The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-12-01
Lure OF Rails
Described In US
Job Pamphlet
By CUSHMAN REYNOLDS

VI CFClI titbiC OOy wiz SAON
up to be a locomotive engineel
there are 999 whose first dreams o.
career found them up in the cal
highballing the Limited along ths
high iron.
Even the government recognizes
the lure of the rails. 1t knows thai
young men throughout the land are
wondering how to get jobs on them
Accordingly, the Dept of Labor''
Bureau of Labor Statistics has pub
lished a crackerjack pamphlet en-
titled Employment Outlook il
Railroad Occupations" You could
MT help reading it if you saw it
The cover is photo of a brakeman
hanging high on a box car to sig.
nal the engineer. Any male from
nine to ninety would have to looE
inside.
Of course, you don't get jot
railroading just by looking at 8
book. However, you can find out q
lot about your prospects. The mair
point is that rail employment is
expected to decline-not sharply
but enough to tighten the market
unless there is a major depression
What may keep this decline in
check for a bit is the union-forced
change-over from a 48-hour to a
40-hour week in the incorporating
crafts which went into effect Sept
/.
In fact, the rail unions say this
shorter week already has resulted
in extra hiring in the western
states. And they point out that
when men in the yard crafts get
the 40-hour week, there should be
more jobs in that end of railroad
work. Nevertheless, the long range
outlook is for decline in total
jobs.
The Bureau points to greater eff
ficiency in freight handling, in
creased use of the diesel locomo-
tive, and the inevitable decline in
passenger traffic as the trains keep
losing to buses, airplanes and pri-
vate automobiles. Nevertheless, the
analysts think that a
young man who wants to work for
a railroad stands a pretty good
chance-provided he can show a
high school diploma. They look at
the opportunities craft by craft.
Well do the same.
If you want to be a locomotive
forget about it for a
while. You have to be locomotive
fireman first and work up. You ap-
ply to the road foreman or the
nearest office of the Railroad Re-
tirement Board. Nearly $4,000 fire
men were working a year ago, and
IN a group that size a substantial
turnover cannot be avoided unless
times are terrible.
If you can pass the physical, in
rigid eye test, you may
be one of the 1000 or so hired by
the roads. (In 1916, about 7400
got jobs.) Then if you get by your
trial trips, you go on the extra
board, taking jobs as they come.
Eventually you get a regular run
Or job in the yard. ("Yard birds"
cad more regular home lives than
The men in road service.) You'll
make upward of $11 a day plus
overtime, or extra mileage pay.
(If your pay is calculated on mile
age, you may get special overtime
f you're on a slow train.) Unless
he unions win an extra helpers
Job for multiple unit diesels, job
prospects will decline with the
years.
Firemen get to be engineers by
putting in time and passing tests.
The first thing a fireman has to
know is how to run the locomotive
n case something happens to the
engineer. Maybe you can qualify
'or engineer in three or four years,
,ut it's as likely to take you 10 to
Is. And then you'll have to wait on
he extra board again until regu-
ar job turns. Nevertheless, the day
inally dawns when you're highball-
ng that streak of varnish, the
limited, down the main line. more
likely, you're pulling a string of
'reight cars, for 80 percent of rail
BUSINESS is freight; only one per-
ent is passenger. The balance is
nail, express, and the like.)
Being a locomotive engineer is
you dreamed it was
when you were kid, plus a res
possibility a kid couldn't know
bout. A locomotive is a big ma
hine, and you have lives as we'll
IS property to, worry about. You
ave to know your signals, your
chedules-and how long it takes
o bring your train to halt.
The rate of promotion to engine
r has slowed down, the govern
nent pamphlet observes, and will
ecline still further. But there will
lways be a turnover. If you get !
o be an engineer, you will make
rom about $13 day up, but the
ays may be few when you're on
he extra board.
There's lot to railroading be-
ides running the engine up front.
takes brakemen for freight
rains, trainmen for passenger