How to be an Engineer

I am frequently asked how one becomes a locomotive engineer. My answer is simple: Get lucky. Or depending upon how you look at it after 30 years of service maybe that should be "get unlucky".

What are the exact steps to become a locomotive engineer?
The reason I say "get lucky" is because basically that is what it takes. There are no "exact steps". If the RRs need men because of retirements or an increase of business they will hire. If they are in a slump they will not. RRs historically go 5 to 10 years without hiring anybody new. Railroads today usually hire through the State Job Services. Registering with your State Job Service is the place to start. But you should also contact the various railroads' employment offices. They can tell you in which parts of the country they are currently hiring. Finally try to contact the local officers of the railroad. The Trainmasters or Road Foreman of Engines. Re-contact them every three months or so.

You must be at least a high school graduate.

I am not a hiring agent for the railroad so what I say is only my opinion though that opinion has been formed after decades of observation. In my experienced opinion when they do hire they usually do it in the following order.

1. Hire anyone from within the company who wants to change careers such as trackmen, signalmen, or shop personel.
2. Hire anyone with prior RR experience who is laid off from another railroad.
3. Hire anyone with some college time. Even if you have only attended college for 1 or 2 years.
4. Lastly if there are any positions left they will hire people from the street with no experience or college.

There are a few railroad oriented curriculums at junior colleges or community colleges around the country. One is Johnson County Community College (JCCC) near Kanasa City. Another is in North Dakota. There are others. They may give you a leg up IF the RRs happen to be hiring at the time. But my personal opinion is that you can do almost as well by taking normal business courses or some programing or engineering courses and those courses would be of more use if the RRs are not hiring at the time you are ready.

If the RRs are in need of men and hiring they will train you. Usually now days the RRs make all new hires go through their training courses. So they do not save any money by hiring a graduate from a RR oriented college course.

What happens after hiring?
You will start out as a brakeman/conductor trainee. The RR company will send you to their own school to teach you the rules. These schools last from a couple of weeks to several months depending upon the RR. Some of that time will be spent on the job learning about railroading. There is much "book learning". You will be taught and tested on the Operating Rulebook, the Air Brake Rulebook, the Safety Rulebook, the Timetable and Special Instructions books, and others.

Upon graduating from the RR's training course you will be a conductor and go to work as a brakeman or conductor.

Most railroads today want a jack of all trades. For train crews this means they want everybody to be trained as an engineer. After working as a conductor for 2 to 5 years you will be REQUIRED to attend engineer training classes and serve an apprenticeship on the road. There will be much more "book learning" and more testing. You must pass this "promotion" or your employment with the railroad will be terminated. You can no longer remain a conductor for life. Upon graduation you will officially be an engineer. But you probably will not work regularly as an engineer for several years. During that time you will continue to work as a conductor and occasionally work as an engineer during business booms, vacations, etc.

How did I do it?
I hired on with the Penn Central Railroad in Ohio in 1968. At that time the state of Ohio (and a few others) had what were referred to as Full Crew Laws. State law required railroads to have an engineer and a fireman on all trains and yard engines. The laws also required a conductor and two or three brakemen/flagmen on all trains. At that time you generally hired out in either train service (conductor/brakeman) or in engine service (engineer/fireman). Once hired into one of those services employees rarely changed to the other. I hired out on the Penn Central into engine service as a fireman. Note that although I was called a fireman this was well beyond the era of the steam loco and American RRs were fully dieselized. Thus I was more like a co-engineer. Also note that unlike new hires today, I never did work in train service, IE, I never was a brakeman or conductor.

I got the job by putting in my application with the PC Road Foreman of Engines at Springfield, OH and continually pestering him for 2 years until the RR finally started hiring people again. Even then he did not call me. One day I heard from the engineer on the local switch engine that the RR was hiring. So I called up the RFE and asked once again. That time he hired me.

The PC like all RRs of that time and before had no formal schooling for locomotive engineers. You hired out as a fireman and learned the craft from the older men. You studied the rulebooks on your own. After about 3 years the RFE called you in for the examination.

You're fired.
Railroads are unlike any other employer that I know of. After spending several years and tens of thousands of dollars training you they then spend the rest of your career trying to fire you. Officers continually test you to see that you are fully in compliance with all the rules. Often they do it undercover by hiding in the weeds and observing you or reviewing your event recorder tapes from your loco. You also must pass periodic rules exams every two to three years.

How much is the pay?
You must really love railroading to put up with all the bull. You'll have no weekends, no holidays, no fixed working hours. You can and will be called to work at any hour of the day or night, mostly night. You will not be able to stand the working hours and tedium if you are only in it for the money. You must really like railroading and darn near be willing to do it for free or you won't last long. Having said that, if you work steady and do not get laid off, you can make between $45,000 and $95,000 a year.

There are tales around of engineers making $120,000 per year. While some of those jobs do exist they are usually quite limited in number compared to all the engineers working. It is doubtful that you as a new hire will be able to hold such jobs. In addition usally those high paying jobs are a result of older work rules and newer employees are not entitled to those protections. I would not count on ever making that kind of money. If you fall into it fine, but don't count on it.

An engineer on a 5 day per week yard engine job or local switcher that never makes overtime or other extras will make about $48,000. Road engineers generally make considerably more but they work more days and longer hours to do so and they are away from home between trips.

The above wages are based on working for a major carrier in the year 2000. Shortlines and regionals may pay substantially less.

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Created 08-18-2001
Updated 08-24-2001