$5000.00? CSX Training

Im still shell shocked about the price of that whole CSX schooling. Most of you get a loan to do that? What kinda people are hiring on over there? the price tag of one pigglet training over the whole 6 months hovers around $130,000, but five grand at the start even before hiring on, thats crazy. Well sence the last topic got shut down ill ask it here again, what year did CSX start doing that?

Dang..from the topic, I thought you were going to give me $5000.00 - since that's chump change to you engineers

-r

Yeah, he made that on two dog catch jobs.

How do I get my $5000? UPRR PM me with the details. I need the money right now! Thanks

Personally, I think it's crazy to have to pay to get a job!! As far as I know, CSX is the only railroad that does this. I live in Western NY State and if I wanted a RR job, I would try NS since BNSF and Uncle Pete don't extend here (yet). I am not sure when CSX started charging for positions. I don't even know if Conrail did that.

Conrail did not do it. Conrail used AIT to screen and train newhires, but the prospects did not pay for it.

CSX has shown that their system works. I guess it's priced at what the market will bear. People who make that kind of commitment up front are more likely to take such a job seriously, it seems.

I have been looking at and trying to get to the schooling.
However my situation is diffrent then most.

$4450.00 tuition cost
$Lodging $1000 to $1500
$ House payment,food for wife and kids, etc.
About 5 to 7 weeks without income totals me $8000.00 to $9000.00

Been trying but cannot Get R Done

Guess conductor is not for me.

Just trying to shed some lite on a diffrent situation.

LCJ wrote:People who make that kind of commitment up front are more likely to take such a job seriously, it seems.

Well, that does make a lot of sense since the prospective employee is tossing that money down for his/her future.

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lighten up Crankshaft!
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Yeah, I just recently forked out over 5,000 bucks for the 'privilege' of becoming a CSX conductor.
Why?
Well, I'm 38 years old and figured at this point in my life I wasn't going to get another job that pays as well as the railroad does with the education I have. So, I decided to take a chance...and so far so good.

It was definitely a tough decision to make. It's a huge load of dough to spend on something that I might hate or that might not work out. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I decided to take the risk.

There's no doubt that if one is set on a railroad career and they can afford to do so, that this is the way to go as having to pay for the job definitely cuts down on the competition.
Although if one has a choice of railroads in the area they live in, it's best to try getting on with a company that will train you at no cost before taking this route, of course.

But so far at least, I'm glad I spent the money and took the risk. I enjoy this job a lot better, get paid much more and have a better future with it than I would have had at Home Depot.

SnoozerZ49 wrote:-----------------------------------
lighten up Crankshaft!
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Snoozer, that's just my signature...........

I believe CSX started this program in 1995, but length and cost of the school has gone up since then.

As for having to buy a job, it's not much different than having a job that requires a college degree. You can make the argument that college graduates buy their jobs as well. Considering how much I make compared to that of those who hold jobs requiring bachelors degrees and the fact that my training cost a whole lot less than 4 to 5 years of school, I'm making out like a bandit.

As of September 1996 the CSX continued to have their own conductor school in Atlanta.

SteelWheels21 wrote:Yeah, he made that on two dog catch jobs.

How do I get my $5000? UPRR PM me with the details. I need the money right now! Thanks
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I think the record for one days pay here in GR is a little over $1,300. That was the conductors time slip i saw, the hog made another couple hundred over that. That was way back when the whole SP mess was just about under control. The auto release rule was what they were working under that day, another days pay for each train they dogcaught.

Frankly, I don't get the whole conductor school thing. Then again, there's lots of things I don't get.
Sound to me like A:Someone saw the potential for big bucks, and B:Someone decided that you shouldn't be able to get a decent paying job without some sort of degree.
I've seen some reports here and there about these courses, maybe even on this board somewhere. Some of their practices seem kind of shady, and I saw one report where they never even dealt with actual equipment. What's the point of that? Five grand just to learn the rulebook and signals?