Canadian Pacific RR - Conductor Trainee Questions...........

How much can I realistically expect to make my first 1-5 years as a conductor for the CP Rail?? How does the pay work after training??

How much can I expect to make on the road as an engineer if I am promoted in the near future ??

Is there such a thing anymore as JOB SECURITY with the CP ?

Please give me a typical scenario as far as work schedule for a week as a conductor on the road for the CP after training.

Any idea what union covers the conductors on CP?

What is the likelyhood of being laid off and how much seniority will I need to avoid it in the future?

What do CP Conductors pay for health insurance for family coverage??

Anything else will help greatly, all the negatives I am hearing about life on the RR are making me want just a bit of clarification.

I am also in the running for another job besides Conductor with the CP and need to decide which path to take.

Coming from a UP employee, all of the answers can vary soo much from each place on a railroad. The longer the run the more money you can make. It is gonna be hard for anyone on here to give you a straight answer. If you really wanna know you need to go down there and ask someone, even then they might not wanna tell you. If you hire out your gonna make a good living. For the most part your first 5 years might suck, lower rate of pay, getting cut, bumped, stuff like that. Hogs do get paid more than condutors. Hiring out as soon as you can to get the first 5 over with is the best advice i can give and hiring out where there is a alot of people working might help you not getting cut, but engine service might be 10 years or more maybe. Hiring out at Kansas City for the UP would have been a good one.

I worked for CP/SOO as a yardman out of Bensenville (Chicago), and that was about 10 years ago, so I'm not sure what I know applies today. Plus, things are usually done a little differently in the yard vs the road. The reality is just as UPRR Engineer said; lots of variables, but all of the basic structures of working for the railroad apply (which you've probably already heard). They really are all the same, for the most part. The short answer would be, it depends. I do think it was a good outfit to work for, as far as railroads go. There was a GEL board, and yardmen got two scheduled days of per week. I don't think the road guys got the scheduled days off. Didn't have stuff like that at the CNW. Definitely a more laid-back working environment at the SOO as well - something I noticed right from the application process. Even on the extra board, you could often mark up for a job a day ahead of time. At the time, there was a shortage of engineers, and they were working constantly and getting screwed out of their rest days. Don't know if it's true, but it was related to me that SOO's engineer training was highly regarded in the industry. Reps from other roads would catch newly qualified engineers, almost literally walking out the door, and offer them a deal. I remember talking with one newly qualified engineer who was on his way out West to work for the BN. They had offered him a rather sizeable bonus plus moving expenses to hire with them.

Starting out you get 75% of full scale, whatever that number may be, and it goes up 5% each year until you reach 100%. You get paid twice a month, hence the term "half". I hesitate giving an actual yearly income, because there's so many variables involved (and I really don't know what the pay is today).

Job security? Well, I guess if you don't quit or get outright fired, you'll have a job. The only thing is, the potential for layoffs and furloughs is part of the territory. Get all the seniority you can - without the senie, you get the weenie.

Typical(?) week - you could be sitting around wondering if you'll get a start, but it's likely that you'll be out on your rest a lot and working your butt off. Your life will basically revolve around waiting for the phone to ring, and it often rings at the most inopportune times.

As far as I know, you'll have a choice of either the UTU or the BLE for a union.

Not sure what else I can offer. As I said, I thought it wasn't a bad outfit when and where I was working, but YMMV.

Chris