Thinking about switching careers.

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Sailing now but interested in the railroad. Anybody here working for one?? Would be nice to be home more. Dont know what they pay? Tkx J

 

[pete repete]

my daddy worked for frisco, then b and n when they bought it out. worked out of pensacola. this was all last century. it takes years to get into the pay and the seniority to pick routes and schedules. until a certain many of years with them he had to live in pensacola within so many minutes from the yard. after getting some seniority he could pick his schedule more and we could move to santa rosa county.

 

[Welldoya]

I’ve known two people that worked for the railroad. It’s been a few years.
It was very weird. They got laid off a lot and in order to go back to work, they had to go to New Orleans or Mobile because someone with more seniority wanted their job here.
From what I saw, I wouldn’t want to work for them.

 

[OperationalPinecone]

Sounds like union stuff

 

[IronBeard]

Past acquaintence was an engineer. He made $$$. But, as others have pointed out, he had to endure a lot of BS to get there. Even when he did, there were many times his wife had to drop him or pick him up in the middle of nowhere, on short notice.

Dunno. There's an allure to it, but it always seemed to me this guy would walk if it weren't for the time invested and his lifestyle being income-dependent.

Good luck.

 

[Cjprall90]

I’m a freight engineer for the Gulf Atlantic RR, if you are gonna work for a RR go for a class 3 RR vs class1 . You will be home every night and less chance of furlough . Class 1 RR are tough to get a steady job in because there are so many people that will be ahead of you in seniority , meaning when the work is slowing down you’ll be the first one they have to furlough if there isn’t as much work . You will start out on an Extraboard position meaning you will be on call 24/7 days a week . Money is good but comes with a little sacrifice as well . I know guys that have worked for CSX for 10-15 years that were still on the Extra board .

 

[cardog76]

I’m an engineer at CSX, most of what they say above is 100% true. If you are young (30 or under) it can be a good move but if you’re older than that, you may be on the xtraboard for life.Once you get promoted to engineer it’s a lot better in my opinion, because I don’t personally like most conductor/switchman work but some people do. I don’t know if I’d go to a class 3, I’ve heard the pay sucks and some are not union and they can make you do anything/everything, and some don’t even pay into Railroad Retirement, which is the only thing you have to really look forward to. PM me if you got any other questions.

 

[5lima30ret]

Get your gas plumber license! In Baldwin county you could have a good paying job $30 hr + by the end of the day! Riviera Utilities is hiring them as well. Riviera is RSA retirement as well w/ great benefits. Good luck!

 

[Cjprall90]

I’m an engineer at CSX, most of what they say above is 100% true. If you are young (30 or under) it can be a good move but if you’re older than that, you may be on the xtraboard for life.Once you get promoted to engineer it’s a lot better in my opinion, because I don’t personally like most conductor/switchman work but some people do. I don’t know if I’d go to a class 3, I’ve heard the pay sucks and some are not union and they can make you do anything/everything, and some don’t even pay into Railroad Retirement, which is the only thing you have to really look forward to. PM me if you got any other questions.

Can confirm ….. only reason I’m still in is the retirement

 

[5lima30ret]

Occasionally I see one of the Native Alaskan companies that own the gas platforms in Mobile Bay looking for Tender Boat crew members. Home every night they work out of Fairhope. Not sure what the pay is.

 

[woodsy85]

Sailing now but interested in the railroad. Anybody here working for one?? Would be nice to be home more. Dont know what they pay? Tkx J

I’m a railroader at a class 1. Assuming you’re talking craft positions, pays going to start anywhere between 40-70k+ a year depending on the job. Don’t pay social security, but railroad retirement deduction is actually more than SS. Full retirement at 60 with 10
Years service. whatever you paid into SS rolls into RR Ret. Whatever your pension is, spouse gets her own check for 50% (in addition to yours). Being a railroader’s spouse is a full time job itself. Benefits hard to beat. $200 a month buys insurance for myself, spouse and up to 8 kids. Same price for a single guy. This again depends on the job and union you’re in. I think there’s like 13 unions within my company for different crafts. Every job/union has its own contract.

There are a lot of jobs you’re home every night. I work 0500-1300 Friday through Tuesdays, never travel, of course an hour or 2 of overtime a couple days a week. Max 12 hour shift. Expect to spend your first several years on graveyard, or on call, depending on the job. Train crews (conductors and engineers) spend a decade or more on what’s called the extra board, where they’re assignments come on 2 hour notice day or night. It’s a tough life and definstly not for everyone. There’s other jobs like carmen (welders that repair card) that are pretty set schedules from the get go.

Any other questions just ask.


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[woodsy85]

Can confirm ….. only reason I’m still in is the retirement

Agreed. Railroad ain’t what it was 30 years ago.


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[pete repete]

Sounds like union stuff

railroad is very heavy union. one of the strongest there are i think.

I’m a railroader at a class 1. Assuming you’re talking craft positions, pays going to start anywhere between 40-70k+ a year depending on the job. Don’t pay social security, but railroad retirement deduction is actually more than SS. Full retirement at 60 with 10
Years service. whatever you paid into SS rolls into RR Ret. Whatever your pension is, spouse gets her own check for 50% (in addition to yours). Being a railroader’s spouse is a full time job itself. Benefits hard to beat. $200 a month buys insurance for myself, spouse and up to 8 kids. Same price for a single guy. This again depends on the job and union you’re in. I think there’s like 13 unions within my company for different crafts. Every job/union has its own contract.

There are a lot of jobs you’re home every night. I work 0500-1300 Friday through Tuesdays, never travel, of course an hour or 2 of overtime a couple days a week. Max 12 hour shift. Expect to spend your first several years on graveyard, or on call, depending on the job. Train crews (conductors and engineers) spend a decade or more on what’s called the extra board, where they’re assignments come on 2 hour notice day or night. It’s a tough life and definstly not for everyone. There’s other jobs like carmen (welders that repair card) that are pretty set schedules from the get go.

Any other questions just ask.


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i can attest railroad retirement is great. mom got half daddy's retirement till he died then she lost hers but picked up all of his. and the healthcare is awesome. when we go to the hospital or doctor "railroad medicare" is considered the gold standard.

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Yeah, I might be too old for that 54. Hate to start at the bottom again. Don't mind travel been doing 90 day hitches for years so anything under 90 is ok.
Have good benefits here. About the same as the railroad.
Earning 8 weeks paid vacation now. Only work about 7 months of the year to make enough. Collect NYC unemployment from end of season (November) this year normally January till March 15. 440 something after tax per week. 10% safety bonus on money earned per quarter. Getting an extra 1k every 30 days worked right now. Sounds great till the taxman arrives....
Matching 401k. (10%) per week deducted.
I'm also a 11 year senior AB. So I don't normally draw any bs work. Sweeping, mopping, painting.
So I guess I'd better stick this out till I hit 62.5.
Not a bad life for a redneck veteran (4.5 Navy, 3.5 Army) with a GED.

Thanks for the info yall. Much appreciated. J.

 

[pete repete]

Yeah, I might be too old for that 54. Hate to start at the bottom again. Don't mind travel been doing 90 day hitches for years so anything under 90 is ok.
Have good benefits here. About the same as the railroad.
Earning 8 weeks paid vacation now. Only work about 7 months of the year to make enough. Collect NYC unemployment from end of season (November) this year normally January till March 15. 440 something after tax per week. 10% safety bonus on money earned per quarter. Getting an extra 1k every 30 days worked right now. Sounds great till the taxman arrives....
Matching 401k. (10%) per week deducted.
I'm also a 11 year senior AB. So I don't normally draw any bs work. Sweeping, mopping, painting.
So I guess I'd better stick this out till I hit 62.5.
Not a bad life for a redneck veteran (4.5 Navy, 3.5 Army) with a GED.

sounds like you got a pretty good setup. everything gets old after years of doing it.

 

[capt.joe]

I have long thought about getting into home heating and cooling. Even marine AC or marine generators. I bought a sawmill during covid as an option in case shtf.

 

[AK4774]

Sorry I’m late and doesn’t have anything to do with the RR, you’d think there must be a lot of AB jobs in the Gulf. But probably slower than it was 5 yrs ago.
I’m sure you have enough time to get a 100 ton Capt license also if interested.
Apparently a agency linked below but located in Mobile. Don’t see any specific jobs listed but couldnt hurt to check with them.

Maritime Services | Southern Maritime Services | United States

Maritime Jobs | Southern Maritime Services | United States

www.southernmaritimeservices.com

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Sorry I’m late and doesn’t have anything to do with the RR, you’d think there must be a lot of AB jobs in the Gulf. But probably slower than it was 5 yrs ago.
I’m sure you have enough time to get a 100 ton Capt license also if interested.
Apparently a agency linked below but located in Mobile. Don’t see any specific jobs listed but couldnt hurt to check with them.

Maritime Services | Southern Maritime Services | United States

Maritime Jobs | Southern Maritime Services | United States

www.southernmaritimeservices.com

Yep plenty of jobs for competent AB's. Gonna stick it out here.

 

[m4a1sof]

The key is love what you do. I worked summers in high school digging ditches and roofing (commercial hot pitch roofing). I realized real quick I wanted an indoor air conditioned line of work. I never really had a plan, like pretty much everything in my life, I just fell into it. My mother had been a draftsman (PC correct term now would be draftsperson I guess) back in the forties. She told me about it and it sounded like just the ticket, sit on my ass all day in the A/C and draw. I took a course at a tech school and got a certificate. Used to be pencil and paper on a big table and then in about 1990 switched to computer. The computerization of it and the invention of the internet has allowed me to work remotely out of my house for the last eighteen years. I used to have to commute four days a week to Tallahassee. I went from 170 miles round trip to walking 30 feet to my home office. Nobody does it anymore, they have all either died off or retired, so I never have a lack of work and get paid ridiculous amounts of money. Love it, been doing it for 47 years now and don't ever see quitting until I keel over my keyboard .

 

[Duckyou]

My great grandfather worked for the railroad and it was great from the stories that I hear.

I think it has changed a bit since then.