Trainmaster

[csprague]

Hello out there;

Just wondering what everyone knows about being a train master. CN seems to be looking for a lot of them right now. Any insight would be appreciated.

Chris

 

[crazyace777]

be prepared to be hated by everyone under you

 

[RailroadJeep]

Imagine being middle managment, but to the extreme. Needless to say, it tends to be a high turnouver posistion.

I should warn you, this is also more a enthusiast forum... Your going to find railroaders (the people you manage), and railfans/photographers (the people you "run off" company property or give the third degree to for taking pictures of trains), so the opinions you may find or hear about trainmaster's may be less than positive. With that said, I have worked with TM's who were decent company officals and tried to work with us TY&E folks. On the flip side, I've also dealt with TM's who were the complete opposite and tired to make the simple task of us doing our job a complete nightmare.

 

[Ed Sand]

Which CN division would this be on? Do you have any railroad or military experience?

 

[csprague]

Yeah Ed;

I just am about to graduate from a Conductor Training Program and I thought I would give it a shot. There are two ads running around right now for CN. One is in the national newspapers looking for people with supervisory experience in the transportation or construction industry. Well I fit that bill so I applied. Then online it started asking how many years I had as a conductor and if I was familiar with railway software programs. Needles to say I don't but the ad in the paper said they would train you from the ground up (12 months training). I figured I coulfd get in on this with my certificate but was quickly rejected. Oh well, got an offer with CSX right now in Quebec, I think I will take a good look at.

 

[Ed Sand]

GP80Mac pretty much nailed it, except sometimes it can be a lot worse. Very very very very rarely it can be better.

 

[pinpuller44]

Im a conductor for CSX...Trainmasters?!?!?!?!? Ahh they are a contankerous creature...Some are the best good hearted guys who will go to the worlds end to help you out...As opposed to some who are dumb as a bag of sh*t,who cant even manage their territory,but rather get their rocks off firing guys...So I just put it to you this way...Its a crap shoot on them...If the division manager is an ass,then majority of his trainmasters are asses....All I can say is if you like long hours,can sleep at night knowing you put a guy on the street,handle disgruntled employees,managers,customers coupled up with the railroad being your sole mission in life,them your the man...lol...but there are some positives to being a trainmaster just not many....In my experience older trainmasters are awesome as opposed to newer ones are just on an ego trip....