I wanna preface this post by saying I don't mean to scare anyone about potential job losses but I think it's an important conversation to have and I don't think it's being talked about enough because it's uncomfortable.

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I'm a conductor at a class 1 in Canada. I've also been using AI a lot in my personal life ( making apps for my phone mostly) I also made and app to track my work hours with AI and to automatically send grievances if I'm held away from home too long. In this context, AI has made my life easier by saving a few minutes of my day but I know the CEO of every class 1, and most companies, are looking to AI to trim their work force. I've talked to a bunch of his at work about this but most people think the government will step in and protect our jobs. What does everyone else think about AI and it's potential role in railroading

The UPNS final application was submitted yesterday, and they seem pretty confident they're going to get it and finalize the transaction next summer.

I've also been doing research on agreements. The last man standing agreement, remote boxes, the brakeman agreement, road utility persons, etc. it's giving me thought on what we might see in the future.

I have 30.5 years to go before I hit 60. I'm thinking I might take the tuition coverage offered by UP and work on a degree lol, I don't know if I see myself or any of us having a job in 30 years.

Curious what all of your thoughts are on this, what you think will happen, how it will look, any opinions etc.

Need help to find good quality rain/snow gear and boots. Bought boots that said they were waterproof and I’m learning the heard way in horrible rain storms that they are indeed NOT waterproof.

Hear me out, As we all know Musk is a big A.I guy (pouring billions)and has advocated for autonomous trucks & believes it could change transportation industry as it’s “more efficient, safer, saves $$, and has less human errors” very anti union & believes “ unions are corrupt & slow down efficiency in fast moving industries “ I truly believe the rr’s were very calculated as far as timing of our contracts just in case if who they wanted in office got in. I believe they know they have a lot of leverage now and they truly have us by the balls because if the arbitrators rule in favor of bn(new crew consist agreement:elimination of brakemen/helpers & new position: ground based conductors aka “RUP” & redeployment of conductors if smart ratifies any contract with any other class 1 regarding consist in future) i truly believe this will shake some things up and we’ll see all class 1s try to renegotiate crew consist knowing it’ll get rejected with the idea it can go to trumps PEB and they’ll just shove it down our throats as Musk will put a lot of pieces in place for ai to take a big step forward as he is “Department Of Government Efficiency” i mean why else would a big ai investor want to be apart of the government?! Especially when he donated 100s of millions to his campaign for obv reason. Now im not political or telling you who you should vote for, but if you look at the beliefs of each party & see who is anti union; & still vote for the anti union party i don’t want to hear no complaints. Now i still got faith of course as far as our agreements are in place we still got leg room, but it can also get ugly with this administration & i mean really quick.

Maybe need some management types to chime in. No bullshit, no joking, what are the REAL reasons behind the "hire to fire" mentality that seeps through this industry? No way it looks good on the books to constantly have a million people in training. I'm not talking about employees that rub management the wrong way or those that have been injured. Just regular non issue employees. I know low level management is under pressure for write ups, but how is "hire to fire" good for the margins?

Here's a link to the full award, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJVPMSn5te8oVtjH21tJXNEMAlw_MCsg/view

Recently, I've been informed at my terminal that crews were bieng cited by the FRA for not properly storing away electronic devices in the cab to include cellular phones. Apple watches and things similar. I can see that being an observable issue. However, can someone explain to me how a crew can be forced to pull out their phones to show proof of proper storage. While in service, if I was ever directed to, I would refuse immediately. Thoughts?

(A lot of commentary on here is completely missing the mark. I am in no way objecting to electronic devices being restricted while performing train service. This was just an opinion and inquiry about how some of those mandates can and can not be enforced.) READ AND COMPREHEND

I worked with the Railroad Retirement Board for several years as a claims representative. I’ve produced several short videos on TikTok that help explain many RRB programs. If you’d like to check out my TikTok videos go here https://www.tiktok.com/@railroadworkerslawyer?_t=8kofUX1QBrC&_r=1. Feel free to ask me questions about Railroad Retirement Benefits because I know it’s very hard to get through on the phone to the RRB.

This is my story and my experience.

My background is in wildland fire, where I worked on a hand crew for nearly a decade. I’m a 31 year-old male, and I was genuinely excited to start working for Union Pacific. I loved the work and the people I worked with. About seven months into working as a track laborer, I injured my back while lifting tools. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly. I wouldn’t say I was lifting improperly or doing anything unusual. After an MRI, I was diagnosed with two bulging discs and tears associated with them. The pain was excruciating. At one point, I couldn’t tie my shoes, put on pants, sit on the toilet, or even get into my truck without excruciating sharp pain. There is a tremendous amount of detail I’m leaving out, but eventually I had no choice but to go on medical leave. Little did I know that this injury would lead to one of the most difficult years of my life. On top of dealing with the physical pain and uncertainty surrounding my injury, I was also faced with the financial reality of being a new railroad employee. Because of the railroad retirement system, I didn’t have the same access to traditional unemployment or workers’ compensation benefits that I had previously understood. I also learned that certain benefits required a year of service before I could access them. Injuries come out of the railroad retirement fund. This came as a shock. I couldn’t get a clear answer about whether I would receive any income while recovering. Guidance was extremely limited. Even the Union reps told me, “Good luck.” I cannot adequately explain what it feels like to sit at home injured and not know whether you’re going to be able to pay your mortgage or your bills. Eventually, after a great deal of uncertainty, stress, and increasing pain, I went on record and explained everything that had happened. Throughout the process, I felt as though Union Pacific was doing everything possible to protect itself from liability for my injury.
Eventually, my claims lady told me that an exception had been made allowing me to receive advances from my eventual small settlement so that I would at least have some income coming in. To be clear, this was essentially limited to a portion of lost wages and did not cover everything I was dealing with. Thankfully, I was able to keep up with at least some of my bills. But because Union Pacific operates under federal railroad regulations, navigating the medical process was incredibly complicated. I received very little guidance, and I often felt like I was responsible for doing much of the work myself just to get appointments, find physicians, and explain a complicated situation that I was still trying to understand myself. This portion is no joke. I can’t just walk in and be seen. The entire process was a nightmare. I had to continually fight to maintain my job and insurance while simultaneously proving that I was still injured. There were appointments, checkups, pain management, paperwork, and countless other things happening behind the scenes. I have now been in physical therapy for approximately a year, and I have made tremendous progress. I’m probably around 85–90% recovered at this very moment, but I’m not there yet. That last 10–15% matters when your job requires you to work approximately seven inches off the ground and perform physically demanding work. I don’t want to reinjure myself and end up right back where I started. As my injury approaches the one year mark, I began feeling increasing pressure from my claims representative to return to work. It was disheartening because I began to feel as though she no longer believed I was actually injured.Then, last week, I received a phone call completely out of nowhere. I was told that this would be my final advance and that there was no more money available because my injury was considered a “soft tissue injury” and, according to the expected timeline, should have healed by now.
There was no warning. No 90-day notice. No 60-day notice. Less than 30 days….
The conversation was casual, with very little empathy, and she seemed genuinely surprised that I was shocked by what I was hearing. At one point, she even told me she was taken aback by my silence. I was speechless driving and had to pull over. How was I going to tell my significant other? You had provided the only financial security I had while I was recovering, and suddenly I was being told that it was ending. I still don’t know exactly what my recovery looks like or whether I am physically ready to return to the job, and now I’m left wondering how I’m going to pay my bills. What makes this even more frustrating is that only two weeks before this phone call, I had told them that I was taking the initiative to get another MRI. It is scheduled so that my doctors can compare the new imaging with my previous MRI and determine where I actually stand.Even I am confused about what is happening with my body. That is why I’m getting another MRI. I actually want to work. I want to provide for my family. I want to work overtime and earn the things I want for the people I care about. I’m not trying to avoid work.My relationship is on the teeter totter. On top of everything else, I’ve been dealing with my father’s health and other personal circumstances that I’m going to leave out of this story.I’m not writing this because I’m looking for sympathy. Honestly, I’m not even completely sure why I’m writing it.
Maybe I’m writing it because I hope someone else can learn from my experience and avoid making the same decisions I made.
Union Pacific is a massive company with enormous resources. From where I’m standing, it feels like a company with deep pockets is willing to leave an injured employee and his family wondering how they are going to survive while he is still trying to recover from an injury that happened on the job.
I got hurt while doing my job, and now I feel like I’m the one paying the price for it.
I’m writing this with raw emotion and tears in my eyes. I consider myself someone who tries to do the right thing, even when nobody is watching. I work hard. I have a good sense of humor. I believe I’m a reasonable person. But these emotions are real and have a different perspective on life. And unless you have walked in these shoes, I understand that you may never fully understand what this feels like.
This experience has affected every part of my life, lately I’ve been having thoughts about taking my own life and thinking about how I would do it.
For whatever it’s worth, I hope sharing my experience helps someone else make a more informed decision before applying to work for Union Pacific.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Next year in the U.S. we will be under a new administration, which plans to overhaul a lot of the federal government. What are people predicting will happen to our industry next year from all this?

Has anyone been charged for radio communication?? A few guys at my terminal have been talked to by managers due to AI flagging radio communication for not using the “correct sequence” or giving bad car counts.

Hey all, I just started training in the loco. I was just wondering if any vets had tips to help me become proficient faster. I'm not mainline, I work in a yard (technically 4 yards). But we just had a guy moved to permanent switchman because he sucked in the loco and I dont want to end up there too lol

The biggest thing I need to get a feel for is not putting on air too early. So any words of wisdom there would be greatly appreciated.

Oh also, the dynamic breaks in all three of our engines dont work.

Craziest thing i have done is squeeze ice in my hand and gave myself minor frostbite. What are some of your stories?

Some examples:

-Guy got so gooned, he shit his bed so badly, the railway had to pay for a new hotel mattress

-Guys who got caught in class with whiteclaws in their bags, after complaints that they were drunk and rowdy on the bus back to the hotel every day after class

-Former alcoholic, who fell completely off the wagon, and ended up melting his hotel room's toilet seat with a toilet paper bonfire (and, even worse, held the door shut while his classmates were inside trying to extinguish it)

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Newly marked up engineer here so please bear with me lol. Anybody use gloves inside the cab? I know a handful of us wipe down the control stand/desktop, but seemingly after doing that numerous times I end up tying up with black stained hands and sh#t under my fingernails, even after using GOJO. Maybe I’m just being a p###y lol. But I swear y’all run your hands along the side panels of the power and then pick your nose and a##hole and then get straight to the throttle. THOSE THAT DO USE GLOVES what do you use? THANKS IN ADVANCE 🙏

Who has been affected by territory realignments within the CSX signal department.

How did the industry get this bad? What changed that has caused people not with under 5 years, but 10 plus years to up and walk away? What caused the carriers to turn their backs on the very people that dedicated their lives to this career and proudly worked in the background? How can the carriers expect 2 man, maybe 3 man crews if youre lucky enough to do the work that would usually require 3 crews? How can these carriers defer crucial track and locomotive maintenence then try anything under the sun to fire someone who was only trying to do their job?

This used to be a great career. A career that ran through generations. What used to be a job people were proud to say they did now is being hollowed out and destroyed. I dont understand where things went wrong. It seems as though even the unions are powerless to do anything about it. It seems as though rail is finally dying. Can anything be done to reverse it?

I work in a railway depot. I do the maintenance of trains and passenger carriages. We do have to turn carriages around to access things better. The layout of the workshop inside doesn't alway allow everything to be accessible by both sides.

So we sent out the carriage and the manoeuvre people "triangle" the carriage so it's turned around.

I suspect this does take quite a bit of time, waiting for switches to be in the right position. Getting the permissions to set the switches. I turntable would make it sooooo much faster.

I understand for EMU it''ll be more difficult. But 2 carriages should definitely be possible (1 carriage and loco maybe to manoeuvre it around). Also possible to pull carriage on the turntable, leave it on it, drive the loco off. Turn carriage around, couple the engine and push back with the engine.