Hey everyone, thanks for clicking on my plea for help. Basically, I'm an author in need of some railroad-related information.
A little background on me: I write for a career information website. I create writeups for a variety of jobs ranging from dental hygienist to telescope operator. It's fun, interesting work for the most part. However, I'm kind of stumped on two of my recent assignments:
Railroad Fireman
Railroad Worker
Now, more background: I'm from NY State. I commuted from suburban NY to NYC for school for 3 years (on the Port Jervis line of New Jersey Transit in cooperation with the MTA), then moved to Beacon, NY where I took the MTA to Grand Central for pleasure trips into the city.
Also during part of that time I ran a vocational training program for adults in NY state. One of my courses was a prep course for people who wanted to get into train careers. It was run by people who had experience with NJ Transit. I have reached out to them for clarification about these jobs, but I haven't been at that position in over a year, so we've drifted out of touch. They have yet to get back to me.
Basically, all the research I've gathered is that a Railroad Fireman was the person who fed coal into the furnace and maintained the boiler. They would only be in use on steam trains, which (again, according to my research) would seem to only be in use on "heritage railroads." Therefor, unless there is some modern equivalent of the Railroad Fireman, that still uses this title, I'll have to indicate in my writeup that the job is no longer in widespread use (which I'm okay with).
For "Railroad Workers," this just sounds like a catch-all for anyone who isn't an engineer, conductor, brake operator, yardmaster, or subway operator. Does anyone know what kind of jobs fall under this remaining catch-all category? How do you get in? I'm assuming that you probably need a high school diploma.
If anyone has any reliable information (with or without sources, if you have some credentials to back up your info) that could help me out here, I'd be appreciative in the max.
Thanks!
A little background on me: I write for a career information website. I create writeups for a variety of jobs ranging from dental hygienist to telescope operator. It's fun, interesting work for the most part. However, I'm kind of stumped on two of my recent assignments:
Railroad Fireman
Railroad Worker
Now, more background: I'm from NY State. I commuted from suburban NY to NYC for school for 3 years (on the Port Jervis line of New Jersey Transit in cooperation with the MTA), then moved to Beacon, NY where I took the MTA to Grand Central for pleasure trips into the city.
Also during part of that time I ran a vocational training program for adults in NY state. One of my courses was a prep course for people who wanted to get into train careers. It was run by people who had experience with NJ Transit. I have reached out to them for clarification about these jobs, but I haven't been at that position in over a year, so we've drifted out of touch. They have yet to get back to me.
Basically, all the research I've gathered is that a Railroad Fireman was the person who fed coal into the furnace and maintained the boiler. They would only be in use on steam trains, which (again, according to my research) would seem to only be in use on "heritage railroads." Therefor, unless there is some modern equivalent of the Railroad Fireman, that still uses this title, I'll have to indicate in my writeup that the job is no longer in widespread use (which I'm okay with).
For "Railroad Workers," this just sounds like a catch-all for anyone who isn't an engineer, conductor, brake operator, yardmaster, or subway operator. Does anyone know what kind of jobs fall under this remaining catch-all category? How do you get in? I'm assuming that you probably need a high school diploma.
If anyone has any reliable information (with or without sources, if you have some credentials to back up your info) that could help me out here, I'd be appreciative in the max.
Thanks!
