645 posted: Max Warfel - are you serious? Working off the extra board means one is on call 24/7 with no predictable schedule unless one is lucky to get a yard or local assignment for a few days in a row. Basically every day can and usually is different. The hardest part would be not having a regular sleeping pattern - might get a 9am call one day then a 1am call a couple of days later followed by a 3pm call or whatever once the minimum number of hours to rest are attained after going off duty on the previous assignment.
It isn't everyone's cup of tea. Yes, it's tough to acclimate yourself to the irregular and often inconvenient work "schedule". And the railroad has its failings, which are out of your control. You can't control how they maintain the engines and the track, and how they call you for duty.
And there is usually a group of employees sitting around and waiting for their train to be made up or to arrive at the on-duty point. I call them the Sewing Circle, because they are like a bunch of old spinsters, complaining, complaining, complaining. They are not a good influence on others, and, if you do not have the self-control necessary to quietly keep yourself out of that group of complainers, you'll think that the railroad is really abusing you, in spite of the fact that you have an interesting job that pays very well. If that's the case, work somewhere else and enjoy life.
I really enjoyed my railroad career, 14 years in engine service and 25 years in management. As an Engineer, I simply made rest a priority, and took time to attain it. I did not have a big bunch of pals to try to keep me awake doing other things. I had to give up playing sports and see my friends less often, but it was very satisfying work to me, even the less desirable jobs. I know it is different today, with few managers having actual, meaningful, experience in train or engine service, so you need to learn all the rules and processes and play the game. The reward comes when you have made a train complete its trip when either the equipment, or the weather, unusual conditions, or snake-bitten bad luck worked against you.
So, do you have the personality to rise and fall with the tide, take your turn in the barrel on both the best and worst assignments, to work with certain unmotivated crew members as well as some really good ones, be supervised by people who manage by process rather than by understanding how you do your work, manage your off-duty time well (at home and away from home), and to not take everything personally? If you do, then you might make a good railroader.
