About This Career

Diagnoses, adjusts, repairs, or overhauls railroad rolling stock, mine cars, or mass transit rail cars.

This career is part of the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics cluster Facility and Mobile Equipment Maintenance pathway.

A person in this career:

• Records conditions of cars, and repair and maintenance work performed or to be performed.
• Inspects components such as bearings, seals, gaskets, wheels, and coupler assemblies to determine if repairs are needed.
• Repairs or replaces defective or worn parts such as bearings, pistons, and gears, using hand tools, torque wrenches, power tools, and welding equipment.
• Inspects the interior and exterior of rail cars coming into rail yards to identify defects and to determine the extent of wear and damage.
• Removes locomotives, car mechanical units, or other components, using pneumatic hoists and jacks, pinch bars, hand tools, and cutting torches.
• Tests units for operability before and after repairs.
• Adjusts repaired or replaced units as needed to ensure proper operation.
• Repairs, fabricates, and installs steel or wood fittings, using blueprints, shop sketches, and instruction manuals.
• Performs scheduled maintenance, and cleans units and components.
• Examines car roofs for wear and damage, and repairs defective sections, using roofing material, cement, nails, and waterproof paint.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 50 lbs., sometimes up to 100 lbs. You will need a lot of strength at this level.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Lighting is either extremely bright or inadequate
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel