I currently work as a signal technician for the Grand Trunk District of the Canadian National Railway system (Munster, Indiana to Battle Creek, Michigan by way of South Bend. Great Lakes Region, central United States.)
Before that, I was employed as a signalman for both CN and another big railroad called CSX. I managed to get my picture in the paper once showing yours truly hard at it.
http://www.suncommercial.com/articles/2003/04/08/news/top_story/topstory.txtBefore that, I worked as an electronics technician, software engineer and project manager in a variety of industries, including aerospace and medical devices.
My current responsibilities include repairing circuit boards and components used in railway traffic control systems ("traffic lights" for lack of a better term) and highway crossing warning systems. Anything I can't fix (or shouldn't due to liability concerns) I'm tasked with packaging up and returning to the vendors. And when there's a signal maintainer in trouble, I need to jump in my van and go help them. Haven't had any 3AM trouble calls yet, but I know they're imminent.
My previous employer had a list of job tasks posted on its web site for job-seekers to review. The signal craft position description is here:
http://www.csxt.com/employee/index.cfm?fuseaction=jobs.desc&i=5118I've done a few of these things myself. Anyone interested in learning more about careers in North American railroading is more than welcome to contact me off-list. I was a train buff (or railfan as they're known) long before I became interested in anime. So my job is like a dream come true.
I am actually required to stop work and watch the trains passing me to conduct a "roll by" inspection. Such agony!
Railroad Retirement is a pretty sweet deal too.
A less "textbook" definition of what the job is like follows. "Bonding" was always fun because of the sparks and molten metal.
But it was hell trying to do it on a rainy day--get the rail or the bond mold a little wet and the slag as likely as not would blow up in your face. Anyone who's ever had hot slag run down their glove, shirt or boot will know the exquisite pain of which I speak...
--me
Mark Engels
> Message: 14
> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 21:55:54 -0500
> From: "D.Gabe Gabriel" <signaling@railway.org>
> Subject: Whats a Signal Guy Do?
>
> I actually wrote this two years ago when asked elsewhere
> - posted now to
> give some insight to the lives of some typical signal
> guys...
> Gabe (a signal guy)
>
> So what does it take to be a signal guy?
>
> Although there are more signal guys working with shovels
> or meters than
> there are in offices, the field work is more complex to
> describe than
> the white collar jobs - so let's start with the office
> signal guy.
>
> This "office signal guy", may have come right out of
> college (usually,
> an electrical engineer) or have come from a field
> position, usually as a
> field signal guy with a high level of responsibility. In
> the office, he
> will learn first about the railway's rules and standards
> - the symbols,
> standards for types of equipment, circuitry, and
> interfaces - typical
> layouts. Then learn drafting (yes, people still do hand
> drafting), and
> how to use the CAD system (most US railroads use
> MicroStation, while US
> transit agencies tend to favor AutoCAD). Progressing
> through learning
> this and as the philosophy starts to make sense (after
> 2-3 years), now
> its time to learn to use the materials catalogs and labor
> rules to learn
> to do design and construction estimates. Finally, the
> process of signal
> block design will get taught, using whichever software
> may be at his
> disposal. Now that everything has fallen in to place,
> five to 10 years
> after getting started, he should have mastered the
> intricacies of
> circuit design for a wide variety of vital systems
> (interlockings,
> electric locks, automatic signals, grade crossings,
> movable bridges, the
> wide variety of equipment types and aspects that may be
> available) - if
> he's lucky (there are signal guys that never worked on
> other than a
> single type of system design even after 10-15 years). If
> the agency
> contracts some of this work out, he is now almost
> qualified to write
> design criteria and specifications so signal work can be
> out-sourced -
> only new thing to learn first is how to address
> liability, project
> controls, schedules, and how to integrate these to
> generate contracts to
> be able to effectively out-source the work - and of
> course, learning the
> standards for developing all of these. During this
> period, he
> established proficiency in PC skills, including the
> common programs such
> as Excel or Lotus, MS Word or WordPerfect, and the
> proprietary packages
> such as those produced by Harmon, US&S, Alstom, or
> Safetran to develop
> application software for their systems. If he has now
> reached a
> position of authority, he gets to exchange information
> regularly by
> participation in AREMA or IRSE, or even the more
> exclusive groups where
> only the highest level signal guys get to hear of the
> equipment problems
> or human errors that have crept up on other railways -
> things that
> future signal design will work toward preventing.
>
> The field signal guy either began as a trainee only
> recently out of
> college, or, was hired to begin at the lowest positions
> possible in the
> Signal Department. Most began work with a ballast fork
> and shovel in
> their hands. Then the learning begins...
> Learning to dig in cables, track wires, chiseling
> concrete to create a
> path for running new cables because the conduit has
> frozen the old
> cables in place...
> Learning to climb the 20 foot, then 45 foot, poles used
> to distribute
> power, or even line circuits - then to string and tie new
> line wire or
> cable along the poles.
> Learning to build forms to pour a new foundation for a
> cantilever
> signal, and learning to mix the concrete and do the
> pour...
> Learning to operate the equipment - the backhoe to dig in
> the pre-cast
> foundation; the articulated Ditch Witch to plow in a
> mile of cable in a
> single day; the "hog" to push the new cable conduit under
> a grade
> crossing; the chainsaw to clear polelines; the hi-rail
> vehicle, boom &
> auger truck... even getting the commercial drivers
> license (CDL) may be
> necessary, and semi-trailer licensing...
> Learning to properly install Cadweld bond wires, or the
> layout for
> switch bonding...
> Learning to cut and thread steel pipe for the airline,
> install PVC for
> the laterals...
> Learning the dozens of necessary rope hitches, splices,
> and reeving...
> Learning to make wire eyes in #6 wire, and terminate even
> the smallest
> stuff - and how to count cable conductors and memorizing
> color codes for
> the code system wiring...
>
> And the dirty work...
> Cleaning up a spill of hydraulic fluid for the yard
> retarders, then
> replacing the burst lines and getting the system working
> again.
> Climbing through the spider infested building crawlspace
> dragging a
> temporary cable that he is routing through.
> Struggling through the over-grown weeds and bushes along
> the
> right-of-way looking for the break in the cable on the
> poleline - using
> plenty of tick repellent first and hoping none that
> landed carried a
> disease.
>
> Two, three years go by, and he hasn't even learned what
> seems like
> signal stuff yet...
>
> Then the dreaded winter arrives, and learning to adjust
> alcohol drips
> and perform the most thankless (and cold) tasks at the
> interlockings,
> yards, and (the coldest place of all) drawbridges as the
> winter winds
> and snow wreak havoc with keeping the systems going.
> With the chance to work with a construction gang,
> maintenance gang, or
> signal maintainer, learning finally becomes more
> interesting - getting
> to understand why there are many dozens of different
> relay types, the
> importance of grounds (made ground to protect equipment,
> and
> unintentional grounding that can be deadly), the first
> real chance to
> understand the circuit plans, road diagrams, and typicals
> as he gets to
> apply them to the "real world". Then the introduction to
> troubleshooting... How to determine why the crossing XR
> is down, then
> how to locate the failed track circuit, then the problem
> of proving to a
> track foreman that he needs to replace a bad insulated
> joint. The
> problems start to become more interesting... a switch
> failure due to
> poor track maintenance... clearing the wrecked equipment
> at a grade
> crossing collision... shooting a ground... (maintainers
> "shoot trouble"
> to locate where the problem is).
>
> Finally, after a few years of what seems like abuse, the
> signal guy has
> learned enough to qualify as a gang signalman, or a
> signal maintainer,
> or more specialized position such as test maintainer.
> Relief at last.
> ...or so he had thought until beginning the Maintainer
> job! Now, the
> importance of the many things told in the past of what
> NOT to do make
> more sense, and take on a whole new meaning - the day
> that he, as a
> maintainer, gets "one of the new guys" as a helper, he
> tolerates the
> annoying questions and mistakes, remembering his in years
> past - and
> helps the new guy along...
>
> While the gang jobs can be called easy going (a foreman
> that takes the
> heat), every maintainer is responsible for a section or
> task, with no
> one else to count on to make day-to-day decisions...
> always being
> scrutinized by the supervisor and others that seemingly
> have no
> understanding of what is going on... an almost thankless
> job, but,
> often, mentally rewarding.
>
> Finally, the day comes when he has an opportunity to be
> promoted to a
> specialized semi-white collar field position, such as
> Supervisor,
> Project Engineer, Test Inspector, or similar jobs that
> requiring
> applying everything learned, and shouldering the
> responsibility for
> maintenance planning, project planning, installation, or
> cut-over
> testing. Now, he must learn to draft a project plan or
> test plan,
> recalling every mistake made in the past, every mistake
> ever heard of,
> or can imagine, and applying these to the plan to ensure
> that they are
> prevented. Budgets are at the top of his mind... arguing
> to get time,
> or money, or people, to get that "thing" fixed before it
> becomes more
> costly or creates new problems... Labor issues start to
> surface for the
> first time... the union probably looked more passive
> when he was a
> union member, rather than sitting at the other side of
> the table. And
> paperwork? Why does it seem sometimes that most of the
> day is spent
> doing paperwork or arguing on the phone... and not doing
> any "real
> work"?
>
> This field signal guy is now ready to make the change to
> become a Signal
> Engineer - and that takes us back where we started.
>
>
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