Hey, what am interesting topic. I worked construction during High School and College. Then decided I wanted to be an auto mechanic. Went through the G.M. training center in Kansas City (Chevrolet Division) and worked as a dealer technician for 2 1/2 years. Decided to finish my degree in education, what did I study - Auto mechanics! Taught Jr. Hi. school for 1 year in Tonganoxie, KS. when personal problems got in the way, chose to quit. Went to a Company called Track Work Services and learned to operate Railroad Resurfacing Equipment and made many miles of track smooth and straight . But that job was too many hours/day and too many days/week, all in motels! On to current job. I 've been teaching auto mechanics and industrial technology to high school students for 22 years in Valley Center, KS. as well as coaching tennis (other hobby). Most recently I started a business called The Train Doctor. I am the doctor and I repair N, HO, and G scales as well as install decoders and sound systems. Dean Schulz proprietor - Flint Hills & Western R.R.
I am a little late on this, but here it goes: I am a Material Expeditor in aircraft maintenance for Delta Airlines in Atlanta, Ga.. I have been here 14 years. Before this, I worked in retail management.
Just to let y'all know how long this thread has been running, since I made my original post, I have retired from education, traveled across the country east to west to south and back to northeast, and have taken up model railroading as a full time job!!!!! And, yes, it has been a very, very interesting thread! I look forward to future postings.
And a worthy calling it is- your Boss is the toughest of all, but also the kindest, most rewarding of all. BTW, I've read your church website- great reading! Appreciate the Pastor's comments, as well as your sermon notes. How's the work coming on the A&C, version 2?
hey buddy, First of all if you are wanting to get a job with the railroad and you a railfan BE CAREFULL!!! Now i am not saying dont follow your dreams all i am saying that is watching and working for the the railroad are two totally diffrent things. wWe have a saying where i work "let a railfan mark up on the extra board and sit 1st out for 5 days and he might change his mind". This job is like no other in the world you are on call 24/7 i aint seen my family any holidays this year and i am currently furgloughed. now that i ahve scared the crap out of you i will tell you the upsides. you have benifits, the best retirement in the country and lets face it you feel like a man when uyou are sitting at the controls of 12,000 plus horsepower pulling 16,000 tons over a %1.00 grade. brian made a good point if you are going to get in do it now because most of the railroads or csx i know for sure hasnt hired alot of people since the 1980's and in 5-10 years you are going to be sittin pretty its all about senoritymy friend good luck 570690
Boy, I remember replying to this thread when it first started a year and a half ago! How things have changed in that time... About four months after I first replied (April 2002), we moved from Alaska to Eastern Oregon due to my wife's job (she's a civil engineer with the US Forest Service). I had to give up my job, but we gained a much larger house (three times the size, for a mortgage only a little higher) and are much closer to family again. I've become a stay-at-home dad again, and sometimes it just drives me nuts! I've had a couple part-time jobs: working as an airport attendant (and weather observer again) but the pay is a fraction of what it was in Alaska, and doesn't cover childcare expenses, so I'm seldom available. I also worked as a 9-1-1 dispatcher for five months, before the stress became too much for me. Even in a small town... I'm currently starting a new career as a freelance grantwriter, and still have my hobby business (which was relocated to our basement in the move). I am trying to develop custom-painted On30 trains lettered for the Sumpter Valley, a narrow-gauge tourist line located about 50 miles northeast of here. I finally have the artwork ready, and I just have to start lettering engines and rolling stock. Maybe this week? I haven't kept up with all the responses made to this thread, but I wish all those looking for work the best of luck. Pat
Unemployed for 1 1/2 years. Got layed off from Waukesha Engines. They used to make all kinds of engines. Little as fours for forklifts to big enough to power small ships. Now only large stationary. I was a quality control technicial the last 8 years. Before that I was a machinst. Now I'm just over qualified.
I originally began working life as a storeman when I was 15. After various warehouse/logistics type roles I started in computers in '95. Had my own company and mainly contracted. Moved up to an I.T. Manager with a team of 7 for an insurance company. That ended in about 2001 and I have been at home ever since. I look after our kids (now 5 and 3ish) while my wife works full time. I do freelance web work (not enough yet) while at home as well. I also run a highly successful speedway (4 wheeled kind, dirt) forum site. I decided to get back into model railroading earlier this year and well, here I am. Once my web stuff takes off a bit more, the more $$$ I will have for my trains - the bonus being that I will have alot of time to build the railroad!
I guess I'll respond to this one since I haven't yet. Work for me began as a kid helping my grandfather out on the ranch. Anything and everything a boy could do he had me doing....including driving the truck while everyone else threw hay onto the trailer (after getting big enough to throw a bale of hay I figured out that I'd much rather be driving the truck). As I got older, I began working with my dad in residential construction. We did everything from finish work to remodel work to insurance claim repairs to building houses from the ground up. I did that through the summers during high school and I also delivered pizza some during high school.....all when not helping out on my granddad's ranch. Once I got to college (Texas A&M), I served a short time in prison....well, actually I was working as a checker at a grocery store but it seemed like prison tome. I did that for one year and then after I returned from home for the summer I started working for a local lumber yard. I began working in the yard pulling loads and eventually began driving trucks to deliver loads to the job sites. My degree was in Construction Science and since graduating I have been working for one of the largest commercial construction companies in the nation. My current project is the new international terminal at DFW Airport (a $1.2 billion project), at which I am currently responsible for the interior finish out work on the new Hyatt hotel being built on TOP of the new terminal. My previous assignments on this project have included the early civil work, the demolition (by implosion....COOL) of the existing (or at least it was before I got done with it) Hyatt hotel, bridges and roadways and the construction of a 108" underground tunnel to be used for storm drainage. I did a little bit of time on the new parking garage, but not too much. That brings it pretty well up to date. Recently I've been contemplating getting into the custom home building business, but I don't know if that will ever happen or not. On the side I enjoy playing with my 7 month old boy, driving my big diesel pickup and playing with trains. [ 10. December 2003, 15:36: Message edited by: Hoss ]
I have been teaching HVAC in one of the state of ct voc tech schools for 18 years, it is the best "part time" job i ever had!!!!!
Good Grief!!! This thread has been active for about 1.75 years, and this is the first time I've seen it. Can't figure out why I'm a retired California Highway Patrolman, still residing in northern California. I went into business for myself at retirement and now work from my home office where I reconstruct traffic accidents for insurance companies and attorneys. During the months of May thru October each year, I am fortunate enough to engineer a 1915 Baldwin 2-8-2 steam locomotive pulling an excursion train on the Yreka Western RR. I have 3 daughters and a son who have blessed me with 14 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren .. two more due by March of 2004. Guess the kids can't figure out where they come from
Ironhorseman and others, Is it not amazing. That young man had only 1.5 years of high school left when he started this string. I wonder were he is now. Hope he chose college. I jumped in last night out of bordom. Two others posted the day before. That's how I found it. I thought it was a great idea. I also chat some on the GWRRA site. That is because I ride a '86 Honda Goldwing Aspencade motorcycle. On that site we trade a lot about our personal lives and enjoy meeting each other. But then that interest invalves a lot of travel. It's nice to hear more about the people I'm chatting with. It makes me feel more welcome. I didn't include as much as some of you so here goes. I grew up on a farm and was at an early age involved with the business's of my very large family. I learned farming, house construction, blacksmithing, welldrilling, auto raceing, cabinet making, truckfarming, lumberjacking and, maybe what brings me here, steam traction engines (steam tractors). Happy Holidays to all Richard
Ditto. Like you, I also browse a few other sites where semi-personal information is often shared (only that site involves Dodge Ram diesel pickups instead of motorcycles). Makes it a little more fun when you know the folks you're talking to.
I arrived on this planet just down the road from where James Watt invented his(stationary) steam engine, at a time just before the Pearl Harbor catastrophe. So last week I took early retirement, (yipee), having ended up as an electronics test engineer working for a company headquartered in (guess where Hoss...) Lewisville, TX. Dave.
Isn't Texas Instruments headquarted in Lewisville, TX? My college room mate works for them in that area. I am a chemical engineer working for a major chemical company here on the Houston Ship Channel.
I'm an Engineer (not on the railroad) for an aerospace/defense contractor. I've been in this business since 1976, and business has always been fairly good. We seem to be one of the few businesses locally that has been hiring engineers (mostly software) for the past few years. I would recommend getting a degree - seems to be a lot of competiton for jobs out there - a degree could make a difference!
I believe you're thinking of Plano. Texasdon, I've got some in-laws down your way...and maybe some outlaws too. Most of my wife's family works in oil industry down there....one for Shell, one for Texaco I believe and one who is an independent consultant for off-shore drilling. Tell 'em I said hi, will ya?? [ 11. December 2003, 18:32: Message edited by: Hoss ]
I agree Justin...theres an amazing number of IT guys here. To live well in IT, or anything computer, does NOT involve knowing a programming language, neccesarily, but as with everything, the more you know, the more marketable you are. My work history? Education : Dropped out of high school before completing year 10 (out of 12...dunno what you call taht in the States) because we moved states. Got a job as a fitter and turner in the factory that makes 95% of the buttons used on clothing in this country. Boring, but paid ok. Relocated again, back to Victoria, and got a job as a storeman packer. Loved that job, at $1.90 an hour.... Moved on to be a telephone operator for the Telco here in aus and did that for 5 years before moving into Computers. 9 month training course, with an overall average pass mark of 97% saw me move forwards fairly quickly through operations roles into Operations Analysis and subsequently team elader (in charge of 60 staff). This all took about 5 years, bottom to top, then got 'trapped' by money in that role (shift allowances etc). After 14 years I'd simply had enough, so moved off shift to an Automation Analyst role. Resigned to travel around australia on a motorcycle, and 8 days later had a MAJOR accident in the outback. Air lifted out by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and into intensive care, then flown to Melbourne where I promptly booked myself out of hospital and spent 8 months flat on my back in bed.....money got a little short, so I finally found myself a new job contracting for Bendigo Bank as their Automation Analyst. Spent 2 years there, then moved back to the Telco as a contractor (doing the same job for twice the money...cool!). 2 years there, then onto a Utility company in Sydney for 8 months. Back to Bendigo Bank for 2 years, then took a sabbatical to visit my girlfriend in the US for 3 months. Back to Aus, and Bendigo Bank picked me up as a contractor again the day I landed. 2 years later (and with an imported American wife) I took a permanent position as the lead Technical Analyst with the bank. All of this, and a high school dropout. There is NO way you will ever do that in this day and age, no matter what you think of 'only in america'...Theres too many people, and its ultra competitive. "Dinosaurs" like me struggle to find jobs, believe it or not, because the money hungry management will take a guy striahgt out of college in preference to someone who has seen everything, and done everything....purely for cost. A college grad works for $25 an hour, but I wont get out of bed for anything under $65. Get your degree's....experience is only important once your IN the job...
