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My job…..
Hmmmm…… I've often been asked what it's like to work on board a train and never really know how to answer. It's a life all it's own. I usually end up giving generalizations to explain it. “It's never boring”, “different”, “strange” just to name a few. It's like summonsing up life itself in a sentence or two. Really can't be done with any real substance. The same holds true for working out here. Because when you really stop and think about it, working out here is really a life all it's own. I spend as much time on a train as I do in my house.
What I do, for those of you who don't know already, is work on board a passenger train. I work the train from it's origin to it's finial destination. Depending on what area of the country I'm headed in, I'm gone from home anywhere from 2-3 days to 6 days and sometimes more if things go haywire. But usually I'm home as much as I'm gone. I've worked just about every long distance train in the system with the exception of a few based out of LA. My home crewbase is Chicago, the largest. At the moment I'm working the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland Oregon and back. A 6 day trip with 6 days off afterwards. This train will take you north out of Chicago through my home state of Wisconsin, up to Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota and along the Canadian border to the Great Northwest. Along the rout we go through the northern Rocky Mountains, through Glacier Park, the desert plains of the Pasco Washington area and finally to the most breathtaking part of our trip (in my opinion), the Columbia River Gorge. As we enter the Gorge it's void of vegetation, but as we make our way closer to Portland it becomes something close to a rain forest. Amazing to see.
I'm working a sleeping car (as apposed to a coach). A sleeping car is pretty much a hotel on wheels. I'm everything from the “chamber maid” to the “Manager” and everything in between. This car can hold up to 50 people with 44 beds. There's two levels with rooms on the upper as well as the lower level. This is the “Superlinner” equipment that generally travels west of the Mississippi River. A few routes east have Superlinner equipment but most train service east is the single level “Viewliner” equipment. This is due to the fact of the older, thereby lower bridges, tunnels and overpasses out east. The Superlinner equipment is just too tall to fit. Both sets of equipment are very similar with the exception of the second level on the Superlinner cars.
There's 4 different types of rooms, the “Economy Room” (the smallest room at 8' x 4'. Sleeps two in bunk bed style. No water facilities in the room), the “Family Room” (large room at 12' x 5' that will sleep 3 adults and two children), the “Handicap Room” (another large room that expands the entire with of the car at 12' x 6' that will sleep 2 the same as the Econ Rms), and finally the “Deluxe Bedroom” ( the highest priced rooms we offer. A large room with it's own sink, commode and shower. Room enough for 3 adults. The room is apx 10'x 6'. Buy the next room and the wall slides open doubling your space). I prefer working the sleeping car for two reasons. One being there's less people and the tips are better. Lol (Yes, they still do that.) With less people we can provide a better service, a more personal one if you will.
Most trains consists are the same. Normally there's 2 (or more) sleeping cars, at least 2 coach's, a diner and the lounge/observation/café car, or Bar car. These are the “Inner City” trains, or long haul trains I'm referring to. We also run what we call “Corridor” trains that are short distance trains. Car's on the Corridor trains vary and are staffed only with the “Operating Crew” (Conductors and Assistant Conductors) and maybe a bartender (who's part of the “On Board Service” [OBS] like myself). Being a short haul train and not traveling over night to reach their destination, Corridor trains consist of coaches. No sleeping cars.
The long distance trains are fully staffed. Usually 15 to 17 OBS personal. These are the chefs, waiters, and the car attendants. We work the train from it's starting point to it's finial destination and back putting in many a 18 hour day. The Operating Crews consisting of the Conductors and Engineers, usually work in 8 hour shifts, stepping on and off the train, being replaced by the next crew. Their hours of service are governed and can not exceed 12 hours a shift. After which they need a minimum of 8 hours “rest” before they can be called back to work. There's been many a trip where the Operating Crew goes “dead” meaning they worked the maximum hours allowed. Usually it's because of unforeseen circumstances that will cause us to become extremely late. What happens in this case is the train comes to a dead halt and a new crew must be brought out to the train. Which, depending on where the train is at that particular time, can become a fiasco in and or it's self. (Read “The Day I Made Conductor”)
The OBS members are off duty usually between the hours of midnight to 6am but that varies depending on what job or car your working. The food service people generally have set hours. A late train doesn't necessarily change meal times. However a late train will greatly effect my “Down time”, or off duty time, as well as the coach attendants. There are certain stops along every route that we need to be up for, regardless of the time or lateness. With a late train the coach attendant can usually sleep late the next day provided the train is still late. However a sleeping car attendant needs to be up at 5:30am regardless of the time they went to bed. Mornings are the busiest time for a sleeping car. Over sleeping will but you behind for the rest of the day. That's when the car starts to run you rather than the other way around. However much to my advantage it is to be up on time, there's still them days that we do over sleep. Usually these days start off with a cuss word. lol
Once the train has reached it's destination, we unload our passengers, finish up end of trip duties and head for the hotel. This is what drew most of the employees to a travel orientated line of work. The “layover”. Being in a new city and seeing the sights. Most layovers are overnight however some are “turnarounds” meaning you get there the same day you leave. The amount of time spent on a layover depends on the train schedule. Some are only 8 hours where others are 2 night affairs. The Portland layover is a 28 hour layover. Giving us plenty of time to get into all kinds of trouble. Lol
We report back to the train and set it up for the return trip. Once in Chicago your through for 6 days coming back out on the 7th.
That's dealing with the job aspect of train travel. The real challenging part is dealing with the people. There's all kinds out here…all kinds. We get them all sooner or later. Not only passengers but co-workers as well. You have to remember were working together for 6 days at a time, all sleeping in the dormitory car (with the exception of the sleeping car person who is with his car day and night). People have funny habits at times that drive others nuts. Lol It really is like any family setting. Some family's get along great, others are at eachothers troughts day and night. Some tigers eat their young. What can I say. Lol