About This Career

Operates or monitors railroad track switches or locomotive instruments. May couple or uncouple rolling stock to make up or break up trains. Watches for and relays traffic signals. May inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and hand brakes. May watch for dragging equipment or obstacles on rights-of-way.

This career is part of the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics cluster Transportation Operations pathway.

A person in this career:

• Observes train signals along routes and verifies their meanings for engineers.
• Signals locomotive engineers to start or stop trains when coupling or uncoupling cars, using hand signals, lanterns, or radio communication.
• Pulls or pushes track switches to reroute cars.
• Observes signals from other crew members so that work activities can be coordinated.
• Monitors trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.
• Inspects couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and handbrakes to ensure that they are securely fastened and functioning properly.
• Observes tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
• Operates locomotives in emergency situations.
• Raises levers to couple and uncouple cars for makeup and breakup of trains.
• Receives oral or written instructions from yardmasters or yard conductors indicating track assignments and cars to be switched.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• 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 conditions such as high voltage electricity, combustibles, explosives, and chemicals more than once a month
• 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 making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time
• Whole body vibrations, such as when operating a jackhammer

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work
• Weekend work