Railcar1 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 3:54 pmWhat does it take to be qualified on most railroads?
Take some train rides on the territory, take a test with a road foreman or back in the 90's, a guy from the rules department. I was always given the option of a written test or a oral exam. The Conrail written test was awful. It wasn't line specific. Just generic, sometimes confusing questions. The oral exam was better, it was simply talking about the railroad from point a to point b, where the signals or DCS station signs were located, breaks in the rail (the location of switches), rules in effect, speeds, etc. The people who gave the test actually knew the railroad back then and would ask questions like "where do you stop for coffee on the SA-35?"
The tests today are line specific, usually 10 to 15 questions per line segment, and include photos and maps. It's always written, so there is a paper trail.