Hi eveyone!!! Its been awhile since ive posted. I recently started my conductor training program. and I have to say HOLY S*** there is alot of stuff i need to know for my first major test its called the Hostler test. I am learning alot and my instructors are very good they help me out alot but i cant learn in class very well but when im in the yard it all makes cents HAHAHa. Ive been to 18th and Western yard, Eola east and West yard, and Cicero E,W Im very happy they chose me. This company really seems to want you to succeed in what you want to do. I was told after I graduate I will have the option to chose my home terminal I want to go to Eola but Im wondering If Cicero would be better because they can get more OT. But ive checked Eola jobs on the mainframe EM and they have some good jobs there but as a newbie i dont know how much time ill get. anyone have any suggestions? thanks alllaugh:
If I'm not mistaken, Cicero still has a "hog board". That means you bid on jobs daily. The caller calls in late morning and goes down the seniority roster asking each one what they want to work tomorrow. As a new guy,if you can even hold the extra board, you will get the jobs that are left, if any. Cicero used to get a lot of OT but I dont know that they get any more than any other terminal. I didn't get to pick my terminal, my class was assigned to Eola but for about my first year and a half I worked out of Cicero more than anywhere else. I live a heck of a lot closer to Cicero(actually I'm only about 3 miles from Corwith)than I do to Eola, but it was one heck of a lot better place to work AND once I got a tad of seniority I was able to hold some jobs regularly. I worked 2nd shift East Yard for quite some time. It had good days off and the work was pretty regular. The yardmasters were &S^^%! but most yardmasters are! I worked with a guy on an afternoon commuter train job on Super Bowl Sunday a bunch of years back. He was on the reserve board at Cicero and maybe worked once or twice a month and was happy enough at it(his wife had a good job) He was 17 deep on the extra board that night and was called for the job cuz he was the only one qualified on suburban service. That is what you'll be dealing with. Where you make the money is on the brakemans list or conductors list once you have enough seniority. Also you make more money on a REGULAR basis in suburban service than anywhere else. When I finally was set back up as an engineer, on the passenger extra list, it actually amounted to a pay cut for me since my trainmans job on #1232 was such a good payer. Your union chairman or griever should give you a booklet or sheet showing you the pay scales for the various jobs you'll be qualified for. I believe all the commuter jobs(with 1 or 2 exceptions) have overtime built into the job. Don't buy into the bull$**t that the older heads at Eola or Cicero will tell you that "you wont like suburban service". Its the best paying,best schedules and best work environment on the property. Take a good look at some of the conductors on the dinkies.Those are old men and they have held those jobs for a long time and most of them could handle freight trains better than 90% of the guys out there on them already! As I said, get the pay scales for the dinkies. Take a look at how some of those jobs pay! You may remember the story I told about the METRA conductor who worked the Elgin(Big Timber) line. At that time(2000-2001?) he was making 90K p/yr. That's how good that job paid. When he told me that, I mentioned that one would have to have beaucoup seniority to hold it. He said no, he had a lot of seniority but his brakeman had about 5 years sennie! He said nobody wants the job cuz its a "worker" . That is what #1232 was on the BNSF, a real worker, but it had a 5 hr respite and the day went quickly AND it paid well. Let me know the names of some of the guys you work with, I'd like to know who you had to put up with. I may still know a few of them. Have you ever worked with a man at Cicero whose nickname is "little man"? Good guy to work with! Take care and work safely. Let me know some more either on this board or b/c Take care Be safe! Charlie
Well good to hear! Now you know the joys of the MU2a Cut out cock ( always made me giggle sorry ) how to set up a unit for trail then to lead.( Did I cut the air out back there?)Glad to see you are liking it.
HI Hi eveyone, Well I had 3 days on the job doing the 201G at Eola and I learned how to cut cars, kick cars and use the switches. I had to follow along on the manifest to see what track we were going to. We were on the West side today took the lead down to 1 and moved up to kick on 9 through 3 it was cool just got to watch all around you when your doing the yard jobs. Next weeek I go on the 301G,and the 305G that should be fun looking forward to learning all that I can so I can pass my tests. Still dont understand how to tieup all the way but I trying to get it.talk to ya later got to go study. Thanks,
You didnt happen to have a UP mty coal train blast by you the other night did you? Passed a BNSF crew getting cars off the J siding to go to West Eola yard! If that was you I waved lol.
Ya know, it's funny! All the time I worked at Eola, I don't ever recall coming upon a train on the "J". To be sure, I've seen them, and made pick-ups at the interchange but dont know that I ever had a "meet". Charlie
You know Charlie when I was on the BNSF I saw J engines ONE time! Picking up the state line out of Eola. I never ever saw a train on their line.But that was back when 4 trains were it on the J as road trains. After talking to some of the old heads here they are as amazed as I am about the amount of trains we move now.Oh and we are adding 6 more "core trains" after Sep 1.Leithon sub is going to be burning!Oh and if your still in Eola Dscamaro have fun with the interchange! I think we have over 120 cars stuffed in there now. Charlie did you ever see that many cars there lol.
You could call the office in Homewood.But I think its only by online app here. Not sure. I know they are looking to hire more. Just got 15 FNG's here last week.
I think the most we ever picked up was about 2 dozen cars. We would bring in coal trains for the "J", but they would usually be on the running track and the "J" power would come down & get them.from the south end of the wye(actually the east lead into East Yard). The "J" carman would bring in the free standing air compressor and pump up the air into the train so that all the "J" crews would have to do is tie on and do a set & release & go. I think their carman would also hang a fred. Pulling the "J" was usually the last move of the night for the 3rd shift West Yard. If they were too busy(which was seldom) the West yard day job would get it. I remember one night I was helper on 3rd shift West Yard. The foreman was a guy who was normally a Galesburg guy but he would spend time on & off at Eola. The hogger was a guy with mebbe 20 years or so, one that everybody liked. We moved cars all over the property that night. We worked so fast we had cars moving on several tracks at once. We did crossovers, both ways!!!, We pulled the "J" as last move. The only other thing left for us to do would have been to switch the cars we brought down from the "J". If we did that, there would have been NOTHING for the day shift to do. We didn't even have anything come in from Cicero that we could switch! Got mebbe a little more than an hour early quit!
HI Hey everyone well, Training is going very well I was out in Rochelle and Mendota for a few days. When I was in Rochelle I was on the 476 job had had Larry as the engineer and Dick as the Brakeman they were really cool learned some good info from them and we went to the Pit and to Flagg to PU and deliver. Mendota I was with Dale and Scott and Jeff they were awsome and we were on the 846 job it was fun. Our Hostler test got pushed back to week 7 so I have more time to study. And tonight I will be on the 8451 out of Eola. Im with Tom as engineer Terry as conductor and Ron as helper we went to western last night and took the power to the roundhouse in Cicero. drop it there and Vaned back to eola it was easy but kind of boring. got to go eat talk to ya later. :thumbs_up:
Which Tom was it that was the hogger? If it is Tom Bochenek, ask him if he still enjoys being #17. Tommy B and I were roomates in conductor training. We were also classmates in the "program" but didn't room together as we each had our own suite. It was this time of year that we were at JCCC in conductor training. Sunflowers everywhere!!!! If you do run into Tommy B. tell him to e-mail me or give me a phone call. Work safely Charlie
Always remember the steps for changing ends. Thats the biggest part of the hostler test. If you get time sit over there and look it over. Ask your hogger ( if hes a good guy and not a grouch) to show you or you walk it through and he tests you. I ythink youll do just fine!. Charlie we only dropped 4 cars off this last few days.I never got the pleasure of working eola except as passing by or doing that darn EOLGAL GAG!
