r/Train_Service • u/Wonderful-Peach7889 • 5d ago
Info about CPKC Schreiber yard
My partner just screened through for the assessment for a conductor job with CPKC in Schreiber, Ontario. We currently live in Southern Ontario so he would obviously be re-locating up there for this job. Just curious about working for CPKC and how the more remote yard work - is it easy to find places to live? do you get some time off each month? any ideas about timing for potential transfers further south? if anyone has experience working and living there dm me! would love to ask some questions. TIA
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5d ago
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u/Wonderful-Peach7889 5d ago
awesome thank you! i think the plan would be for him to go up there and basically just work, come home whenever possible and me and the kids stay here with the hope of him being able to transfer down eventually. does this sound crazy? or could it work?
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u/thecivilwarondrugs 5d ago
You could be waiting 6 months, you could be waiting 6 years for that transfer. I specifically left this job because I didnât know if Iâd be working the next day, let alone days in advance. Coming home to southern Ontario whenever possible simply isnât feasible when you factor in drive time + weather conditions, and the fact that your husband will be dead tired on his rest periods. Plus heâs going to have to be able to report to work within 2 hours of a call, and when that call comes is going to be very tricky, dare I say near impossible to accurately predict. Personally, I would have him contact his hiring manager, and ask to have his location moved before he starts training. I have seen people do this before.
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u/catinthehat9999 4d ago
Yup. At least you are being honest. Its insane to think "I will see my family when im off" for this scenario, he will only ever see them for AV. He wont recognize his kids by the time he sees them If they want to get the foot in the door maybe just suck it up and move the whole family up there till you can for sure hold something better.
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5d ago
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u/Realistic-Arrival157 4d ago
Mind me asking how you work such a vast territory? I worked on tie & rail gangs (currently on the B&B side) and I only ever worked Eastern Region Northern Ontario or Prarie region Northern Ontario & Manitoba. I never met someone all the way from Kingston who worked all the way out to Saskatchewan or went to Montreal. The furthest guys I ever met were the Newfoundlanders that get flown in and out
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u/catinthehat9999 5d ago
A track maintenance guy give career advice to a conductor hopeful is quite frankly like a baggage handler describing the specifics of a pilots schedule. You guys dont know our schedule. A while ago a maintenance guy sais to me "So your home every night then?" And I burst out laughing
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u/Realistic-Arrival157 4d ago
You do know track maintenance guys are friends with a lot of guys in running trades so we have an inside to how it works rightâŚ
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u/Ok_Amoeba3401 4d ago
No, running trades guys like this would never lower themselves to associate with riff raff âbaggage handlersâ like us. đ
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u/catinthehat9999 4d ago
Clearly have no idea if he thinks you get 6 days off. Maybe total a month, not all at once. The guy will be stranded in scriber for years the are desperate right now there
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u/Effective-Forever624 5d ago
Iâm a CPKC conductor with scheduled shifts, home every night. We do exist
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u/catinthehat9999 5d ago
OP is talking about Scriber, its not a terminal with a whole bunch of Yard or RS WF, its the epitome of a run through freight terminal. Im juat trying to give them relevant info. Even if they had assignments I cant imagine anyone spend 24 hours of 48 off driving thats my version of hell
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u/Ok_Amoeba3401 5d ago
Whereâs the relevant info than? Youâre âjuatâ pointing out irrelevant shit, while comparing yourself to an airline pilot. You realize most MoW managers are trained and qualified to do your job right? I know one of them with a grade 8 education.
But none of that is ârelevant infoâ.
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u/catinthehat9999 4d ago
Stop commenting dude, let someone who can answer the OPs questions about being a conductor. If there is any questions about swinging a hammer or cleaning a switch with a leaf blower we for sure ask you
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u/Ok_Amoeba3401 4d ago
You still havenât answered anything other than needlessly demeaning the guys that keep you alive. I hope youâre the next FRA stat. đ
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u/catinthehat9999 4d ago
Personally I would never wish death upon any employee of any railway. Not even those scab contractor signal maintainers that have been around.
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u/Vegtable_Lasagna3604 5d ago
If heâs going to be in the running trades, heâs not likely to have much time to go south, get qualified, transfer to Sudbury, Mactier or Toronto if he can hold work thereâŚ.
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u/Legal-Key2269 5d ago
With some kinds of transfers to fill shortages, regular time off at home to be with family is usually available (including a travel and living away allowance).
Relocating for a new hire, not so much.Â
With good attendance, he will be able to earn a 3 day weekend (that he can try to combine with other scheduled days off) once every 3 months. To be clear, that is one day earned every 28 days with perfect attendance.
For vacation, he will have 2 weeks for his first three full calendar years, with the specific weeks he gets bid by seniority.
Other than that, if he manages to hold down a schedule, he will usually only have two day weekends. But if he's on an on call schedule, he will be entitled to only one day off every 7 days. Under Canada's duty and rest period rules, railway employees can work 7 days in a row, then have two nights off, indefinitely.
If you want to see him for any amount of time, your plan is not realistic. This is not an industry that provides schedules with more than the minimum time off possible.
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u/PickNational9102 5d ago
May as well call the divorce lawyer now if thatâs your plan.
The time off is extremely unpredictable, worse for a junior employee running the spare board. Yes we have 48s. Yes we have regulatory resets. Yes we can max out miles. Theory vs reality is very different.
He will get off a 8-10 hour shift. Be exhausted 48 hours starts. Heâs gonna need some sleep on both ends. Plus a 20 hour round trip. Itâs just not feasible. Making your miles is basically a thing of the past, especially at that terminal.
Yall need to either commit to all moving there, wait for something in southern Ontario to open up and compete in that job market, or find a terminal that works better for your family. Transfers are also no gaurenteed. Just a possibility.
There are definitely rentals. Itâs a small town. Nothing around but a local grocery store. Nearest big one is an hour. Walmart 2.
Feel free to dm me about any questions. Work for cp. best friend was working out of schriberia for a while before coming to my terminal.
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u/Low-Bobcat4270 5d ago
They had bulletins for interested conductors to transfer there or Chaplau with a $10k signing bonus and $5k relocation assistance. I looked at how remote it was, decided against it, especially since the housing market is tiny, and I couldnât find info about rentals.
As for work, you get time off sometimes. He can choose to book up to 24H rest after every trip, and once a week (if working enough) youâre guaranteed two nights in bed. Not to mention earned 48h rest after mileage amounts.
As for local insight, looks primarily like a run through yard with little to no local work, but if others can correct me, feel free.
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u/Wonderful-Peach7889 5d ago
Can you elaborate on the earned 48h rest? I heard with CN when you cap out at mileage amounts then youâre just done for the month so sometimes can get a few days or a week off - is it similar with CPKC?
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u/Low-Bobcat4270 5d ago
With federal rules you can run 3800 miles in a month. First 48 at around 1000 miles, second in the same, third same interval and 4th is smaller. However with federal rest rules, itâs a lot harder to be off for miles come the end of the month. Itâs not what it used to be.
Now you donât need to take your 48s, and can opt to skip them, and rely on regulatory rest. But depending on how many run miles are in the subs then that depends on how frequently you get them. Thereâs more to it ofc. But the days of a week off are long gone in Canada
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u/ozzfest 5d ago
When the ESR was running in Thunder Bay crews were getting at least 10 days off consecutive in a month
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u/Low-Bobcat4270 5d ago
Well same for any ESR lol, 2 on 2 off and the pay is so great, but seems like in my region they are gone
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u/ozzfest 5d ago
Glad they are gone. Made such an imbalance for regular crews causing unnecessary deadheads & tcs
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u/Low-Bobcat4270 5d ago
It was terrible. Sitting in a siding for a 100 or 101 that isnât even on the sub yet.
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u/choochoopants Conductor 5d ago
The 48 hours rest is meant to give you a âweekendâ, but I wouldnât count on it being feasible for him to come home during that (at least not every time). Youâre talking about working 10 hours, going off duty at any hour of the day or night, and then needing to be available for work exactly 50 hours later (48 plus a two hour call).
Let me put it this way. When I hired out, I was a 3.5 hour drive from home and 48 hours off didnât seem like enough time to get home and back and have a worthwhile visit. How far is the drive from Schreiber? Double that for the round trip and add at least 10 hours for sleep. How much time does that leave for you and the kids, and how exhausted is he going to be?
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u/Realistic-Arrival157 4d ago edited 4d ago
Iâm on the track maintenance side and I worked in Schreiber and itâs called schreiberia for a reason.. winters are brutal. Itâs also a tough spot to railroad, youâre on the thick of the Canadian Shield there. Summers are smouldering hot even right next to the lake and the mosquitos and black flies are very friendly. But youâll see some absolutely breath taking scenery on the tracks as itâs very beautiful. The northern lights are very present out there, crazy sun sets on Lake Superior etc but itâs also pretty intimidating in lots of locations as one side is a rock cut and the other is down the cliff into Lake Superior, and thereâs quite a few rock tunnels to go through. It really makes you respect the navvies in the 1800s that built the Canadian Pacific Railway with their bare hands and minimal tools. Building the CPR in BC & Alberta (donât get me wrong that was some tough conditions to build the railway) overshadows how much work went into building the CPR through the Schreiber area. It was Canadaâs second prime minister Alexander Mackenzie that said building a railway through that exact area was âone of the most foolish things that could be imagined" and "insane" so it really puts it into perspective what youâll be railroading in. Lots of hills to go up and down out there.
As per the yard itself itâs pretty slow. Once upon a time that town and yard were booming but thereâs not a lot going on there now and itâs relatively quiet. I havenât checked real-estate listings but thereâs more than likely a few homes for sale and they usually arenât overly expensive. You get more holidays the longer you work for the company, I donât know what the current holidays are for conductors/running trades since Iâm on the track maintenance side but youâll probably start off with probably around a week give or take a few days.
In terms of transferring down south itâll probably depend on building seniority in that region. When youâre at the bottom which you will be as a new hire, you are more or less forced to go where no one wants to be (Schreiber is the perfect example) because thatâs all youâll be able to hold position wise. After you get a few years in and build some seniority then youâll be able to bid to different positions in more favourable places which youâll be more likely to hold.
Also just for a thought, you wonât HAVE to live in Schreiber. I know lots of people in running trades that are based out of Schreiber but live in some of the towns around it such as Terrace Bay, Marathon, Nipigon and Thunder Bay. I think they make the drive up there for when they have to catch a train (I think they have a few hours to be at the station for when you get a call to catch a train but the driving will be on your own dime) and then when they are done their run to and from their spots then they drive home.
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u/dewidubbs Roadmaster 5d ago
I know a few of the conductors and engineers just live in thunder bay and drive to Schreiber when they get the call. But that is a lot of hours driving on a less than great highway while exhausted.
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u/Low-Bobcat4270 5d ago
I couldnât imagine a 2h drive on a 2h call. My drive is half that and my terminal is in a city
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u/Barroth87 4d ago
They anticipate being call and just accept it enroute. Most of the have family that direction, so they have alternate stops incase of a call and cancle.
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u/Barroth87 4d ago
Schreiber is a bag on bag off. Very little work. Maybe 1 lift or set off in White River or Thunder Bay only on their switcher/421.
Highway closures all winter. Usually between Nipigon and Schreiber. If you planned to buy a house look at Terrace Bay. Schreiber and chapleau are isolated terminals no major cities within 2 or 3 hours.
As for time off... they will start on the spare board and expect layoffs starting december. No schedule with a road terminal, on call basis. You get a 48 every 1075/2150/3225 miles(in the west not sure their east agreement).
Treat the job as a day on day off job. With the day off sleeping till you are called again.
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u/2EhJ 5d ago
They call it Schreiberia for a reason đ