was a 8-27-8 or so it looked to a 5 year old. By the time I get on the footplate, my elbows, knees, hands and yellow jumper have acquired a smidgen of dust. The engineer says to step on that pedal, of course I do and I get a too close view of what my namesake was writing about. I try to be brave, the men all laugh and tousle my hair, my dad says say thank you, and I do. Of course when we get back to our car my mom keeps screaming about me rolling in a pile of coal dust. Trains just arn't a mom thing.

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When in doubt, empty your magazine.

[E-8]

Thanks for that post Chris. I enjoyed that. You too eddelozier. http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

Charlie

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Ship It On The FRISCO!

[This message has been edited by E-8 (edited 04 April 2000).]

[braska]

Well that reminds me, when I was 40 and I went into the engineer program (late start to many years playing GI JOE), I got hooked up with my OOOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDDHead engineer trainer for my Familiarization run, and he says KID Ya ain't gonna learn nuttin sttin over thar. This is the bake, this is the throttle, this is the independent and this is the horn. (It was an Empty coal) so piece of cake-I didn't know it at the time though. So I gets the light and we head out, 100 miles latter, a few foul words, and a wide eyed conductor kissing the ground and he says KID ya did a fine job, now ifn ya just help pry my knuckles off the armrests...But I did realize one thing, you know theres a lot of flags, markers with them W's on them, permenant speed signs that I never noticed on the other side of the cab. Sure did on the right side though.....

[throttlejock]

Yeah it sure amazing how ones eyes open up when they sit and work on the other side of the cab.

[ChrisDante]

Youse guys got me thinkin agin 'bout my other engine story. Fast forward to the mid '70s, when the US really was a kinder and gentler place. I owned a company that required me to travel from New Hampshire down to Wash.DC about 3X per year.
One time I decide to take the Montrealer south from Brattelboro. Since I signed the front of the checks instead of the back, I took a roomet. Did my business in DC, had dinner at Sam and Harry's and head out to Union Station.
Not being bashful I wander up to the headend and ask if I could take a look. It's a GG1, man, I grew up in NJ watch'n these Pennsy beasts glide in and out of Newark station.
I get the nod, and up I climb. It's something out of the the 1930's, the cab supports are done in web iron, looking like the inside of the Iffel Tower.
The gentleman in the right seat asks me how far I'm going. I tell him Bratelboro, he says well you can ride as far as the beltway, that being about 10min outside of Union Station. He gets the highball, and I gotta tell you, it was like the first time I got... well you know. He's got a stopwatch and clicking off mile markers to check his speedo, well,to this day I would swear that that GG1 was bouncing, talk about rock and roll. I knew that we would never make the first curve. 5,000 horsepower and a gazzillion tons, yea it really did bounce.
Of course the beltway station comes up in, what 25 seconds. I thank the drivers profusely, and bearly able to get my knees to get me down the ladder head back to my roomet. All things considered it was better than the first time I got...



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When in doubt, empty your magazine.

[throttlejock]

It would be neat if everyone could get a nice ride like that. Let me tell ya they all bounce some worse than others. Some vertical and some side ways depending on track. Sometimes when I see a fan taking pictures or watching and we hit a bad spot I wonder if they notice the bouncing.

[ddg]

Engineer, BNSF. Kansas City (Argentine) to Wellington, KS. (224 miles) 31 years total, 9 in the Topeka Shops car dept. Old Middle Div. at Emporia. Re-located to Kc in 1989. Working 5-6 trips per half...DDG

[Alan]

Welcome to Trainboard, DDG.
As a BNSF engineer, have you had any experience with GP60M's? If you have, have a look at the topic 'Best and Worst' in this forum, and let us know your thoughts.
Thanks.

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
http://Andersley.homestead.com
http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com
http://eurogallery.homestead.com

[Railman75]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by throttlejock:
So so far we have Amtrak,BNSF,NS,CSS,and one smart guy who retired where from ChooChoo conrail? and Pullin4u are you Soo or WC or isn't there some UP around there too.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Add onr more NS/Former Conrail Train dispatcher. I guess I'll try to keep you guys moving so we don't need a recrew

[Alan]

Welcome to Trainboard, Railman. We railfans love to hear the stories from the 'other side of the fence'. (Well I do, anyway!)

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
http://Andersley.homestead.com
http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com
http://eurogallery.homestead.com

[BC Rail King]

Trust me,

If I get employeed by an RR for anything other than guest services I will be extremely cautios as to where I go. LOL, at 13 I have ruled out BNSF/CN/SRYoBC/MRR and a few others.

I have heard terror stories from employees on the CN, and even though working for CN is a family thing, I think I will pass. BC Rail seems to be 'okay' with the employees I have spoken too, even if they transfer you, you stay in the same province ect.. They are also kinda old fashion in terms of how the RR is run, and last but not least I was looking at the average age of a BCR engineer, and right when I am fresh out of post secondary eductaion they will need people. Oh, don't you love planning that in most cases will never happen http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

Dane N.

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TAMR2860-AKA BC Rail King
TAMR2860@hotmail.com

[Ron Carlisle]

Hi, I am a Train Driver (what you call an Engineer) for ThamesLink, the north/south cross-London service in the U.K. I started off on British Rail, went into Connex South Central when British Rail was privatised and now work for ThamesLink. My main interest though is U.S. railways, in particular DRGW and the Joint Line. I have been doing this for 10 years after 22 years service in the Royal Air Force. Anybody got a job in Colorado for a 52 year old train driver!!!!!!!

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Ron Carlisle

[Alan]

Hello Ron, welcome to trainboard http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif Pleased to see a fellow Brit. here!

You would not really leave Thameslink to work in Colorado, would you? http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
http://Andersley.homestead.com
http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com

[DRGWEngr]

Ron,
To bad you didn't ask about a year ago. The UP in Denver was hiring trainman and they are going to start an engineer class around May 1. Don't know if you would like to come work out here especially with all the rock and snow slides the last couple days. Springtime in the Rockies http://www.trainboard.com/cool.gif

[Alan]

Not many rock slides on Thameslink, eh, Ron? http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
http://Andersley.homestead.com
http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com

[george78]

doh! last msg posted was at the end of april...ah well.
i'm 22 and i'm seriously considering being a train engineer.
but i have NO idea where to start! http://www.trainboard.com/frown.gif do you have to start as a conductor or....what? a conductor wouldn't be bad either. being on the train would be fine enough. but being up front would be sweet!
any point towards the right direction would be appreciated.

i'm sure there's training involved. any information about it would be appreciated too.
thank you http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

[AFN]

Hiring out is the first step. To gain promotions ability must be shown for greater responsibilities. I dont work for a mojor class 1 but I believe everyone starts as a lowly trainman moves up to conductor and then engine service. The idea is once you reach engine service the company has a multi-use employee. Anyone? Also everone sits up front these days since the demise of the caboose in regular mainline service.

[george78]

cool thanks for the reply.
so i spoze i pretty much have to follow what it says on web pages under employment. like under UP they say i gotta send in a resume AND have like 2 years work history. i don't even have that...so....am i stuck or what. i guess i could wait.
but i don't want office work. i want to actually be on the train. http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

[Rule 281]

Hi all, got room for another ex-Conrail now NS engineer? Interesting thread here, I'd like to see a few more tales,(tall or otherwise) before it goes.

[throttlejock]

Well today we just about killed 3 MOW people in less then 30 minutes. Nbd Starlight Had a mechanic working on rail gangs equipment. He had his truck on one side of the main with welding or some other hoses stretched across main to siding. When we came whistling thru he jumped and raced across dragging his hoses with real big eyes. Then 20 minutes later in Springfield Ore. 2 welders are working on a switch point with their backs to us with ear pluggs in. Had to plug it they stepped off a pole length before we got there and looked up with this big question on there face. Why did ya stop we got out of the way? They just didn't get it, but they almost got the plow and would have been pushing up Daisies.

[AFN]

I thought all of the many pages of "Roadway Protection" would have eliminated this. On one occasion an "employee in charge" stopped me outside of his authorized limits to clear me. And on another I was cruising on a long stretch of tangent when I came over a rise to see a gang about a half mile ahead who was just finishing a rail replacement under definate train location(since eliminated as a rule). No one told us they were out there. They reacted like,"No big deal. You got stopped for us!"

[zimzip]

Yesterday I was visiting with my dad, telling him about the Frisco Line bulletin board. He shared a story with me that I had not heard before....very much like Chris Dante and eddelozier's experiences.

My dad was about 5 years old (circa 1919) and was spending the day with my granddad at Windsor Springs telegraph station in Kirkwood, MO. My granddad knew how much my dad loved the trains. An engineer, who was a good friend of my granddad, pulled up in a lone engine. He was making a work run to Pacific, just west of Windsor Springs and my grandad asked if my dad could ride along.

It was great to see my dad's face light up as he described sitting between the legs of the engineer as the engine headed out, and the excitement he felt as the engineer showed him how to pull the whistle cord....and then letting it rip! He doesn't remember being overwhelmed by the noise, as he had grown up with the trains all around him, but he did remember the swaying back and forth of the cab, wondering if he was going to fall off...and very glad the engineer had a good grip on him. Simply put: he felt like he was king of the world!

I am surprised he had not shared that roundtrip ride with me before. I'm glad that I told him about the Frisco Line BB and that it rekindled a great memory for him.

Karen

[E-8]

That's an excellent story (especially since it's Frisco). It would be nice to see a thread started about stories from the steam days if we have others around with steam recollections. http://www.trainboard.com/smile.gif

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Ship It On The FRISCO! (http://www.frisco.org)

[bnfan99]

the engineer was probably sleeping and the conductor was running as usual.ha ha ha ha

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bnfan99

[DaveCN5710]

Engineer here for CN (Grand Trunk District)

I hired out as a switchman/conductor in 1994 and was promoted to engineer in June of 1997 . I was 20 when I hired out at the railroad , it's a pretty good job , unlike any job out there :D

[watash]

Back during the start of WWII (1942), they were hard up for manpower, since all the able bodied guys were going off to war. When harvest time came around, I drove a tractor plowing wheat stubble under after the field was combined. Then I went to work as a Go-Fer at the roundhouse at ElReno, Okla the rest of that summer. Since I was sorta big for my age, and had a lot of time around trains, my dad asked if I would rather work for a railroad on the Student Work Program. It had been traditional that you started out on a track gang, or at least no more than a trackman (Brakeman), then you could be a Fireman, then Engineer, then a Conductor, etc. You could get a short cut if you worked in a roundhouse. So I worked at ElReno, Okla for the summer of '43, then off to Boarding School, where I started as engine tender two evenings a week and Saturdays. As a Hostler's helper at ElReno, I had learned to move engines, not run them, just move them, so when I got to Searcy, Ark. I was way ahead of the other boys in experience. I spent a month there when one of the regular employees was called up to the Military Service, and I was made temporary Brakeman. A few weeks later, when the replacement arrived, he knew nothing about firing a steamer, so he became the Brakemen, and I got to be temporary Fireman. I had already be starting the fire and getting up steam, watering, oiling, and dumping the ash pan, so it was no big deal. We never got another replacement so things rocked along into the next year. We finally got a replacement and everybody moved up a notch, and I became engineer trainee, so now I got to officially run the engine as long as the official engineer was aboard. By then I had already learned how to make a good couple, how to bunch the cars for a heavy start, how to apply the brakes, and walk the train looking for broken equipment and hot boxes. When I was fifteen, (Jack) the engineer was sick with flue when we needed to deliver 6 box cars full of compressed cotton to the junction, and bring back some empties for the gins in town. That was my first all-alone run with the fireman. It was a very careful run, there was no way I was going to risk getting shot for wrecking this train! After this I got to make the run many times. Then when I became 17 my dad prevailed upon me to become a design engineer like he was, so I went to school and spent my life designing and building prototypes of automation and robotic machinery. I only had one cab ride in an early diesel streamliner engine, and was convinced the romance of steam would soon die. Dad was right, and now I have all the good memories of the age of steam in all its glory. It doesn't seem like that was fifty four years ago, how time flies! :D

[Alan]

Great story Wayne! Do you ever regret not staying with railroading? Or are you purely a steam fan, and would not have enjoyed riding diesels?

[DaveCN5710]

Roger that watash , cool story , got anymore ?? :D

[watash]

Alan, I have been a passenger on the Super Chief several times back when it was safe and all luxury! The thrill of handeling a living Steamer was dying the future for steam was in the "Handwriting on the Wall". My dad was wise, and being as young as I was, he said I could learn easier than the older fellows, or I could have a clean higher paying job, and have time to be home with my wife and kids if I went to school and followed in his footsteps. I took his advice. The short "Get aquainted ride" in the diesel was a downer. It was all noise and vibration. The fellows I was with were almost in tears, while some guy my age was trying to convince us that this is the future and we should all sign up quick for re-training. Some of those old Hogs had over 40 years making friends with their steam engines. A Diesel is just like a car to them, its anybody's car, anybody can run it, so who cares, you don't know the engine, get to care about it, have pride in it, heal its wounds, keep it in shape, oil it, clean it, pat it good night, tell her good morning, ask her to give you a good run. One old salt muttered, "You see that bitty throttle thing? The handle on my toilet is bigger, and they expect us to handle a whole train with a toilet flush?" That was pretty much the sentiment toward the diesel, afterall it was going to kill their jobs. Railroading was going down hill, it would never be the same. Dad was right, it was over, and it is over for the diesel now too. I have done some designing on the new future trains. You guys will feel as I do, that you lived to enjoy a special piece of History, and watch it come to a close. Your memories will be as precious to you then as mine are to me now.

Dave, there are a whole list of these stories in "Tales From the Cab" in this Forum. Its where those funny, strange and sometimes tragic tales can be told as if we had all sat down for a cool one between runs.

That reminds me of a time... but this isn't the place for that. Later all. :D

[Charlie]

Hello Ron,
Just read your post in the locomotive
engineers message page.If you are still
interested in Colorado, have you tried
the BNSF? I was the same age as yourself
when I got hired by the BNSF Try it!

[RIHogger]

I'm an engineer on the UP right now but I started with the Rock Island and then the MK&T. Looking forward to retirement.

[watash]

RIHogger, come over to the "Tales From the Cab", and tell us of some of your experiences while running. The guys here enjoy the funny things, exciting times, even the screw-ups. Please? :D