Balancing the railroad's time and family time

Another informative post slchub.
It will be up to our son if he wants to pursue. He is a very social person and it appears there is virtually NO!!! social life. He is only 20 so, if he were fortunate enuf to get on, if he didn't like the lifestyle, he is still young enough to make a career change. We just thought it might be a fit, not married, young, experience in the elements with crummy hours at times, no college interest. But, currently off weekends and holidays. 9.00/hr.
I know when I was 20, I could not see the future. Back then I had an opportunity to work for SBC or the Fire dept (probably be retired). If I knew then, what I know now I would have taken a little parental advice. Enough said.
skoos2000

Hi,
I'm a newhire on a shortline/switching RR,and its great! good pay,benefits. Yes its hard being on the spareboard at first,but i do it being married and 2 kids. Maybe sugest a shortline, at least he'll be in his own bed all the time! And don't pay for trainning, he should learn from actual expereinced people not classroom wanna bee's or foamers

steam371 wrote:Hi,
And don't pay for trainning, he should learn from actual expereinced people not classroom wanna bee's or foamers

My classroom instructors had 70 years railroading experience behind them.

JasonP,
It takes 70 years of expereince to read a rulebook and learn how to look things up?, Up here, you pay $10,000 for 9 months of school, where they have MATH class?! come on, practical on the job trainning in conjunction with home study or homework if you will, is certianly alot better than paying through the nose for trainning. Your instructors did'nt pay for trainning did they?, its just a money grab. Maybe I have'nt read things right, but it seems that alot of the "Choo-choo schools" are affiliated with the RR's. And no, i'm no foamer or railfan, I just paid attention to what i was being taught and shown by the old hands, and learned and read the rule book, in my home time, because it was an aspect of my new Career or lifestyle. so I really don't think ANYONE should have to pay for trainning.

steam371 wrote:JasonP,
It takes 70 years of expereince to read a rulebook and learn how to look things up?, Up here, you pay $10,000 for 9 months of school, where they have MATH class?! come on, practical on the job trainning in conjunction with home study or homework if you will, is certianly alot better than paying through the nose for trainning. Your instructors did'nt pay for trainning did they?, its just a money grab. Maybe I have'nt read things right, but it seems that alot of the "Choo-choo schools" are affiliated with the RR's. And no, i'm no foamer or railfan, I just paid attention to what i was being taught and shown by the old hands, and learned and read the rule book, in my home time, because it was an aspect of my new Career or lifestyle. so I really don't think ANYONE should have to pay for trainning.

If you've been informed that the classroom part of training is five solid weeks of looking up definitions and reading rulebooks, you've been sorely misinformed.

I will stand with you on the notion that paying for the class, thus paying for a job, is ridiculous. I believe there should be a full reimbursement to the new hire, after they have completed their probationary period.

I agree with Jason. Even though there is alot of time spent on the rulebooks they almost always put them into practical situations. Whether it be of their own personal experiences, or of recent derailments or accidents. There is a pluthera of information given, absorbed and repeated. I ,personally, prefer to have a base of knowledge of how to work safely and some sort of core of understanding to expand upon once out on the rail. Also, I agree, nothing is better than on the job experience and probably nothing more valuable. By all means the learning isn't over, it is just beginning. I think a big problem is the small percentage of students who come out of school with the wrong attitudes and give the others and this system a bad rap. I also agree that paying for schooling isn't the best thing in the world, but society has leaned towards this thinking for a while now in almost all career options . Good or bad, I don't know and probably only time will tell.