Though David Belcher oversees a big railroad yard, he works with the ease
and passion of a little boy playing with his train set.
"I've always loved the railroad," says Belcher. "Ever since I was
a kid, I've had a fascination with trains."
Belcher's job is one of the oldest and toughest in the railroad. He
communicates constantly with the yard crew, his bosses and the railway's
customers, eager for their shipments. When he's not juggling their demands,
he's watching train after train come into the yard, needing dismantling,
loading and direction.
"It's an awful lot of conflicting demand," says Belcher. "Everyone
wants something done. One section wants this track left open for repairs.
Meanwhile, there [are] trains coming in and not enough tracks to put them
on. You have to compromise a lot to come up with the best solution, even when
people don't agree with you."
Belcher says despite the day's pressures and messes, the most rewarding
part is just getting the job done.
"The best part is getting the trains together, getting them out on time,
without any problems," he says. "Keeping everything fluid in the yard, keeping
things moving and doing constructive work -- it can give you quite a feeling
of accomplishment. Of course, there's also feelings of frustration when
it all goes down the tubes."
Yardmaster Josh Turner says a handy skill for grappling with a yardmaster's
duties is an ability to relate to people from all walks of railway life.
"You've got to be a real people person. That's the key to keeping
things going," says Turner. "That means answering to everybody -- from the
higher-ups wanting to know where the trains are at, to the yard crew wanting
to know what they're supposed to be doing, to customers wanting to know
where their shipments are. Let's just say I'll often have a phone
in each ear while talking to the radio."
Steve Lucas is a yardmaster who is also involved in a chapter of the United
Transportation Union. He says yardmasters have to have a certain kind of personality
to do the job and like it.
"You have to be very self-motivated," says Lucas. "You're the one
pushing other people to do their jobs, so you better not have a problem doing
your own.
"You've also got to enjoy the stress, and really enjoy using your
brain," he says. "This isn't the kind of job where you can come into
work and leave your brain at the door. You're going to be using it."
Dennis Schweitzer is chair of a chapter of the United Transportation Union.
Before that, he was a yardmaster. He says the key to being an efficient and
effective yardmaster is experience.
"Experience is the only thing that will help you overcome the daily obstacles,"
says Schweitzer. "You can't just walk into the job anyway. You have to
have been on the railway a while, and be very aware of the duties and functions
of a yardmaster. Then you can bid for the position when it comes up. You start
by filling in for people, and eventually you're at it full time."
Ella Rayburn is the curator of Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton,
Pennsylvania. The site interprets and showcases steam-engine history with
a museum and working railroad. Rayburn, a railroad historian, agrees with
Schweitzer on the importance of experience.
"Yardmaster is no entry-level position," she says. "You work up to it from
a trainman or switchman, someone on the ground in the yard. You don't
just fall into it. You have to work hard to get it, so they must like doing
it."
Schweitzer says the job appeals to railway workers because it's a
leadership role that is closer to the yard than the higher-up roles.
"You can be the boss without being management," he says. "That feels good
from a union perspective."
"Yardmasters are not executive positions, but are not a regular
union position either. They're kind of in-between," says Paul Kutta of
the National Railway Historical Society. "So they're not the help, and
they're not the bosses.
"Yardmasters have been around since the railway began," says Kutta. "And
they will probably always be around. Because cars will always have to be sorted
out and sent off to customers, and there will always have to be places where
this is done -- yards -- and someone to do it -- yardmasters."