Types of Railroad Jobs
Three types of railroads employ rail transportation workers: freight, passenger, and urban transit. Freight railroads carry a large amount of cargoes to local endpoints and to ports to be transported overseas. Passenger railroads transport people from long distances to destinations within the country. Urban transit, which includes subways and light-rail systems. carry passengers within urban areas and suburbs. These methods of rail transportation need workers to manage, run, and help in rail procedures. Some of the work is not limited to trains, but also can be done in rail yards where railcars are examined, fixed, joined, and separated. Below is a list of types of railroad jobs as well as the tasks and/or skills that each position entails.
Railroad Conductors:
-Manage all actions of freight and passenger train staff
-Assess agendas, exchanging orders, waybills, and shipping reports to get loading and unloading material concerning their shipment
-Accountable for the allocation of capacity in the train and the procedure of freight cars within rail yards and terminals that use remote control locomotive technology
-Enforces policies of the railroad company and Federal Railroad Administration
-May be involved in the hiring, disciplining and termination of employees
-Make passengers secure and comfortable while collecting tickets and fares
-Notify people about circumstances for the passengers' knowledge
-Schedule preventative and necessary maintenance
-Complete accident reports as necessary
Railroad Brake Operators:
-Assist with the coupling and uncoupling of cars
-Operate some switches
-Have the physical endurance and the follow instructions well
Locomotive Engineers:
-Must have mechanical skills, as they must understand the power systems and brakes
-Know how to watch instruments and conduct safety inspections
-Comprehend basic physics and the consequences of load weight
-Decipher system gauges and other applicable instruments and communicate with dispatchers and engineers.
Signal Operators:
-Set up, uphold, and fix the signals on tracks and in yards
Switch Operators:
-Control the track switches within a rail yard
Train Dispatchers:
-Guide and oversees the movements of all trains in a certain zone
-Must know how to use computers
-Must be familiar with assigned location
-Communicate with train teams through satellite or "walkie talkies" effectively and with clarity
-Should be able to multitask
Yardmasters:
-Administer yard operations and yard employees
-Take charge of yard engineers or other personnel in terms of where to move the cars to fit the planned train configuration
Freight Carman:
-Typically work in the shop, the rail yard, or trackside
-Examine rail cars for smooth operation
-Repair rail cars
-Control hand and power tools, including welding equipment
-Paint rail cars
-Keep up with new railroad equipment
-May have specialties such as sheet metal workers or pipefitters
Logistic coordinators:
-Supervise the unloading of supplies in a warehouse or loading dock
-Direct the packing of purchased products into tractor-trailers and ensure quick delivery of merchandise to consumer locations
Track maintenance workers:
-Lay, fix, and conserve track for standard or narrow gauge railroad equipment used in regular railroad service or in plant yards, quarries, sand and gravel pits, and mines
-This includes ballast cleaning machine operators and railroad bed tamping machine operators.