.....in the PR department? When all the other Class 1's have special units, heritage units, steam programs, tv commercials, etc, BNSF has......? Would've been nice if they atleast had kept BN1 BN2 and BN3, and were painted in the "H3" scheme.
Yeah BNSF seams short handed here in the Lincoln State. Tried to get a job with them but wasn't qualified. Oh well, I suppose if they would have hired me I would have tried to paint every locomotive I was on in Chinese red and gray! Jim
What- those ex-BN and Santa Fe units still running around in their old colors (and each with TWO different paint schemes, mind you) not "heritage" enough? Man, there ain't no pleasing some people..............(ducks to avoid incoming) Seriously, I wouldn't mind seeing BNSF do some REAL "heritage" locomotives, but with moving freight being their primary business, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Remember what BNSF's business outlook is though. UP feels that respecting where it came from is the better PR and that Public PR is better than Customer PR in some respects. BNSF feels differently. Their outlook on things, is that they'd rather portray the most modern appearence they can to their customers. An ES44 dos that better than a Steamer, and putting BNSF forward of ATSF or BN or ??? is more forward thinking than backwards. So they say. We prefer the UP model, but regardless, both seem to be working quite well. Don';t forget CSX doesn't have a steam program, and SP 4449 has donned a formal little black dress with a white accent stripe and the BNSF circle Herald (modified ATSF) for an Employee Special. I want to say ATSF 3795 (check that number guys, the 4-8-4)has doen one as well.
Very good points. This is exactly why BNSF changed their name and logo in 2005. It is no longer Burlington Northern Santa Fe any more, simply BNSF. Just like CSX isn't called "Chessie System Seabord Coastline Combined. We romanticise the railroad a bit but BNSF sees this as a transportation industry, no different than United Airlines, Yellow Freight, Greyhound, UPS etc. BNSF is looking to the future, spending more money on newer locomotives, track and signal upgrades. That is why there are so many paint schemes on the system. Why repaint an old unit that will be sold or scrapped soon? BNSF is in touch with it's heritage, just keep moving forward in innovation more than nostalgia. Perhaps someday we can see a CB&Q ES44, but for now BNSF is working on being the leader in freight in North America.
As to the people who are looking for a railroad job, all I can say is that you will most likely have to wait until ALL furloughed employees are recalled. Business has picked up but not to the point of needing extra people.
Unfortunately there can be a disconnect created via using initials. Last summer I was standing on a public sidewalk by an area rail yard, when a guy and his kid came walking past. They stopped and the father asked me "what is a Binsuf?" So I had to explain- Which was not even close to the first time that has happened to me. Union Pacific is smart to keep an actual company name out front. Boxcab E50
In the last 18 months, both Matt Rose and the CEO of CSX have said that perhaps going to nothing but initials was a mistake.
Cicero Conductor Trainee Recruit I am testing this Thursday for Conductor Trainee in Cicero, will there plenty of work for me?
They can't be that short on crews. I recently looked at BNSFs job opening in Wa state. Guess what I found...................................nothing!
Well, I wrote that almost three years ago. That was when the oil boom was taking off. It has improved since then.
I really couldn't say! Cicero Yard is a flat-switching intermodal yard now, not the hump yard that it was when I hired-on. IIRC Cicero still has a "hog board" meaning that the more senior people bid the best jobs and leave the dregs to those lower on the food chain. The people there are contacted daily and bid for the next day's jobs, the jobs left vacant are assigned to the extra board. My home terminal was Eola/Aurora but for my first year and 1/2 I worked mostly out of Cicero since I was on an extra board and I went where I was ordered. You will most likely be completing your training after the 1st of the new year. I don't mean to upset or frighten you,but prepare to be furloughed. That,sadly, is one of the more difficult job conditions you will deal with. I,personally,was never furloughed but I did relocate briefly to Galesburg IL to escape a cutback. I don't envy you that you will be working out of Cicero. I never really liked the place,but a job is a job and you do what is needed. The one positive aspect about working out of Cicero for me is that it was a LOT closer to my home. As an engineer, many of the jobs originated in Cicero so that was a boon to me. I didn't mind Aurora, I could get there quick enough and the working environment was a lot better than Cicero,also it was the originating terminal of Suburban Operations. I was both a commuter trainman and before I retired I was on the passenger engineers extra board for a short time. You will probably be trained in commuter operations,if so,don't put any stock into what some of the old head switchman will tell you about working the "dinkies". The ones who bad-mouth it are the ones who can't hack it! There are more positives than negatives about working commuter trains. 1/ commuter service pays more than switch yard jobs.2/ You are in a clean environment. 3/you are not out in the weather except when you are on the platforms at the stops. 4/ if you are a "stud", the "scenery" in summertime will be very good "eye candy" for you. Look around at the senior people working the "dinkies", ALL of them spent a lot of years working freight, some of them switch back and forth with the seasons,working commuter trains only in fall and winter. My best wishes to you
Hmmm. Something isn't working quite right. I was told this morning that BNSF is stacking up some coal trains, and falling behind on making some deliveries out to the west coast. The word was they are crew short.
BNSF is in a boom right now, they are short on crews and short on motive power (as can be seen by their leasing of CITX and CP road diesels right now). Business is very good for them. You can see it in all the extra oil traffic. This is what BNSF does. They take care of their customers and their business, that is all the PR they need. The heritage hoppers and caboose are nice, but that doesn't pay the bills for them.
A bit of additional digging, and this is more than just a BNSF problem. Apparently atop heavy seasonal coal traffic, there is a huge grain push on. That is what has caused the troubles. Everyone has kept personnel and equipment so tight, there is insufficient ability to react.
