Recently applied for conductor

Hello all, I recently applied for the assistant conductor position in Chicago. My background consists a college degree, 8 year veteran of the USAF, and most recently ive been a freight conductor for about 2 years. Just about every thing Metra was looking for in there application requrements, so lets hope I have a chance at scoring an interview. :)

I have a few questions tho about a 'passenger' conductor. Are they just ticket collectors? Do you actually do any 'yard' work or building trains? Do they have a garunteed extra board? Decent union? Are they refered to as a passenger conductor or is there another term? Is there an actual conductor that rides along side the engineer?

The reason I ask this is comming from the freight side to the passenger side seems like 2 different worlds.

Hmm ... I know the Metra conductors are probably all familiar with yard operations and the like. On some of the lines (BNSF and UP), all of the staff on board the trains are contracted out to the railroads who own the tracks, and if you're working for either road in the Chicago area, you can bid on the Metra positions if you have enough seniority.

From my observations, Metra seems to have three categories of people on the trains: One engineer, one head conductor, and several assistant conductors (or "trainmen" according to the on-board announcement system...). Most of the duties involve punching and selling tickets and generally dealing with the passengers (knowing how to make change quickly, and remembering the faces of those who board the train at each stop would probably be useful skills). The door controls are also under the control of the conductor.

I can only speak from working the UP West line but usually they are similiar. Just as the previous poster said its usually conductor and the trainmen or brakeman with and swing collector. Its usually the trainmen that will do back up moves taking trains back to the coach yards after the morning fleet. In the afternoon its the opposite bring your train back downtown. In most cases the Engineer is his own in certain situations conductors or trainmen will come up on headend. It is quite different from freight as I do both as a Engineer.

From your qualifications you would seem to be in good shape if you get the interview. I am now an engineer for metra, but i was a conductor. Don't count on a lot of yard work. You'll mostly be a ticket clicker on the road. in the yard, unless you are on one of the yard switching jobs mostly you'll just be tieing on engines and piloting equipment through the yard. Even the switching jobs are pretty uneventful. you'll pull bad order cars out of consists and maybe replace them with cars from the shop tracks. It is nothing like you are used to. Believe me you are already tremendously overqualified and you haven't even started.