I'm proud to say that my youngest son (age 21) has just been hired by a Class 1 railroad as a Conductor-trainee.

As I watched my son wend his way through the hiring process I was amazed at how forthcoming the railroad was in explaining how chaotic his working schedule would be on completion of training.

They even brought recently hired conductors in to the interview group, and left them alone with the candidates to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the job.

My kid is NOT a railfan, he simply views this as an interesting job that uniquely meets his needs and likes. He did a lot of research, including reading the rants of some trainmen on the internet who truly dislike their jobs and he is quite happy with his choice. I'm really proud of him.


dougb@sunserver.com

Good luck to him. If he can stand the life, he'll make a good deal more money than most other 21 year olds and get a good start in life. Even if he is laid off temporarily, it won't last long as people will be retiring by the hundreds in the next five years. Very few industrial jobs of this caliber left in the U.S..

ryarger@rypn.org