dunno about that but you could check. N.A.R.S. is on the campus of Johnson County Community College. CT
Contact Johnson County Community College. They can provide you with all sorts of information. I went through the course two years ago and now work as a conductor for the BNSF. I urge you to think very hard about pursuing this as a career. It looks and sounds glamorous but in reality it is grueling and dangerous work. They will preach to you about the quality of life you might obtain. In reality you are on call 24/7. Most terminals do not have rest cycles. the life style is very hard on marriages and relationships because you are very rarely home for any family or personal events. I am single so I don't have to contend with relationship issues. What I do battle with is the fact that I get called to work after supposedly getting eight hours of rest. Take into account that you can be on the train as long as twelve hours or more. (Federal laws says you can operate for no longer than 12. You can still be sitting on the train waiting for a ride to the hotel after the 12 hours. I've sat as long as 3-4 hours waiting). Lets say you get to go home instead of the hotel. Remember now that you have as little as 8 hours to get rested before you next assignment. It take me 25 minutes to get home. I need time to have something to eat and prepare food to take with me on the next trip. (We don't stop the train to go and get something to eat). Then I might need to go shopping for more food to put in the pantry and fridge. I have to sit down and pay the bills. I have to wash clothes. Have my truck serviced as needed. Go the the doctor. Home maintenance. Visit with friends. Call Mom and Dad as well as other family members and friends. And then if there is time I lay down to get some rest. And the real stickler is that you get a 1 and 1/2 hour call to be at work for your next assignment. So then I get up and shower, get my gear into the truck and drive 25 minutes to get to work. Even though Federal law dictates that we get EIGHT HOURS of rest, by doing the math you can quickly see that it doesn't happen. Granted the pay is great especially if you are not college educated. The benefits are nice. You should know that they are trying to get us to pay our entire health care premiums. For a single person that will come close to $600.00 per month as of now. Right now we are paying $130.00 per month. Union dues can be over 100.00 a month. More often than not the union provides very poor representation. RR retirement deductions are higher than Social Security, which you will no longer be contributing to. That is not necessarily a bad thing though. In November of this year I worked 16 days straight. I grossed $4300.00. After all of my deductions were taken out I brought home $2500.00. It just doesn't seem right to me to work so hard and give up nearly half of my wages. That happens in most any job you have though. Also keep in mind that you will more than likely be moving somewhere else to work. Your chances of staying where you are at are slim to none. You can also expect to move many many times throughout your career. Seniority is what it's all about. You will be at the bottom of the ladder. Lots of people have passed the course and gotten a job only to be furloughed the very same day. My intention is not to discourage you but rather to show you the reality of the profession. I am 49 years old and I started railroading just two years ago. At first I couldn't understand why my co-workers were complaining so much but now I am beginning to see where they were coming from. I now have the railroaders attitude. Trust me, the railroad will tell you that they will provide a great quality of life. If all you are after is $$$ then you probably won't be disappointed. If you are in a relationship, planning to get married or are now married think very hard about RRing as a career. You will miss holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, the birth of your children, your kids school events, your kids growing up, funerals and time with your friends. I forgot to mention hobbies. I've been a model railroader for over 40 years now. I have a very large collection of models and I used to make a chunk of money custom painting. All modeling has gone by the wayside because there is no longer any time left in my life for it. I am not sorry for taking the job. It has been a dream of mine since I was a child. It has also helped me to attain some personal goals. Think carefully about all of this before jumping in. It may or may not be for you. And please feel free to ask me any question you may have. I am more than happy to share my experiences with you. Good luck to you! Dave
Don't let wpsnts scare you off.mg: Though his words are true, not every terminal is like that. Our extra boards have been laying in at home anywhere from 16 to over 48 hrs, depending on the day of the week. All this provided your not furloughed. The job is not bad, the money's good, but you will sacrafice a lot of your personal life. Like everything, it takes a while to get used to. Now back on "track" Not sure about grants, etc.. for NARS. Nice facility though, went there for hogger training. I've heard a lot of good things about the course. If you end up going, just to the north of the campus, there's a shopping center. There's a grocery store, drug store and a great little bar and grill called "Gert's" great burgers and beer:teeth:
I did not go to NARS, I got hired off the street but I know/know of people in the area I work that did go there and can tell you most of them do not have a good reputation. The problem is many of them thought they knew everything and did not want to listen to the guys teaching them or tried to tell them (some of these guys have been here 30 years) that they were doing it wrong. I am not saying everyone that goes there is a know it all but be carefull when you get out. Kevin
===================================================== CRS the name of the bar & grill that we used to frequent during engineer training. It may have been "Gerts" but I dont remember the name. We stayed at the Candlewood Suites and this place was behind & just up the hill from the Candlewood. We called it either by an ethnic name or by the owners name(Tom). the ethnic name was the owners heritage. The chow was O.K. there and the drinks standard, the service was good and the crowd was young, a place for sports fans both male & female. Sometimes a guy could "link-up" there. Charlie
===================================================== I know what you are saying Kevin but some of the "old heads" can't understand that THEY need to change their methods. The industry is changing and they refuse to change with it. It is those old heads who are responsible for a lot more injuries than the new guys. I used to be scorned for giving BIG hand signals, but being who I am, I told those who made light of it that we could settle it another way. Nobody ever wanted to take me up on that. Once I became an engineer I told the students that I wanted them to give me BIG hand signals because they a so much easier to see and NOT misunderstand. Story from the Road... Worked with 2 brothers, twins,but not identical. Both started with the railroad at almost the same time(one brother started a day later). Both are now in Galesburg IL, but I worked with them at both Cicero yard and at Eola yard. Both men are married & have children. Both men are devout Christians. Both men are also rule book freaks! MOF one of them would read his rule book during spot time in the yard and during coffee breaks. Both guys were known as "Mr. Safety"! The one who would read his rule book all the time had the toes of his right foot amputated by the wheel of a moving freight car in East Yard , Eola. He did something he KNEW he shouldn't do and paid the price for it. He had about 20 years seniority! He is a nice guy too, but I think he'll never work again on the RR. Charlie
That trend is changing. There weren't very many new hires in the mid 80's thru the mid 90's. Now that there is an abundance of new hires, the accident rate amongst them is climbing............
There has been quite a bit of discussion going on about that also. The UTU has a committee formed to study training issues. IMO the problems are a rush to the examination stage, that is, rushing the student through the "basics" and then having them mark up too quickly. I had mentioned before the extent of my student conductor qualifying stage. While those of us from Chicago were still in the 1st phase of qualifying(at Cicero Yard) the group of students from Nebraska were already working coal trains as conductors. The blame for shortcomings in training can be placed both on the union and the carriers. The union wants the people to finish their student status quickly so that they can be full members of the brotherhoods, the carriers are only interested in having a warm body "in the seat" or "on the ground". Both pay ample lip service to safety and services issues, but little,if anything, of major consequence has been accomplished in either category. It is still "uphill slow, downhill fast";tonnage first, safety last." Has anyone ever read the tale of the young conductor(allegedy with NS) who never turned a wheel in 12 hrs due to a damaged switch which had apparently been "run thru"? If not, I'll be glad to relate the tale as best as I remember it. When I went to Galesburg in the late 90s to work there for a short time, I was given one(1) qualifying trip on the BN side of the railroad between Galesburg & Chicago and one (1) qualifying trip on the Santa Fe side of the same route. I was already acquainted with about 1/2 of the BN route. I marked up on the "Galesburg East Pool Conductors Extra Board" and told in so many words to "get to work". Well it seems that the board I marked up on was in reality the "Galesburg Go Where We Want You to Conductors Extra Board. Well as you may or may not know, Galesburg originates trains in all 4 directions of the compass. It has trains running in CTC territory, ABS/TWC territory and "dark" territory(the Peoria Branch). Almost every trip I took was on a part of the combined BNSF system over which I had never seen before. Now that is just plain wrong! I could have protested, but then I would be dealing with possible insubordination or I could have been shipped back to Chicago and NOT work there.The lack of traffic is what caused me (and about 22 other folks) to go to Galesburg in the first place. I was lucky that I worked with some GOOD engineers who were understanding and very helpful and informative. I spent only a few months there and returned to Chicago due to problems of personal and family nature. By that time things were picking up again and I was able to hold jobs at Eola Yard. CT
Charlie I know what you are talking about. I made my first start as a Conductor about 3 day after class, on a hopper train, on a territory I had never seen. No qualifying, just a rule book, time table, signal sheet, and the hope that my engineer knew what was going on. Luck has it I got a really good engineer, but I don't want to try that again. Adam P.S. I haven't heard about the "run thru" switch.
You were lucky, we stayed at the extended stay by the freeway. Long uphill walk if you missed the bus:embarassed: Gert's is between the Hen House and Osco, just behind the Candlewood. I had a good time, if it wasn't for the tests, I would love to go again.
I too think we were rushed through. 16 weeks sounds like alot but there are still plenty of things I get nervous about doing. The day my class was released they forced us all down to Vancouver Wa. Talk about a shock, we went from knowing 1 yard to having to learn 4. We were all lost in the sauce so we just took it slow and got through it. We all made it out of there without incident but by am I glad to be back in Spokane where compared with Vancouver and Seattle/Tacoma/Everett (where I also spent some time) it is a cake walk. Kevin
I don't think so!!! If you think the union would compromise safety for the sake of union dues, you'd better think again!!!!!!!
I actually have thought about it and realized that the unions are STILL not unimpeachable in their stance in training and "quality of life" issues. The brotherhoods have been pushing for more thorough and extensive training for students for all the relatively few years I was an active railroader. They have been quite vocal in their demands for improved "quality of life" issues such as 8 hours uninterrupted rest, scheduled rest periods, employee fatigue. To date, there has been no significant progress made. Example: A few years back my carrier(BNSF) was experimenting with "guaranteed rest day" extra boards for both trainmen & enginemen at various locations around the system. A hogger buddy of mine had been working in Galesburg and was on such a guaranteed rest day board. He showed me his rest day schedule and he had weekends or partial weekends at least 50% of the time. He also told me that in comparing his wages before and after the implementation of the list that it appeared to him that he was not losing any money by being on a "guaranteed rest day" extra board but had actually made a few dollars more than prior halves. Those board experiments were anulled due to the resistance of the crews to them. These guys actually wanted to "turn and burn" for fear of a possible loss of earnings, not because they didn't like having the rest days. Now there is a failure of the brotherhoods to communicate with their members and to try to mollify the fears of their membership whether real or imagined. Can you blame the carriers for shying away from attempting positive crew management changes? Instead the carrier goes almost 180 degrees and institutes their despicable "attendance guidelines". Lay off sick 3 or more times in any given 90 day period and the computer automatically flags you and you get an investigation notice. Don't get me wrong Doofus, I am pro-union and still a paying member of the UTU but the brotherhoods AND the carriers are equally culpable for the problems besetting rail employees. We (the UTU) are just a few days away from 2 solid years without a new contract and nowhere near a resolution of a new contract. This happened the previous contract and in the contract before that. And in each case the membership was "force fed" a new contract with little if any gain(wages) and much lost(medical insurance was paid for 100% by the carriers-now the employees bear part of the cost and that is expected to rise). To curry the favor of the carriers to not fight the change to the Railroad Retirement Law(the 60/30 change) the rank & file were asked to petition the government, or at least to support the carriers in their petition, to repeal a diesel fuel tax. This tax was repealed. In thanks for this support, the carriers gave us the privilege of paying for the insurance coverage I just told you about, thus saving them more money. However in their quest for cost-cutting measures, somehow they overlooked the generous bonuses they pay to management. The battle of rail labor v. rail management is just like a marriage. There are two sides to each and every story. Both sides are willing participants and both sides are just as culpable. CT
Those extra boards were annulled by the CARRIER!!!!!! Nobody was forced to take rest days!!!! You could still "turn and burn"!!! The rest days came into play only because the FRA was about to drop the hammer on the CARRIERS for failure to deal with fatigue issues!!! After the fires were reduced regarding the fatigue issues, those 8-3 boards were annulled and the "Availability Policy", later termed "Attendance Guidlines", was set in place by the CARRIER. The carrier intended for these "guidelines" to automatically resolve the fatigue issue. IT DIDN'T!!! Only LATER did the rest cycles come into play!!! Again, because the FRA was going to step in and force the CARRIER to deal with fatigue issues!!! It wasn't because they wanted to be nice guys!!! The unions have penned agreements that allow for extended rest. Something that neophite railroaders have had all along. To say that "there has been no significant progress made." is untrue! Once again, something the neophite railroader hasn't experienced. The FRA is once again looking into fatigue issues not addressed by the CARRIER. The CARRIER conitues to stall on the contract because of the political situation in Washington DC. Now that the balance of power has changed, time will tell how the carrier reacts to contractual negotiations. They are already backing down on demands. Would you have your union lay down and sign the first offer by the carrier??? Or do you want a PEB board to "force feed" your union a contract?? Ever read a PEB award??? Try it sometime!!! You might just change your point of view about contract negotiations!!!!!! But then, you might not..............
