Union Pacific Job Comments

[route246]

Amongst foamers it is a proud badge. It speaks highly of your knowledge and dedication to being a railfan. OK, yes, I am a foamer. I don't brag about it or tell people voluntarily but I acknowledge it if asked.

Yes, but it started as a pejorative, like "Yankee" or "Methodist" and adopted by the railfans themselves.

 

[route246]

Sorry for misleading. I'm not looking for a job on the RR. I have an unrelated career and doing fine that way. I'm just a rail-fan with great interest in anything having to do with railroads in any country in the world. But, I do like living vicariously here through those who do toil for a RR, be it short line, small or large.

you had better get some experience on your resume first OP.

i applied for the same job a while ago, and they want someone who has done it before, been there, done that etc, that has some sort of degree or cert from a school for diesel mechanics.

i worked at a foundry as a mechanic for a while not even a couple miles from UP, had to see their damn trains on display going over the bridge back into omaha every day. if you are looking for a mechanic job, there are far better ones out there, right now the one i landed pays much better than up does, and imho, is a better gig for somebody who doesn't want to travel around all the time for their job which for the UP job, it was specifically asking about travel multiple times on the job questionaire.



there are a few places out there that don't require experience to get into, just a good standard knowledge and they will train you, but i don't think UP is one of them

 

[hefty lefty]

Amongst foamers it is a proud badge. It speaks highly of your knowledge and dedication to being a railfan. OK, yes, I am a foamer. I don't brag about it or tell people voluntarily but I acknowledge it if asked.

Just don't foul the track and if you do go on the yard, at least look like a railroader. And don't be a Darius McCollum. (Google him to see how good those pussyfoots are.)

I think the railroads could do themselves a favor having a tour bus go through the yard or better taking people through the yard on a RDC or business car. They could raise money for something or other and it would keep the curious out of trouble.

What others said about the difficult part being the rigamarole and the ridiculous craft divisions rather than physical effort is true. Working on railroad diesel engines is not physically that tough because everything is heavy enough a crane, gin pole or lift truck is needed, while for instance on a Cummins truck engine many parts are small enough you have to take them on and off by hand.

I don't miss the railroad very much, it lost its appeal once I figured out how everything works, but Railroad Retirement I might miss in another ten years.

 

[RAYJAY]

What's a "foamer" and where did the term come from?

These are hobbyists who enjoy railroading and railroad operations.

Though the association is always made with reference to "foamers," as frothing at the mouth as would a rabid dog, but the truth is, that isn't how the term originated.

The Western Pacific (now the UP) runs the "Feather River Route" eastward along the Feather River to Portola and beyond. The timber industry has now been gutted, but at the time there were a lot pollutants being dumped into the river upstream, primarily waste from mills and stagnant log ponds.

This caused the formation of copious amounts of foam in back washes and eddies along the river, a favorite place for rail buffs and photographers.

Often times, these people would wade into the river to get the right angle for a photo, usually knee deep or deeper amidst the foam, hence the moniker was applied; "Foamers." Its meaning has been upgraded to describe an over zealous aficionado of rail operations.

In the UK they are called "train spotters," and as a whole they receive a lot of derision for their chosen idle time pursuits wherever they appear.

 

[Todd.Brock]

That guy gives me the creeps. Something ain't right in his head.

While its interesting to learn a bit of the politics of the railroad, that **** is funny!! that is special!!!

 

[mercman86]

Every once in a while we'll get a foamer with a movie camera on the bridge that overlooks our yard. The guys are pretty cool and we'll toot the horn for them or wave. The gumshoes however are not as welcoming and if the step one foot on RR property, they are quickly warned to stay away.

 

[montanafordman]

Interesting thread and its always good to hear what its like on the inside. I've considered a career switch to railroad and I"m a cargo pilot right now. Its another job where people go "wow thats great!" when in reality its not all that and a box of chocolates. I enjoy my job for the time being but I"m working for a very small company flying small airplanes single pilot. I've hit the top end of pay where I"m at for the most part and to go higher I'd have to make a change to another company and start burning Jet A. The sick part is that I would take about a 50% (or more!) pay cut for at least 3-4 years before I surpass where I"m at now. As a pilot the home life *****, and theres far less job security in my mind. With oil prices going crazy the railroads will always win over any other form of transportation.

I have known some pilots who made the switch to railroad and they claimed they were paid substantially more in a MUCH shorter amount of time. As a pilot you can be flying for a regional airline driving a brand new 76 passenger jet and be making 20K a year, and you might not break 50K for 8+ years if your company isn't growing or people aren't leaving and you don't upgrade to captain. Even after getting in the left seat and essentially doing the same job as before expect 60-80K for a while and potentially staying at that level the rest of your career. Just hope you don't get laid off because you start over in pay. This is after many years of time building to get there making even less than 20K as well as floating student loans etc. From what I gather railroads like to hire pilots because of the similarities involved. A lot of time invested knowing regulations and procedures, safety, culture, etc. The job is similar in many respects and both have their shortcomings in lifestyle but it seems the path to a livable and sustainable wage is a lot shorter.

In aviation they have firgured out that people are literally willing to pay just to sit up front. Its nothing like what the public at large thinks it is. Lets just hope the railroads don't apply the same business model to foamers!

 

[Sea_Chicken1]

I believe when he is referencing "painfully" earned, he isn't referencing the difficulty of the actual job, its the incredible amount of hoops you must jump through to complete even the simplest tasks. There is No satisfaction in taking 15 minutes to do something that would normally take 2-3 minutes, its just a bye product of the world we live in. It's hard to take, but as long as there paychecks don't bounce, i try to comply.. Lol

Thats part of the reason I want to get out of aviation. The job is awesome but everything takes ten times as long as it should. Im the type of guy that busts balls and gets things done in a timely efficient manner. Instead of going A to B to fix something simple there are ten more steps in between to satisfy some safety monkey.

 

[cryan]

The Railways in the UK are amongst the best payers for the level of trade but they a super unionised with some unions aspiring North Korean levels of communism. The UK rail industry has always had train spotters working in it and it has been debated that it is this level of enthusiasts in the industry which has slowed the modernisation of the system as enthusiasts tend not to like change. I know a few marine guys who left the sea to work on the rails as the engines are the same, the hours are better, and it's a whole lot safer and better paid.

 

[fotoflojoe]

People who repair things tend to see the negative side of everything first, and eventually remove or reduce the negative to a fixed state. I don't have much experience with railfans but let me give you a few examples I try to avoid.

Microsoft fanboy = ****** pc tech
Cisco fanboy = ****** network engineer
brand (dell, hp) fanboy = ****** contract negotiator

In any of those cases, I will try as hard as possible not to work with the above. I definitely wont send clients to them. The only exception is for warranty service and i will specifically say 'go to x shop, do not let this guy touch it'

If you fix things and you're not a negative *** pessimist you aren't doing something right.

It took me a couple reads to get the gist of your post, but you're absolutely correct.

 

[hefty lefty]

The Railways in the UK are amongst the best payers for the level of trade but they a super unionised with some unions aspiring North Korean levels of communism. The UK rail industry has always had train spotters working in it and it has been debated that it is this level of enthusiasts in the industry which has slowed the modernisation of the system as enthusiasts tend not to like change. I know a few marine guys who left the sea to work on the rails as the engines are the same, the hours are better, and it's a whole lot safer and better paid.

The situation with labor in the UK vs. the US is different and interesting, Steve Sailer did a great post on this about a week ago. But essentially, the companies were more ruthless in England, so the labor movement got more militant, which then caused the big money to get out of manufacturing in the UK. There is little manufacturing in the UK today whereas in Germany there is much more and much better for the most part.

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/05/george-will-dickens-christmas-carol-is.html

A "trainspotter", as I understand it is a specific type of railfan who tries to observe and/or photograph every locomotive of a class on a system's roster.

About two years ago I had a conversation with two British rail buffs immediately outside the property line at the BNSF yard near Kemper Arena in Kansas City KS. ("Santa Fe Junction" for those who know where that is, underneath the overpasses.) They had video cameras with long lenses on expensive surveyors' tripods and had come to the US on this trip specifically to view the Argentine Yard. I had a friend who worked for the railcrew van company and I got their contact info, and as a result they got a tour of the Argentine Yard from a crew van. He was quitting that week and so the consequences to him were nil for doing it.

At any rate, my understanding is that the British rail system is quite backward in many respects: they use the very obsolete buffer and chain system and used vacuum brakes until fairly recently. They did have some innovations we never did, though like the Napier Deltic diesel. (Napier sold exactly one Deltic to a US customer: the NYC Fire Dept. had one for a super volume pump truck.)

 

[Hiball]

About two years ago I had a conversation with two British rail buffs immediately outside the property line at the BNSF yard near Kemper Arena in Kansas City KS. ("Santa Fe Junction" for those who know where that is, underneath the overpasses.) They had video cameras with long lenses on expensive surveyors' tripods and had come to the US on this trip specifically to view the Argentine Yard. I had a friend who worked for the railcrew van company and I got their contact info, and as a result they got a tour of the Argentine Yard from a crew van. He was quitting that week and so the consequences to him were nil for doing it.

There is always "rail fans" in that parking lot "prior to the junction", I can't remember ever going by there and not seeing someone during daylight hours.

 

[hefty lefty]

Interesting thread and its always good to hear what its like on the inside. I've considered a career switch to railroad and I"m a cargo pilot right now. Its another job where people go "wow thats great!" when in reality its not all that and a box of chocolates. I enjoy my job for the time being but I"m working for a very small company flying small airplanes single pilot. I've hit the top end of pay where I"m at for the most part and to go higher I'd have to make a change to another company and start burning Jet A. The sick part is that I would take about a 50% (or more!) pay cut for at least 3-4 years before I surpass where I"m at now. As a pilot the home life *****, and theres far less job security in my mind. With oil prices going crazy the railroads will always win over any other form of transportation.

I have known some pilots who made the switch to railroad and they claimed they were paid substantially more in a MUCH shorter amount of time. As a pilot you can be flying for a regional airline driving a brand new 76 passenger jet and be making 20K a year, and you might not break 50K for 8+ years if your company isn't growing or people aren't leaving and you don't upgrade to captain. Even after getting in the left seat and essentially doing the same job as before expect 60-80K for a while and potentially staying at that level the rest of your career. Just hope you don't get laid off because you start over in pay. This is after many years of time building to get there making even less than 20K as well as floating student loans etc. From what I gather railroads like to hire pilots because of the similarities involved. A lot of time invested knowing regulations and procedures, safety, culture, etc. The job is similar in many respects and both have their shortcomings in lifestyle but it seems the path to a livable and sustainable wage is a lot shorter.

In aviation they have firgured out that people are literally willing to pay just to sit up front. Its nothing like what the public at large thinks it is. Lets just hope the railroads don't apply the same business model to foamers!

For that very reason I never pursued flying as a career. I knew people who spent a lot of money to get comm/inst/CFI/multi and made 7-Eleven clerk money for the better part of a decade. Another friend of mine graduated from the A&P school in Kansas City and the first interview he had when he graduated offered him....are you ready...ten dollars an hour to start. He got up and walked out. He did get somewhat better offers later but he was making much better money in IT by then and never did put a wrench to an airplane. But then again, the computer company he worked for paid the $20K school bill so he figured it was no big deal.

 

[TexMedium]

I believe when he is referencing "painfully" earned, he isn't referencing the difficulty of the actual job, its the incredible amount of hoops you must jump through to complete even the simplest tasks. There is No satisfaction in taking 15 minutes to do something that would normally take 2-3 minutes, its just a bye product of the world we live in. It's hard to take, but as long as there paychecks don't bounce, i try to comply.. Lol

Correct! I'm an engineer, there really isn't a lot of physical pain or strenuous effort in what i do. It was more a reference to the bizzarro world nature of the place. And the unending efforts ON BOTH SIDES of the labor-management relationship to keep it adversarial and contentious. It really shouldn't have to be this way.

My objection to the "foamer's" offered pity was that some of them just don't get the notion that for some of us it is JUST a paycheck, and the carrier's indulgence of his passion, at some small, incremental level, burns corporate profits and thus, potentially, some of my paycheck. I really do not care what consenting adults do with their spare time, so long as it doesn't involve my tax dollars, or my paycheck, or force me to use my time to support their "hobbies". Getting indignant because some one else just doesn't understand "the passion" is simple narrow-minded egotism.

 

[hefty lefty]

Correct! I'm an engineer, there really isn't a lot of physical pain or strenuous effort in what i do. It was more a reference to the bizzarro world nature of the place. And the unending efforts ON BOTH SIDES of the labor-management relationship to keep it adversarial and contentious. It really shouldn't have to be this way.

That's why some guys get on short lines and stay there. None pay as well as a Class 1 but the work environment on a good one is much better. You still get railroad retirement in most cases.

 

[Gregg33]

I'm actually surprised the pay is that low, even to start. That's only a few $ more per hour than the job I have. I would have guessed starting pay would have been close to $30/hr.

I do understand how a foamer might not make a good railroad employee though. Anything done as a hobby is more fun than doing it as a job. I've been big into car racing since I was a kid. I've owned and raced DIRT Sportsman for 15 years, I've also done alot of work on asphalt latemodels and done some spotting as well. Several years ago I decided I wanted to take my passion to a more professional level. I started working for an ARCA team. For those that don't know ARCA is 3 steps below the Sprint Cup. While it was exciting at times and I got to meet alot of semi-famous racers, it wasn't really what I expected. It was very stressful and I felt really unknowledgeable on alot of things (compared to locally where I feel the opposite). I was a very small fish in a big pond. After a couple races I gave it up, even though others on the team were hapopy with my work. While I cherish the memories, I don't miss it and have no plans of ever working for a professional team again (unless I win the lottery and own it myself lol). Basically what I'm saying is when something is a job, it takes the fun out of it more often than not.

 

[Danglerb]

I'm actually surprised the pay is that low, even to start. That's only a few $ more per hour than the job I have. I would have guessed starting pay would have been close to $30/hr.

I do understand how a foamer might not make a good railroad employee though. Anything done as a hobby is more fun than doing it as a job.

Work in a strong union industry and you will get enlightenment quickly. Management wants nothing but to make money, same for labor, and they fight tooth and nail over every penny without a hoot for the product. Worse thing you ca do is try hard, do your best, and enjoy your job, you will be hated and not subtly.

I drive my mechanic friends nuts because I LIKE working on cars, and from time to time I point out that the same spark isn't completely dead in them either, but they own their own shops and get to enjoy it if they want to.

Regards aviation, the line is long waiting to jump on almost the crappiest job because many people do love it. Almost nothing I can think of beats flying a plane. Entry level is flight instruction which I think is only paid due to minimum wage laws because so many want to do it. Actually landing a "real" pilots job, even a stinking one like short hop cargo paid taxi driver wages. Airline stuff goes to the ex military guys with tons of hours, and no the pay isn't great, but benefits to die for. I've got cousins that are stewardesses, and the whole extended family travels the world for next to nothing.

Foamers should volunteer at one of the zillions of RR museums, then nobody cares if you want to dance in a circle around a steam engine.

 

[hefty lefty]

Work in a strong union industry and you will get enlightenment quickly. Management wants nothing but to make money, same for labor, and they fight tooth and nail over every penny without a hoot for the product. Worse thing you ca do is try hard, do your best, and enjoy your job, you will be hated and not subtly.

The Germans figured out on both sides that they could both do okay but only if they could export the product as well as satisfy the home market, which will not put up with ****. Americans refuse to learn that lesson.

Then again we are doing better than the English. The Brits have pretty well ceased manufacturing. We still manufacture a lot of high end stuff, locomotives, jet engines, semiconductor process equipment as well as military. What American companies do not want to manufacture is consumer. That's the real reason Wichita quit making light aircraft-not "product liability" which was a convenient excuse.

 

[jrosson75]

Recently Released to Start for Union Pacific. June 19th start date. In Houston. Since I live 200 miles away from Houston and I am responsible for my own room and board......
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can find reasonably priced places to stay while training there for 4 weeks?

What does UP pay daily for training and when do they pay you?

I can not seem to get these questions answered by UP. They just say where to report and when and the rest is on you, except for a stipend after about a week.

 

[Cope]

Recently Released to Start for Union Pacific. June 19th start date. In Houston. Since I live 200 miles away from Houston and I am responsible for my own room and board......
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can find reasonably priced places to stay while training there for 4 weeks?

What does UP pay daily for training and when do they pay you?

I can not seem to get these questions answered by UP. They just say where to report and when and the rest is on you, except for a stipend after about a week.

Check out the residence inns. They are like efficiency apartments.

 

[trackwelder]

What department did you hire into?

 

[SnapOnAddiction]

My dream job my wife's grandpa bought a rail road but it's very small and the engines are not impressive he only owns 2 that I know of and they are old and faded I'm not sure if he has a shop that maintains them or not as I've not looked into it or asked him they use to block the road to my house all the time and piss me off, the only cars I've seen them pull are oil tankers and I've watched them clean them out they steam clean them. He does have a truck shop I'd kill to work in but they don't need anymore help also I'm not a diesel mechanic ,wish I had gone to school for it as I was going to be a diesel mechanic for the army but my first born came and had to do my duties as a parent now 6 kids later and a lazy wife no way I can go to school now as I have no time and I'm to old and have to work and take care of my kids so no time for school or the cash to do so either.

 

[Local]

Recently Released to Start for Union Pacific. June 19th start date. In Houston. Since I live 200 miles away from Houston and I am responsible for my own room and board......
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can find reasonably priced places to stay while training there for 4 weeks?

What does UP pay daily for training and when do they pay you?

I can not seem to get these questions answered by UP. They just say where to report and when and the rest is on you, except for a stipend after about a week.

Airbnb I rented a room for 25 a day from somebody in a great neighborhood.