My cousin just accepted a job for csx conductor. from the basic info he relayed( has not been through training and been given all the details yet) it sounds like something I may be interested in myself.

Sounded like a $12 an hr pay bump above what im at now, better retirement than I have and likely better insurance but have not heard about that yet.

Most attractive is the retirement. I could still get 20 years and from what he was told. if he is married when he retires he will get his check for retirement and his wife will get her on check in her name that is 50% of what his is for life without him having to take less for his. I would love that for my wife.

They are advertising for the same job he took conductor also 20 miles from my farm. I would be on call 24 7 and gone a lot . BUT if I'm home 3 nights a week that's more than I am now.

To get 20 I would have to work tell I'm 65 vs having 30 and out where I'm at at 56 (11 years away) but as I build up seniority and jobs that are home every day become available I could transfer to them. Along that line I could transfer to other parts of the country if I wanted to.

Anyway just something I'm thinking about putting in for but thought I would see if anyone here had any insights. Been where I'm at 19 years and it's a great job, good pay and benefits. But the place is geting ran like crap sines the new people took over and I'm not confident in the place staying open or not geting sold off again. But after 19 years and being older changing Jobs has more of the line than it did 20 years ago for me. But at least this on e should match or beat my current income and benefits so in considering it. I have trund down so may jobs close to home the last 8 years I want to be sure it's something I want befor spending the time testing and multiple interviews.

I don't know about CSX but around here UP and BN are both notorious for hiring people and then laying them off. Never did understand that.

My father was a career railroad man with New York Central which became Penn Central which became Conrail. His benefits were great and my mom also got a benefits check from the RR until her death. Also the RR has it's own Medicare set up that she also had until passing.
Given my lifelong exposure and love of trains to this day, I kind of wish I had gotten involved with them somehow.
I wish you luck if you decide to pursue it!

I used to know some guys that work for Union Pacific. I say used to because the railroad moved them away, and some have relocated several times, I think. They also worked some strange hours and schedules.

I had buddy that used to work for CN.

But, he couldn't lay off the weed and failed a few drug tests. They gave him plenty of opportunity.

One of the dumbest things I ever heard of.

I know several that were engineers that quit. I am sure they were paid well. They said too much BS to put up with.

Engineers are over 200k from what I heard. conductors minimum working 8 hr days is 97k according to the listing. My cousin was told he will blow way past that. Was also told he would be on call all the time and forces his one day off a week. Sound like a way to knock down some cash. Good for him But I have been doing just that for the last few years and am not sure I'm willing to another few years.

my primary interest is the better retirement and spending more nights at home than I am now. (May be just the opposite) And my company looks to be intentionally running my plant in the ground So looking at other options.

I'm 5th generation. If you don't care about having a home life working on the train crew is a good career if you can put up with it for long enough to get your pension. I worked on the tie and rail gangs and in a car shop and eventually decided the politics, investment companies buying and selling, and lay offs wasn't worth it to me. After 4 years of working my butt off as a temp worker trying to get a foot in the door I got laid off again this past February and when they called me back in May they wouldnt sweeten the deal any so I told them to shove it.

Best friend does it as his dad did before, dad's retirement was great my friends isn't all that great too many changes.

My oldest DILs Dad retired from UP at 72 yrs of age. He couldn't see quitting a job like that.

Seeing as you are not much of a family type person per your descriptions here off and on, seems it would be a great fit for you, doubt you would miss much with you kids growing up without you most of the time. Yes you put in the time when off, but you would rather be working for the dollars per your talk.

Being devils advocate here, kids need a lot of parental support and watch as they enter the teen years and older, one parent rarely is enough to help them through the myriads of things out there in today's age.

Money isn't as much as people think it is when some one or something cause's a great loss to the family !

Just saying that money made now might not be making up for things you are looking at now for the future, I can understand a work place not being held together much if you have watched it continue to falter, a sure enough reason for looking to another job, however one with even less time to be around your family seems a bad investment just for dollars to bring in, when there are other avenues to check out for new jobs and still be close to family!

Any time someone says “railroad” all I can think of is “all the live-long dayy!!”

Nailed it grit.

X2

My son started out on a crew that did track maintenance and he traveled a lot. Then got his electrician cert and became a crossing maintainer. That was much less travel but he was on call a lot but was a good paying job with great benefits. He is now a supervisor over crossing maintenance and is home every night. Still has its headaches he says but most jobs do.

Providence Farm, I know a couple of guys who went to the R/R. It's Canadian pacific/ Kansas city southern in marquette iowa. They didn't last that long both were around 30. Not bad workers but the odd ball hours and the schedule didn't leave anytime for much else. It's also not the safest job. Hanging on the back of a railcard in the dark and 30 below doesn't sound very appealing. You'd be on call alot and expected to be ready to go with little notice. To me its a younger guys job which can be a heck of a career once you get further along in it. Until then it's a lot of sacrifice and at a potentially high price. Missing out on family being a big one. You need to make that decision and Goodluck what ever you choose.

I did an internship with Norfolk southern for a summer. That was enough for me. All the guys I talked to were miserable and only stayed because that was the only job that paid enough to cover the child support for the kids with their 3-5 ex wives. I witnessed the management side mostly, but a lot of those guys acted like they were out to get the engineers and conductors (one guy got mad that the operators were doing what they were supposed to because he wanted to be able to write them up).

They offered me a very good paying job for straight out of school and I couldn’t decline quick enough. In fact, I think out of 50 plus interns who were offered jobs only one or two accepted.

With that said, some of the engineers and conductors I talked to seemed to generally like their jobs. Or at least not complain as much as the other guys I was around more frequently

This ! I once was BS'ing with some crews who were staying at the hotel I was staying at . They all mentioned the money was excellent. But I thought, " They must be living in gated communities and their kids going to private schools . ".
Nope. For the same reasons you mentioned.