For those who are unemployed or in a deadend job, Union Pacific is hiring out West.

[TRNDRVR]

Look under "Jobs at UP" or "Employment Info" They're both the same link.
Now I can tell you the company sucks, and the management really sucks. If you're tough and can put up with the BS, it's a good job to have and it provides for your family in a lot of ways.
I won't go into any specifics, but it's where I started my railroad carrer and its worked for me.
Local newspaper says "Priority Considerstion" is given to those who apply online.
Do with this info as you please. Just thought I would give this heads-up to those who may be needing a good job in this tough economy. Good luck!

Thanks,
Dan.

PS Now you'll know what TRaiNDRiVeR stands for.

 

[FitchVA]

Re: For those who are unemployed or in a deadend job, Union Pacific is hiring out West.

...Now I can tell you the company sucks, and the management really sucks. If you're tough and can put up with the BS, it's a good job to have and it provides for your family in a lot of ways....

I work for Norfolk Southern Railroad over here on the east coast. our management is the same way. must be a railroad thing

 

[Eagle]

Re: For those who are unemployed or in a deadend job, Union Pacific is hiring out West.

PS Now you'll know what TRaiNDRiVeR stands for.

And all this time I thought it stood for "Turned Over"

 

[TRNDRVR]

Re: Re: For those who are unemployed or in a deadend job, Union Pacific is hiring out West.

And all this time I thought it stood for "Turned Over"

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Wouldn't that be "TRNDOVR"?

 

[TRNDRVR]

I'm curious. Has anybody looked into this and submitted an app. for a location near where they live?
If anybody has any questions, shoot me a PM and I'll try to answer them as best as I can.
Thanks,
Dan.

 

[Handlebars]

Dan- your management is just trying to keep up with all of the other sucky managers.

Can you tell me a little about what it is like to drive trains for a living?

 

[PhatXJ]

It sucks, he can't pick his own lines.

 

[JeeperJeff]

How perfect, i lost my job Friday. Didn't somebody say the economy was improving?

 

[TRNDRVR]

Dan- your management is just trying to keep up with all of the other sucky managers.

Can you tell me a little about what it is like to drive trains for a living?

It can suck at times.
If you're confident at your rules, which working on the railroad is nothing but following the rules, you can do okay. I can't stress enough the importance of the rules and the movement of trains. Running an engine isn't nothing. All I am is a glorified tractor driver. If is wasn't for the flanges on the wheels, I'd be lost.
You have to take into consideration that I don't work freight anymore. I work for Amtrak. Not only am I responsible for the equipment that they give me, which can amount to about $30,000,000.00, (30 million) I also am responsible for the 200+ lives I have behind me. No stress there. I am probably "efficiency tested" on my rules just about every time I am running an engine. Also running on a railroad that was originally designed for freight trains, at 80 MPH, leaves very little room for error. Them signals go by you awfully fast. With all that said, it's a pretty damn good job. It pays well, and if you put in your time, it can get pretty easy in the future. Example, I haven't worked since last Friday, that's four days at home working on the Jeep and being with my family. To top that off, today is my day off. Like I really need one of those. I'll mark up 5 times out tonight, and probably not go to work until next week. All along, I get paid a guaranteed wage of 40 hours a week whether I work or not. It can't be beat. You'd have to go to one of their hiring speeches and listen to what they have to say. If you do, don't let them scare you away. They'll paint you a bleak picture, tell you your wife and kids will hate you, all you friends will disappear, but it isn't as bad as they make it out to be. I've worked for Amtrak only for 9 months now. In that time, I have already called in sick 4 weeks. That time was used though to move from the NW to here in UT. I am also taking the week of to attend the October event down in Moab. To boot, I have beers with my boss.
I suggest you try to hire out and see what you think. If it isn't for you, resign. Guaranteed, you won't be the first. It's a good job.
Really!
Ask some more, I'll try to answer them.
Thanks,
Dan.

 

[ChEwBaCcA]

Amtrak probally isnt a very good example compared to private companies. Amtrak is in debt so bad its not funny..... if it wasnt for our tax dollars being pissed away by the millions to keep it afloat, it would have been dead a long time ago.

Congress is so sick of pissing money down the black hole that is Amtrak they "almost" stopped giving it. Yet again they got more money this year based on promises that will never happen.

Regards
Chewy

 

[TRNDRVR]

Amtrak probally isnt a very good example compared to private companies. Amtrak is in debt so bad its not funny..... if it wasnt for our tax dollars being pissed away by the millions to keep it afloat, it would have been dead a long time ago.

Congress is so sick of pissing money down the black hole that is Amtrak they "almost" stopped giving it. Yet again they got more money this year based on promises that will never happen.

Regards
Chewy

Did you know that the United States is the ONLY country that doesn't have subsidized passenger rail service?
Pretty sad!
Even some of the poorest third world countries have subsidized passenger rail. If they can figure it out, why can't we?
I gurantee you there are more worthless programs in this country we're pissing away money on as opposed to Amtrak.

 

[ChEwBaCcA]

I gurantee you there are more worthless programs in this country we're pissing away money on as opposed to Amtrak.

Agreed, but those programs don't go around posting about how they seldom work and get paid well for not doing so!
Thats my problem w/ it. As i sit working a 8-5 , 5 days a week, your company has their hand out towards me and my wallet! All the while you and fellow employees are sitting on the beach sippin cocktails and puilling down good pay.

Something wrong about that...but hey thats just my 2 cents.

If Amtrak is going to be around they should go 100% private and if they cant hack it, oh well...people will have to take a bus or a plane.

I feel the same way when i drive by a state highway project and see 8 guys watching one guy dig a hole! It happens but it doesnt make it right.

Regards
Chewy

PS: I understand the deck is stacked against Amtrak by the way the railroads where laid out.

 

[TRNDRVR]

Agreed, but those programs don't go around posting about how they seldom work and get paid well for not doing so!
Thats my problem w/ it. As i sit working a 8-5 , 5 days a week, your company has their hand out towards me and my wallet! All the while you and fellow employees are sitting on the beach sippin cocktails and pulling down good pay.

I should have expanded on what I do a little more than I did. Fortunately/unfortunetely I don't sit around on the beach sipping on cocktails. I live in UT.
For what I make, I am on call 24 hours a day 6 days a week. They call me out of the blue 90 minutes prior to me being on duty. When you get right down to it, I make $7.61 an hour.
Also you can consider I am performing service by being on call. So I'm not pulling down good pay for nothing.

Something wrong about that...but hey thats just my 2 cents.

Again, fortunately/unfortunetely, historically that's the nature of the business.

If Amtrak is going to be around they should go 100% private and if they cant hack it, oh well...people will have to take a bus or a plane.

Probably won't happen, should never happen, and will never make it if it does. That's why Amtrak was formed in the first place.
And if you think Amtrak is bad, look into the time/rest requirements that pilots are held to. They make better than what I make, have 3 times the time off, and they too are govt. subsidized.

I feel the same way when i drive by a state highway project and see 8 guys watching one guy dig a hole! It happens but it doesnt make it right.

With you on that one.

I hope that puts just a litte bit different view on your perception of what the railroad/Amtrak is all about.
Do I have a good job? Yeah I do.
Is it all fun and games? Only if I you make it fun. That goes with any job.
I'm only where I'm at because of my training and the time I've put into it.
Thanks,
Dan.
PS Now it's time to go :cheers:

 

[Handlebars]

Dan- Where can you live? I assume you have to be near a rail hub, right? If so, where are the hubs?

Is that train whistle as loud from your seat as it is from mine?

 

[ChEwBaCcA]

Im all for Amtrak, I would just like to see them able to hold there own. From everything I read in the last congressional record it doesnt seem likely.

Seems the fact of the matter is there is no money in passenger rail service over long distances. When you account for the fact Amtrack doesnt "own" any track except, the new DC line is it?

It is almost impossible to stay on schd. when you have to back down and let cargo go before you, because you are on company X's line and their train is going first.

Its too bad we cant put money aside for a real future, like a mono rail that can travel at high speeds 100+ and have it Amtrak owned. Now that I can see being a great thing to get people in trains again.

I have always wanted to do the train trip out west....one day i hope to find the time.

Im all for people making good wages, and if people have 200 people to worry about , they should. I got the wrong picture after reading your first couple posts. Didnt mean to paint you or anyone else in a bad light, except lazy highway workers. ;-)

A guy on my block has spent 30 years working for UP and he has done it all.... its not till he got up in years was he able to work days and not be on call all the time... He said the first 7-8 he was on call 24-7-365 , man thats got to be hard. Cant make to many plans w/ that over your head...anyhow

Regards
Chewy

 

[Yucca-Man]

It is almost impossible to stay on schd. when you have to back down and let cargo go before you, because you are on company X's line and their train is going first.

I was on the receiving end of that last weekend on the Denver - Winter Park Ski Train. During the summers it takes day tourists up to enjoy the cool air and festivities in Winter Park. It is supposed to board at 2:45 and leave at 3pm to go through the Moffatt Tunnel toward Denver, but at 3:30 we were still waiting in the rain to see the train when a 105-car, 5-engine coal train came through.

After another half-hour or so we finally boarded, and the engineer(?) explained that the coal train had priority on the uphill because they were afraid it wouldn't be able to get going again if they had to stop it.

After it cleared Winter Park and entered Moffatt, they still wouldn't let the Ski Train pull up until the tunnel had been ventilated. There isn't a siding in Winter Park for us to board on, so that may have been one reason not to allow our train up but it still seemed ridiculous to a batch of wet passengers.

Chewy - what do you mean about the deck stacked against Amtrak because of the way railroads were laid out?

 

[ChEwBaCcA]

Im no railroad expert but i play one on tv, if i got something wrong , someone please correct me.

From what I know the fed gov basically gave the RR companies the land they built track on years ago when the first spike was driven down. This was a way to get companies to foot the bill of progress and in trade they got the land the tracks sit on forever.

Thus back in the day people would take a "S.Fe line" or Northwestern or Burlington Northern line to where ever they were going because they owned the track. Well for a while travel by RR was huge and people paid a pretty penny to travel that way..... but as cars and planes became the norm passengers left the RR travel system. Then it became far more profitable for the RR to simply haul cargo , it was more money and easier to move than people. So all the RR companies started to phase out human cargo.
In walks Amtrak ...... a company that will not own any RR track but just "use" the major players track to conduct business. Remember this track that has been laid is far too pricey for anyone to think about buying in todays dollars.

Thats all fine in well but the deal is the company that owns the track has first dibs on the track at all times....so if your on your way to San Fran from NY and there is a load of coal coming through...the Amtrak needs to switch tracks or stop before the switch and allow the coal to pass first.... thus the coal train keeps chuggin along @ 6-70 mph while the Amtrak train comes to a stop for 20 mins 1 mile before the switch....waiting for the oncoming coal train.
You can play this game all day and night long. I leave near a Burlington Northern line and see it often....Amtrak train stuck in the middle track while all of Burlington Northern commuter trains stop and switch tracks...this is about 20 miles outside of Chicago.
Thus you can end up coming 2-god knows how many hours late because of this. My brother used to take a 5 hour train ride..... it used to pull in anywhere from 30-3 hours late everytime he took it! It was because of all the stops and waits it had to make in central IL around the grain depots etc. It was faster to take a car to where he was going , actually about an hour faster 90% of the time.

Put that together w/ the fact that there isnt a lot of money to be made hauling people and you have a business that cant win. Thus the gov will always end up giving money to them to keep them afloat....
Last I heard Amtrak owns a commuter line in DC or NJ that is actually making them money or is going to soon.. this is good news...but the idea of being able to travel anywhere by train is costly "renting track" and will never be profitable for Amtrak.

The feds have said it is in our best interest to have a passenger train service , thus why Amtrak was founded ... i agree just wish there would be a national push to buy land to make a mono rail or some form of fast mass transit.

Im sure i missed things but thats it in a nutshell from what Ive read.

Regards
Chewy

 

[ChEwBaCcA]

Side note, Amtrak has started to pull a lot of non human cargo in order to offset some of its loss of the human cargo up front. Take a look at the amtrak train next time you see one....chances are it will have X amount of cars of people and a few cargo loads behind it..... This is what all the major companies started doing years ago and then they just dropped people all together..

I would love to travel by rail someday to the west coast and go along I70 through the Rockies that looks like it would be a blast.....now to find the time.

Regards
Chewy

 

[Yucca-Man]

Okay - I knew the part about Amtrak being a second-class resident on the tracks, I just wasn't sure if you meant physcal layout when you said "the way railroads were laid out" Thanks

 

[VicXJnNC]

Managment problems are widespread. I've worked for Goodyear for 24 yrs. And as a industrial mechanic and a floor manager, I've observed malfeasance and incompetence at what appears to be the extreme. Goodyear is currently teetering on the edge of oblivion due to POOR decision making at the corporate level (Akron). So in order for us with time invested to remain sovent, accepting concessions to help cut cost is the reward we are given.
And to add salt to wound, the "movers and shakers" manipulate the figures to reward the IDIOT (CEO S. Gibara) with a $925,000 retirement bonus!!!. This is the same MORON whose decisions were key in manipulating the stock price from $75.00 a share when he took control to below $4.00 a share this spring.
If he were a floor level "associate" the two key terms used in his employment would likely be"poor workmanship"and "termanation"