Whats a typical Workday as an Conductor? Million $$$ ?

This is the Million Dollar Question!!!??? Is it challenging. Are you working the whole entire time , Is there down time etc.

Qmoney1986 wrote:This is the Million Dollar Question!!!??? Is it challenging. Are you working the whole entire time , Is there down time etc.

Short answer: sometimes, sometimes, and sometimes.

The answers to those questions all depend on the Conductor and his or her assignment. There are days that can be really challenging for any number of reasons. There are some days where you get to work, and get out there and pound the ground non stop for twelve hours. There are some days where you get to work, spend two hours playing cards, go out and move a few cars, then hold down a chair in the yard office for several more hours, then go home. Of course, most days fall somewhere between the two extremes, but the range of possibilities is big. It depends on how busy the railroad is, and how busy that particular location is.

Now, can I have the million dollars?

Road trains spend most of their time doing nothing. Yard crews work non stop.

trekker wrote:Road trains spend most of their time doing nothing. Yard crews work non stop.

Actually road crews do quite a bit. It's more than sitting and riding the rails. They should be monitoring the track ahead, looking back at the train in curves for defects, making sure the orders are adhered to properly, set offs/pick ups etc.... Most of my career was working the road I never got bored. Best part was the surroundings. I watched the first signs of spring and all the other seasons. Saw thousands of sunrises & sunsets. I'd do it all over again.

trekker wrote:Road trains spend most of their time doing nothing. Yard crews work non stop.

A good road conductor is always doing something. Granted it's not physical work but even a step on step off trip should keep you busy. And as for yard work, I guess that would depend on your definition of "work" lol. In my yard depending on the job you either spend 90% of the time standing in one spot pulling pins or 90% just walking tracks looking for gaps.

trekker wrote:Road trains spend most of their time doing nothing. Yard crews work non stop.

A) Not always true and...
B) Not always true.

Depends on the job. Depends on the terminal. Depends on the day.

The most challenging part is being familiar with your surroundings. Let's say you jump on a road pool and take a train to a terminal you've never been to before and you have to yard the train and take the power to the roundhouse. That's pretty challenging when you've got no clue where things are and how things work in a giant yard you're working in for the first time. That part takes careful getting used to, everything else is all the same really. Making cuts, hooks, and lining switches is the same where ever you go. Reading a track inquiry or a switch list is pretty straight forward once you get the hang of things. The hardest part is the random stuff that pops up out of nowhere that you've got no experience in handling.

I'd say the hardest part about working the road is staying awake. Next is making sure you're on top of your warrants/bulletins and know where any and all restrictions are and what restrictions are placed on your train. Things like TPOB, TPA, is it a Key Train?, car speeds, Form B's, and your conductor log. That's usually enough to keep me busy. That and eating.