What does an assistant trainmaster do?

In a nutshell what does this job entail? Pay? any info would be great.

anyone? i tried a websearch and didn't really get an asnwer.

Any s**t job the higher-ups tell him to - kind of a glorified flunky/go-fer.

OK - probably not fair, as I don't intend to insult ATM's. But in the operating department, that is the lowest level of supervision. You may be asked to oversee crews in an outlying area, drive a crew from one point to another (many lines use taxis or contract drivers for this but sometimes one of those is not available) attend to derailments or grade crossing accidents in all weather at all hours, maybe hide in the bushes for operational tests, the list goes on and on, and will vary from one railroad to another or even from terminal to terminal on the same railroad.

On the other hand it is certain to expose you to many aspects of railroading. If you are hiring off the street, which sounds like the case here, you will probably get a crash course which will give you a different view of the industry than most fans will ever see.

Just what I was going to say. "what does an assistant trainmaster do?" Whatever EVERY other manager on the entire railroad tells him to do.

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Just what I was going to say. "what does an assistant trainmaster do?" Whatever EVERY other manager on the entire railroad tells him to do.

lol, sounds like my job already.

2005Vdub wrote:In a nutshell what does this job entail? Pay? any info would be great.

ATM is just about the worst job you can get on the railroad straight of the street. Base salary (BNSF RR) is $50-60K, however you will be putting in a lot of hours. You are better off coming in as a conductor and then moving up to the management. This way they know that they cant push you to hard since you can at any time tell them to #%*@ and that you are going back to being a conductor.

well if the job i applied for paid that much ($40-50k) i wouldn't care. I make $25k now answering 911's for 16 towns, dispatch a large pd, security dispatch, oem/hazmat, we took over another towns pd so we dispatch for the pd/fd/ems now too. All this for just over $25k and we get crapped on almost all the time.

if there was an opening for conductor i would've applied for that instead, but this was the only position.

2005Vdub wrote:if there was an opening for conductor i would've applied for that instead, but this was the only position.

What railroad are you applying for, and where is the position? Also keep this in mind, if you do come in as an ATM you will not be able to become a conductor or engineer within the company. My advice is to wait for some type of union position to come up like conductor, carman or track laborer (maintenance dept.). From here you can navigate to just about anywhere within the company.
If you do come in as an ATM, they will use and abuse you until you quit or drop dead. We just had a lady that came in as an ATM last November, and a few weeks a go she quit. She just couldn't take it any more. Today I also talked to an ATM that came on board earlier this year from UPS and he is already looking for another job. He was under impression that he could get his foot in the door, and than later one day become an engineer. Just be patient, something better will come up.
Good luck!

Interesting. The company was nysw. It was posted in the job section a few weeks ago. If you can't move around then i dont want it. I'de love to be an engineer down the road.

Hey, "Dub", the NYS&W works a little different, than a class one does. (most short lines do) I worked in train service there, became the night trainmaster, then went back running. Lot's of people can, and do move around internally there. If you want train service, then find a job doing that. If you want management, then do that. If your not sure, (and it sounds like your not) wait until you know, or take the job, get the experience, and use it at your next job, if it's where you want to be. The "Q" is not a large road, and those jobs are scarce. If you want to railroad, give it a shot. The railroad is not the place, however, for procrastinators. You could go to one of those bogus "choo-choo U's", but that isn't necessary to get a job on the railroad. Get the experience there, for a year, or so, then go down to CSX or NS and apply for a job in management. That's the fast way to learn the job........

G-A, thanks for the info. I'll see what happens, yesterday was the deadline for resume's. If i get a call we'll see what happens from there.