Thought I'd find out how many members were active employees or past employees of railroads. I have been employed by the Government railways for almost 21 years. I started as an apprentice signal electrican in 1980 and after completing a 4 year apprenticeship I qualified as a signal electrician. I worked as a signal electrician as various depots in the country then back to sydney where I was on shift for 2 years until 1990. In 1990 I was promoted to Signal electrician in charge and was on 24 hours rotation shift at Strathfield (where GATS is currently working) I did this job for 8 years before becoming a supervisor. In late 1998 I sat for becoming a Signal Engineer and subsequently qualified. I am currently employed as a Signal Asset Engineer. I decide when new signals are required and work on major periodical maintenance programs. I also investigate incidents e.g SPADS and wrong side failures. Ok thats a little bit about me lets hear it forom the rest of you guys. ------------------ Regards Paul Cassar-# Member number 50 SPAD Investigator #1 ICQ 61198217 http://users.bigpond.net.au/railroad2000
i work for the norfolk southern in decatur, il as a brakeman now since being forced back to the ground from engineer last month. soon to be retired from the rr and going back to construction, thankfully. sick of the ns and i think every railroader knows why and yes the horror stories about the ns are true. ------------------ fly with route of the eagles.rock n roll all night and railroad everyday!
Used to be Darlington, Kensit & Searcy RR, now retired, grumpy, hard bitten, grouchy, and just waiting for steam to come back. Tell us the horror stories about the ns, not all of us have been in the loop lately. ------------------ Watash
Mitch, It would be a shame to get out of the railroad industry especially since you are also an enthusiast. Are there possibilities that you could work for another railroad? ------------------ Regards Paul Cassar-# Member number 50 SPAD Investigator #1 ICQ 61198217 http://users.bigpond.net.au/railroad2000
I'm also a currently employed rail worker. Started on the Rock then to the Frisco then to BN and now Amtrak. 24 years worth.
Started as a train order clerk with the Rock Island, then to the EJE, on to the Santa Fe. Currently and hopefully until retirement with the SouthShore Railroad as an engineer.
i also work for the Numb Skull railroad.after getting my job on the NS i learned really quickly that hitler didn't die he just started recruiting trainmasters for the southern and now norfolk southern railroad.its pretty bad when a railroad wants to give you 30 days on the street when all you did was mark off for a week due to your newborn being in the hospital with a 102 degree fever.they can't understand why i was off that long. anyway they pay my bills for now.but my job insurance will pay me better.hey mitch now i might have time to get my painting and super detailing done. ------------------ ed pinkley home of the pinkley taurus
What happened to the "old" railway union? They were powerful, did the NS buy them out? ------------------ Watash
hey colonel as far as im concerned getting out will be great as long as i can do it soon and not get stuck to where im too old to go somewhere else. i am soon to be testing for a fire dept. where i live which is what i really want to do and have got an edumatification for in the past. the only other rr to get on here in decatur would be the ic and they are even worse on time off. it could be too going from engineer wage to brakemans wage and losing about 25 grand a year doing it, thats what really peed me off the most and there is nothing the Useless Transportation Union can do or the Big Lazy Engineer union can do. ------------------ fly with route of the eagles.rock n roll all night and railroad everyday!
I work for the DRGW/SP/UP. Based out of Denver,CO. Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
I'm an ex-Conrail locomotive engineer working out of Corning NY for NS. Not suprised to see other people with bad feelings for the southern boys. They sure have a mess on their hands around here. Don't know how long I'll be able to hang on when the layoffs really get rolling. I love the work, just hate all the garbage that's come to go with it.
I am currently employed (part time) by the Yreka Western RR in northern California. I started as a brakeman .. then fireman and now engineer. We have two 1956 SW8's and one 1915 Baldwin 2-8-2 steam locomotive. I enjoy running the tea kettle more than anything. There's something about watching the faces of folks who watch her move and listen to her bell and whistle that moves me.
I hired out on the WP in 1979 as a trainman. I went into engine service ten years later. Still enjoy my job of running an engine but our managers seem to be on a different page. Management aside, the conductors, brakemen and switchmen are still good people to work with. I wouldn't want any other job, if I have to really work. Greg Elems UP engineer in Reno NV
hey rule 281.good to see that hitler has a strong hold on the employees.the nazi southern has to learn sooner or later that happy employees get more work done than scaulded dogs do. ------------------ ed pinkley home of the pinkley taurus
Mopac3092, you may get an e-mail from Tom regarding retirement. May be interesting for you. ------------------ Watash
Hey Ed-NS currently has no happy employees and no apparent plans to create any. You're right, threatening to fire people all the time is a strange way to motivate them. It's hard to stay focused when you always wonder if you'll have an income for your family tomorrow. There's been at least one or more rule modifications or additions for every trip I've made this year, (well over 200) how can anyone keep track of it all and never make a mistake? Particularly the new people? This could be a thread all it's own.
who's tom? ------------------ fly with route of the eagles.rock n roll all night and railroad everyday!
oh yes i also forgot to add about the rules.the end i work has seniority from st.louis to peru indiana.300 plus miles.and on that we run on the up,bnsf,trra,csx and a short line to get to a few grain elevators,and also the largets flat switch yard on the ns system in decatur.as you can imagine all of us have every one of the rules memorized for the many different railroads,along with the different signal aspect meanings,and the different terms for doing things on the other railroads.for instance on the trra if you are told to run crooked to a point do you know what that means?they treat you like a idiot because everyone should know that it means to run the wrong main line track.well anyway i just love all the new rules the ns comes up with on a daily basis.pretty soon we will have safely brought ourselves to a stand still.the best saying i ever saw printed on a locomotive was "thank you for safely bankrupting us mr goode". ------------------ ed pinkley home of the pinkley taurus
