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Looks like I will be joining the big orange railroad (you know the one) in California as an MOW laborer. Received conditional offer last week, and I was just notified that I passed the medical. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have done heavy labor before (distribution center). Anyone here work MOW? Can't wait to start!
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Feb 24, 2013 05:40
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:22 |
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Strawberry posted:Looks like I will be joining the big orange railroad (you know the one) in California as an MOW laborer. Received conditional offer last week, and I was just notified that I passed the medical. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have done heavy labor before (distribution center). Anyone here work MOW? Can't wait to start! Anyone? My friends are surprised I took this job and plan to stick with it, considering I have a degree. From what you guys say about managers it seems like the better option to start at the bottom rather than go straight into management.
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Mar 15, 2013 08:58
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:Insight Good info man, I appreciate it. I don't have PMs. Hit me up at strawberry1d1 at gmail
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Mar 16, 2013 03:29
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BrokenKnucklez posted:Yes, its a great job. No one is in a hurry. No one. Having done time in retail and retail distribution, I think I might like this fact the most. Also, making dick jokes without worrying about customers hearing you.
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Mar 17, 2013 03:02
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Day two of my MOW training, sitting in my hotel. Familiarizing myself with this 6-inch thick engineering binder. You TY&E guys get anything like this?  
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Apr 3, 2013 05:11
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Veins McGee posted:There is a rule for everything. CSX mandates that all computer chairs have 5 or more casters.  Oddly enough, I haven't run into anything -worthy. Yet.Also, that thick binder is sort of a cookbook for laying track. The black logo one has the rules and orders that I need to keep near me at all times.
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Apr 4, 2013 05:56
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My foreman told me that the size of the gravel in the yard that the train guys walk on is set by the union agreement. I chuckled. He was serious.
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Apr 10, 2013 03:39
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I just wasn't expecting it to be part of a union agreement. That ballast out on the road is gnarly, especially in those steep spots we can only get to via hy-rail.
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Apr 11, 2013 01:09
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kastein posted:Does railroading have a term like that old saw about "a good landing is one you walk away from"? Because that looks like a good landing to me, maybe even a great one ("a great landing is one you walk away from... and can use the plane again within 24 hours!") There are no good landings on today's railroad (speaking of class 1's here). Even if nobody is hurt its a big deal. All accidents are preventable. Put equipment on the ground, go piss in a cup and enjoy an unpaid vacation 
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May 1, 2013 00:26
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spipedong posted:Well, big orange is installing drivecam units on every hyrail, to be extended to signal, telecom, and all other company vehicles as soon as they can get the money. This means I have to put on my hard hat every time I get out to take a piss. You putting these things in the MoW production gang vans? I'm sure they'd love to hear our banter.
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May 9, 2013 12:17
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:They are only triggered by an "event" a sudden stop, rapid acceleration, big bump, etc. So unless unzipping your pants causes a massive amount of air to rock your vehicle, you'll be fine. I've sat through hours of meetings about these drive cams. Make sure you and everyone in your vehicle is wearing their seat belts. That is now a critical decision failure. You can hit a button to manually record, causing the last 8 secs to be downloaded as well as everything after that. A third party will review every "incident" then forward the rule violating videos to the DE who then makes a decision. I have heard a lot of good things from people in the field about the cameras. I would be a lot more worried about a system audit team busting you rather than the cameras. And every vehicle will get them. Los Angeles and the bigger cities have them, ours have been ordered. I heard a good story today about how the camera saved a guy's rear end. His HLCS (Hy-rail limits compliance system, for those unfamiliar) went off, alerting the DS that he was out of his limits. He wasn't, and to prove it he turned the camera on and moved it to show that he was stopped well short of the insulated joints, with the signals in the distance.
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May 13, 2013 23:55
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:Yes Sir they are, heres how it looks from my angle unloading them. I need to bid on a steel gang. I'm getting bored of doing ties. Up here in Northern California we have places where there are 2 mains, and one will be all concrete ties, and the other is wood. Seems like they were testing to see how they held up.
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May 27, 2013 22:59
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Looking back only 3 months since I hired on, I realize how different this job actually is from my pre-conceived notions and what I saw at the hiring event. The HR lady's Powerpoints made everything look sanitized in a way. I work in MoW, and recently started on a steel gang. This gang has moved me up much more quickly than the other one, and have been running various machines. I get filthy every single day, and play mechanic every time the machine breaks or malfunctions (which is a lot). I am required to carry tools (Harbor Freight everything thrown in a Husky bag, woooo). I was recently awarded a bid for a machine, so I won't be on the ground as much doing labor. Despite everything bad that comes with the job (some management, travel, odd hours) I still love it and feel like I accomplished something most days. I have a degree and probably could have hired on as an exempt, one of those "assistant" Roadmasters, but this is more fun.
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Jul 17, 2013 03:37
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BrokenKnucklez posted:Makes me glad I switched to being a dispatcher. Tone up the dickscratcher! I'm considering a craft transfer myself, seems like holding anything close to home is going to be next to impossible for at least 5 years. Then again, I love the job security. The track will always get pounded because trains are heavy and poo poo.
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Aug 24, 2013 05:09
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spipedong posted:Mine is the one with the loaded coal passing the empty inside a canyon on an S curve. Since that pretty much gives away my name/occupation let's keep that info on the DL drat, small world. Seems like there are quite a few BNSF goons 
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Aug 27, 2013 03:04
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NoWake posted:Ahh just look at all those perfect rails and perfect ties Make it so you sit in the truck for a few hours waiting for a train. Then you call the DS and they tell you they have 1 more Z train to get through, which turns into 3 more trains. After this, you finally get track and time for 30 minutes.
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Oct 1, 2013 00:43
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Do any of the sims have MOW operations?
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We had a guy in a backhoe fatally injured after a train hit him. Stay safe out there everyone.
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Oct 20, 2013 03:26
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:Where are you working at now? RP18, San Bernadino sub, getting close to Pico Rivera.
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Oct 21, 2013 02:08
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Peak intermodal season means I get the month of December off  Can't have MoW out there with all those UPS Z trains running around.Of course, if I hadn't saved a chunk of money, I'd be chasing work in another district like everyone else.
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Nov 22, 2013 02:31
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CharlesM posted:They were already complaining the rails are completely congested due to the oil boom in ND. Bakken shale oil, I love it because it means Big oraNge is spending money for line improvements system wide. We were pulling out jointed rail from the 1940's on the line from southern Oregon to Northern Cal only a few months ago. The oil boom has added more trains to a subdivision that only saw 3-4 trains a day.
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Jan 1, 2014 08:54
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Back to work on Monday, headed to Mojave. I sure don't envy those guys in the Midwest out there in 0 and below temps.
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Jan 11, 2014 00:57
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Trains follow a current of traffic in double track territory, and in multiple main track territory trains run on either track in both directions. In one of my timetables there is double track and it specifies that trains keep to the right unless otherwise instructed, and 2 main track territory runs them in either direction.
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Feb 1, 2014 18:13
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I think I've got till 2045 Guys who hired on when they were 18 have to work for 42 years!
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Feb 2, 2014 23:32
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BrokenKnucklez posted:The big ACs, especially the GE's, at notch 8 moving a coal drag is a pretty sweet sound. You can actually feel the pounding roar in your chest as they go by, even just poking along at 15 mph. Agreed, especially the feeling of those ES44s pulling a hot Z at 70 mph, blowing dust in your face only 5 minutes after you gave the main back to the DS 
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Mar 24, 2014 10:33
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sincx posted:For those of you that work for the railroads, what are your companies' and your personal opinion of Amtrak trains? For us maintainance crews it can be tough, at least the territory I work in. It's tough to get any work done during the daytime, so most things like rail change out, welding, and surfacing have to be done at night. It can be stressful trying to get work done when AMTK is lined up and you have to finish up before it gets held up. Holding up Amtrak is the cardinal sin out here, as it means big fines. It is the same deal in SoCal, Just throw in Metrolink on top of amtrak and it can get busy. My personal opinion is that there should be 2 mains on all Amtrak territory to run more trains. Here in NorCal most of the BNSF is single main.
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Mar 25, 2014 02:03
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How to drive a spike http://youtu.be/aQjJoLpyGqE
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Apr 5, 2014 04:24
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It's hard to get out there and eliminate slow orders when we can't even get the track for 2 hours because of train traffic. I mean, it's good that traffic is picking up on the BNSF, and the trains pay the bills, but it would be nice not to have to chase work windows every night. I've been seeing lots of foreign power here out west as well, mostly CSX and NS units.
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Apr 26, 2014 23:46
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I've never heard of PTI here out west. We have Renzenberger, aka Mr. Toad's Wild Ride MOW usually drive ourselves around unless a CDL holder runs out of hours, or we can't find a van.
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Apr 28, 2014 10:45
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Awesome post about the Big Boy. I completely understand the reason to not want to run that thing through switches, it must tear poo poo up. Frogs take a beating anyway, I can't imagine what that engine would to to it, much less something simple as going around curves.
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May 9, 2014 01:35
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:The only way that you're going to be able to top this is by driving a humongous steam engine through Iraq in wartime. That said, if these huge steam engines thrash modern trackage so much, what was done in years past when locomotives like the Big Boy and the Allegheny were really prevalent? Did the railroads use super-heavy construction, track, and accessories? Did they do more maintenance? Any ideas? My guess is that they had a lot more section gangs way back in the day, and they were constantly working on the track. I'm talking section houses at drat near every station and siding. Today a section gang covers a much larger distance. My home section usually covers about 50 rail miles in each direction.
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May 10, 2014 22:47
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NoWake posted:Railroads are in the transportation business, not in the making things pretty business. Sure, there was tons of trash all over the embankments in every populated area we ran through, but unless clearing it out would make us money somehow, it would never ever happen. In fact, just going out there to clean it up would take months of equipment & manpower away from building and maintaining track. I love it when the geometry car comes through. They seem to forget that the tracks are nothing more than wood, steel, mouse turds, grease, oil, and trash. Taking your plug rails back to the yard though? Man I'd be pissed, that just makes more work.
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Jul 3, 2014 01:17
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A plug rail is for when you cut out a section of rail due to it having a defect or break. Two cuts are made, the old rail is pulled out, the new one is measured and cut, then put in place. Our minimum length for a plug rail is 16 1/2 feet. The rail is then drilled on the web and joint bars and bolts are put on and tightened. The welders come by later and unbolt the joints and weld them. Depending on the temperature the plug rail was installed, it may need to be pulled together or an inch or two must be cut out before it can be welded. Installing rail at different temps is a whole 'nother can 'o worms.
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Jul 3, 2014 02:21
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Well, at least they ain't changin' the way track is constructed!
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Jul 19, 2014 02:56
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I have learned rather quickly that the less responsibility I have out here, the better. I work to live, not live to work. Sure, it is very easy to move up if you want it, but it comes with stress and negative side effects. I see so many guys out here that make the railroad their life, and I can't help but feel like they are gonna be the first ones to keel over after retirement.
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Jul 25, 2014 01:59
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:Don't let the stress get to you…it's just a job. I'm glad you posted all that, recently I've just been letting poo poo get to me, it just seems like everyone else is trying to save the drat railroad. I was wondering what happened to you. Speaking of management, what are the chances of a guy with a non-engineering degree and 1 and a half years in the craft becoming a roadmaster? Everyone is telling me I could.
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Jul 26, 2014 04:35
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B4Ctom1 posted:Are there even any left? http://www.evrazna.com/ As far as I've seen most of the new rail that has been laid on the Big oraNge since I've been on comes from there. Also, as far as I know our switch points, stock rails, frogs, and insulated joints are American made. Joint bars are stamped CHINA. I think the bolts are too. That's ok though, they never stay on the main for long anyway.
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Apr 14, 2015 13:11
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We always have a section truck supporting the rail tester, so that when a defect is found we just cut in a plug rail right then and there, although finding curve worn rail is not easy. Depends on the type of defect, but fixing a defect is sometimes as simple as drilling the web and bolting on the joint bars, takes all of 15 minutes.
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Oct 11, 2015 20:15
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That's neat. Seems like it would make for less maintenance over standard crossing diamonds, at least on the more traveled main.
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Aug 5, 2016 02:12
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:22 |
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If only BMWE members could unite like the trainmen seem to do.
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Feb 12, 2017 19:34
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