Railroad Welders?

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Just a question on my mind, has anyone here been a welder a railroad company (Amtrak, CSX, BNSF, ect.)? My father started in 1978 and still works for Amtrak today, but in a different position. It's the kind of job I'd like. The point is, how was your experience? Is it a job you would recommend? What was it like?-Alex( P.S.- I'm only 15, so I have a lot of time to think!)-AlexSears/Craftsman 230A Buzzy BoxSears/Craftsman 180A Buzzy BoxChicago Electric 80A InverterALL STICK...ALL THE TIME!I spent a lot of time with the square peg and round hole.
Reply:I know a CN welder. It pays OK, but the hours are truly screwed up! I believe they can hold you for up to 32 hours straight. His starts vary all the time. He spends lots of time sitting around. They call him in early, but he sits 'cause the don't always clear the tracks as scheduled. I don't know if it's good or bad, but you won't get social security. You'll get a railroad pension. I believe his OT is seniority based. Good if your old and want OT. Bad if you're young and lots of old timers want the OT.
Reply:My grandfather used to be a welder and boilermaker for the Rock Island railroad in Oklahoma. He disliked it so much he ran away and started his own welding company. That was back in '45.We as grandkids named our company after it...Rock Island Enterprises, lTD...if it had been a job he liked, he never would of moved and who knows?JanErik"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Abraham Lincoln
Reply:I work for a small railroad, but I haven't done any welding yet. In 2011, part of my company's line (which is actually owned by the state DOT) was upgraded for future Amtrak service. The mainline track is now Continuous Welded Rail, or "ribbon rail." That stuff comes pre-welded, and is peeled off of special cars in mostly ¼-mile lengths.When they do weld CWR after it's laid down, they use aluminothermic welding. That might not be a skill you'd use often, but it's not something everybody knows about, either.A railroad can still find plenty of things for a good welder to do, so I'd say get a good background in several different processes, and go from there.Pay and benefits? Not too shabby, I guess, but it would depend on the employer. Shortlines like the one I work for are probably non-union, and the regional railroad we connect with pays about twice what my company does. Like us, a lot of their maintenance people get laid off during the winter months, but they can apply for unemployment benefits through the Railroad Retirement Board.Hope this helps.
Reply:I'm not a RR welder, but have been with the RR for 33+ years and counting. Most welding done on the RR is now just switch points and switch frogs.  Build-up work and grinding, plus with only two varieties it will become monotonous. Most other welding jobs are now farmed out to private contractors. The thermite welds talked about in a previous post will in all likelihood be done by some gandy on the track gang instead of calling in a welder. Also, switch welding is becoming one of those high button shoes jobs as the RRs are going over to swing point frogs that won't need to be re-surfaced and profiled. Work will be seasonal and seniority districts can and usually are quite large...nothing like getting your paycheck and informed that you need to be two states over the morning after tomorrow.Finally, the steel in the rail and switches has a high manganese content. I know that a few years ago they had to deal with a number of law suits over manganese toxicity, but I'm not sure what the RRs have been able to do to mediate the effects.Lincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:May I ask do they use thermite welding on the railroad ,and in what aspects do they use this?
Reply:Aluminothermic welding is basically thermite. For ribbon rail, they put a crucible around the joint, pour the mixture into it, and touch it off. Everything needs to be dry, or there can be some wicked spittin' going on. It gets pretty damn hot, but it's cool to see it done.
Reply:Most of the responses have dealt with M.O.W. welding.  You may want to look at being a carman.  Have a friend who did it for Progress Rail Services (not a railroad, but a company that repairs rolling stock)  in western Nebraska.  Did MIG on rolling stock.  Mainly coal gondolas for the BNSF from the Powder River Div.   I'm looking at doing the same thing once i get out of the USMC.  http://www.progressrail.com/united-states.asphttp://www.fritcar.com/At workMillermatic 252Syncrowave 250DXAt HomeLincoln Pro Mig 140Lincoln AC/DC 225/125
Reply:67lemans: That was what I was thinking of. CWR has done away (to an extent) with regular track welding. I was thinking of the car/engine shops. My dad said he always did a lot of MIG and Stick.-AlexSears/Craftsman 230A Buzzy BoxSears/Craftsman 180A Buzzy BoxChicago Electric 80A InverterALL STICK...ALL THE TIME!I spent a lot of time with the square peg and round hole.
Reply:Car/engine shops aren't what they used to be. More and more of the work is being farmed out to non-railroad shops such as the Progress Rail Services that 67lemans mentioned. Not sure about the GE locomotives, but the EMDs have a service agreement from the manufacture for their maintenance. Most of the Powder River coal has gone over to aluminum bodied cars for more coal capacity on the unit trains. If I remember right, Progress Rail Service is one of the car shops located in Alliance, NE where the BNSF has a large diesel and car shop. These days the car shop side is for repairs to BNSF owned cars for the most part. I hope you find a better place to work besides Alliance...been there and its 65 miles from nowhere and nowhere isn't that large a town. There is another rail car shop in Bill, WY...almost zero population, but not a bad drive from Douglas, WY and the tax structure in WY would make it so you would never consider NE...no state income tax and the property taxes are low because of the mineral industry. Not to sound dismissive about the opportunities for welding on the railroad, but if you were to look into either signal or telecommunications you would stand a much better chance of being hired. Welding hiring is going to be a onesy-twosy affair whenever a current employees retires, but either of those other two crafts will have you lucky to make it out of the interview without being issued an employee number and a seniority date.Zero tolerance drug test using hair samples, no serious criminal record...if it matters.Last edited by WyoRoy; 01-03-2012 at 11:34 AM.Lincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by WyoRoyI'm not a RR welder, but have been with the RR for 33+ years and counting. Most welding done on the RR is now just switch points and switch frogs.  Build-up work and grinding, plus with only two varieties it will become monotonous. Most other welding jobs are now farmed out to private contractors. The thermite welds talked about in a previous post will in all likelihood be done by some gandy on the track gang instead of calling in a welder. Also, switch welding is becoming one of those high button shoes jobs as the RRs are going over to swing point frogs that won't need to be re-surfaced and profiled. Work will be seasonal and seniority districts can and usually are quite large...nothing like getting your paycheck and informed that you need to be two states over the morning after tomorrow.Finally, the steel in the rail and switches has a high manganese content. I know that a few years ago they had to deal with a number of law suits over manganese toxicity, but I'm not sure what the RRs have been able to do to mediate the effects.
Reply:........... and the rest of pics Attached Images
Reply:Originally Posted by WyoRoyNot to sound dismissive about the opportunities for welding on the railroad, but if you were to look into either signal or telecommunications you would stand a much better chance of being hired.
Reply:It is really cool to see!-AlexSears/Craftsman 230A Buzzy BoxSears/Craftsman 180A Buzzy BoxChicago Electric 80A InverterALL STICK...ALL THE TIME!I spent a lot of time with the square peg and round hole.
Reply:Thanks for the pictures LarryO! What hasn't been mentioned about the thermite process on ribbon rail is the allowance for expansion/shrinkage on those 1/4 mile sticks of rail. While it isn't much of a concern on the old style 40 ft. sticks, ribbon rail that can see seasonal temperature swings of 150 degrees, 100+ to -40 without wind chill locally, can present unique problems. Before each joint is shot and joined each section must either be stretched or bunched to allow for those temperature mood swings. Locally, the two man team responsible for the joint sign off the rail ends with their names, ambient temperature and either the plus or minus factor they used on the joint with a paint pen. Without the allowance the ribbon rail would either sun kink during the hot summer months or break during the cold winter months...not necessarily at the joint either. Years ago I can remember a miserable track foreman during a mid-blizzard rail repair have me cut off my locomotives, fly up on the rail break and slam on the emergency brakes to narrow the gap so his crew could install angle bars on the break to get the job done and they could head to the house to warm up...as the line was just starting to convert over to ribbon rail they might not have been 'up' on the calculations just yet.Lincoln PrecisionTig 275Miller 251Miller DialArc 250Bridgeport millHossfeld bender & diesLogan shaperJet 14 X 40 latheSouth Bend 9" 'C'Hypertherm 900Ellis 3000 band saw21"Royersford ExcelsiorTwo shops, still too many tools.
Reply:Just a question on my mind, has anyone here been a welder a railroad company (Amtrak, CSX, BNSF, ect.)? My father started in 1978 and still works for Amtrak today, but in a different position. It's the kind of job I'd like. The point is, how was your experience? Is it a job you would recommend? What was it like?-AlexStarted with the UPRR in 1980. Worked on extra gang 1806 in western Nebraska. Laying rail back then sucked. Been with TTX Co since 1988. If your interest in railcar work, then the jobs pretty cool. Inspecting and repairing the cars themselves. As far as welding, you have to pass the horz, vert, and overhead with 7018 1/8". Best part of that is you have time for a class. Older folks get help from current employees then they test. Railroad retirement is pretty hard to beat, esepecially if your married...
Reply:Most of the responses have dealt with M.O.W. welding. You may want to look at being a carman. Have a friend who did it for Progress Rail Services (not a railroad, but a company that repairs rolling stock) in western Nebraska. Did MIG on rolling stock. Mainly coal gondolas for the BNSF from the Powder River Div. I'm looking at doing the same thing once i get out of the USMCJust so you know...  To be an actual Carman, you need to work for a major railroad. Progress Rail Svs labors are scabs who just recently (couple years at most) were pushed like I was in 1994 to go union
Reply:I worked for a company that did maintenance welding for the railroads and I always enjoyed the work.  If there is a way to wreck, crack, shear, shatter, break, bend, jam or obliterate something, railroaders will find a way!  (Maybe it has something to do with the several hundred tons of mobile metal!)
Reply:Originally Posted by mb_welderI worked for a company that did maintenance welding for the railroads and I always enjoyed the work.  If there is a way to wreck, crack, shear, shatter, break, bend, jam or obliterate something, railroaders will find a way!  (Maybe it has something to do with the several hundred tons of mobile metal!)
Reply:Guess I shouldn't be so hard. Its job security