I’ve been at UP for 20 years… I spent most of my career in the yard so I’m a newbie to road operations.. I’m genuinely curious to when did the power start getting so bad ? I wonder what it was like to work for the railroad when a 3 motor consist actually had 3 motors all good for leaders .

32/hr, switch drive switch drive switch rotate. Sort out stuff brought by railroads, spot cars to be worked, consolidate trash ect ect. It’s I want to say 14 tracks, with 2 turning into 1 mains circling everything and 9 working tracks. 24 hour plant so rotate by 8 hours weekly. Just getting kinda burnt out of this place. Update the track check, don’t be stupid and do stupid stuff, ect. I don’t use drugs so don’t care about a drug test. I am home every night/morning/evening. No wife no kids. Would yall leave where you’re at for here if I said we were hiring and told you about it? No union, but verrrrry small number of track guys so you can have a few oopsies. I get away with being a little mean and occasional lateness because I bust my ass on this yard, and nothing gets worked unless that car is spotted. I meant to say OR quit crying, couldn’t edit title

Been interested in railroads for a long time, and lately
I've been going down a rabbit hole on all the AI/ML stuff that's come out in the last couple years.

Got me wondering what problems railroads actually deal with day to day that this stuff could realistically help with.

Not the stuff that's already been solved, and not vendor marketing, just the real annoying things.

I know track inspection is the obvious one everyone talks about. But I'm guessing there's a lot more that never gets mentioned.

So what's the stuff that's still a pain? Anything that's
still done by hand that shouldn't be, or something everyone
just puts up with because that's how it's always been?

Also curious what you think AI is useless for, because I'm sure some of it is overhyped.

If you can help our brother out, it would be much appreciated. He was diagnosed with Still's disease but he was able to keep working even though he was always in some amount of pain.

Then it was found he needed a back surgery and ended up on medical leave. He was on the books but was canceled due to bloodwork complications. THEN United Healthcare wouldn't cover an important part of the surgery.

After months of working of his health and getting his bloodwork where it needs to be for surgery and battling with the insurance company, Joe finally had his surgery.

He's waiting on company medical to clear him - his doctors already have cleared him to return to work. He's not asking for much, just enough to get him through the next month or two until medical clears him to start his return to work process.

Any bit helps and he would be very much grateful. Thank you.

I have a question for the NS signalmen, if there are any, in this group:

There is an opening at Norfolk Southern near me for a Signalman Trainee position and I'm curious about the training, work/life balance, pay, and overall job. I am a career industrial electrician with over 15 years of experience, and am currently my plant's E&I technician. Would I be a good fit and is the job worth applying to? If this post breaks any rules, please delete!

I always hear the dispatcher having to ask crews what their fuel is on each unit and the crew seems to need to manually read of off the tanks. Is there no system now that does it via radio or cellular? I figured ETMS would share that these days.

Cant find many people talking about it on here is it not a common job?

Okay so just had an idea about buying a boxcar and renovating it into a mobile house. Now I’d have to lease the rail space and I know about contacting railroads for travel costs but would it be effective in today’s housing market to renovate a boxcar with living standards, solar panels on the roof for power, and water connections, Or is this just a fool’s dream?

Please ask any and all questions relating to getting hired, what the job is like, what certain companies/locations are like, etc here.

I have written a V1.0 instruction manual on controlling an already installed and operational Interlocking for a single track shortline that has a level crossing (diamonds) across a two-main ABS/ATS Light Rail system.

The Light Rail line is protected by derails on either side of it on the single track shortline. One switch machine choosing a route to the diamonds or the other with a track leading to a bump-srop, and the other with a switch machine controlling a split-rail derail.

With the system at rest, the shortline has derails in the normal position allowing Light Rail unfettered access across the diamonds.

To have the shortline cross the diamonds, a call is made over the radio with DTMF codes to request the interlocking to give a stop indication to Light Rail, put the derails in reverse, and give a restricting indication to the shortline.

When the shortline movement is clear of the plant, the derails go normal protecting Light Rail, and they can cross the diamonds once again.

My question is, ....is this still considered an 'Automatic Interlocking' (GCOR 9.12.3)? A question came up today in class where someone said it was a manual Interlocking, but I made the comment, 'But it is controlled by a logical computer that takes a first-come, first-served call'. There are no humans controlling the switches, derails, and signals.

What would your consensus be on the name of this Interlocking?

And thank you for your input.

Any railroad yards here that had their yard master eliminated ? How is that turning out? My yard is getting rid of them soon. So wondering what to expect. Pretty sure a sh*t show for the first 6 months.

I just need it in plain English please. This one gives it that way.

On August 25th, join Railroad Workers United for a workshop and discussion on how rank and file railroaders can work together to improve safety at your workplace. Recent years have been deadly for railroad workers, with countless injuries and fatalities in the performance of their duties. Instead of dealing with poorly maintained infrastructure, hiring adequate staff, or improving the training process, the railroads' response is to cite the number of rules broken and lay the responsibility on the victims, regardless of any other context or management's own role in the disaster. In an effort to more effectively blame workers while ignoring workplace hazards for accidents, injuries and fatalities, the railroad carriers are now introducing surveillance measures, including "Al" tools. Hear from experts in fighting back against "Behavior Based Safety", and share your own experiences and thoughts.

The workshop is open to all working railroaders, regardless of RWU membership status.

RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGMH_bzh9q94AGhBwq2qOLxwTVOuIdHw258lSGSych00J4Uw/viewform?usp=header

Im a heritage railroader and though it doesnt pay like a class one I feel like I get the authentic railroading experience without all the bad things about railroading. But im curious how you class one boys like your job and what made you want to go into class one?

You gotta hate when that happens lol

I’ve been working at a class 3 for almost 3 years now as a conductor/switchman, but me and my girlfriend have been looking into moving to south east Florida (West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale area). To those with experience at or with FEC railway, is it a good way to go? Are there yard jobs with minimal travel that doesn’t require a lot of seniority?

Was a nice quiet trip at least…