Prototype Railroading: Engineer Students

So far, December has been surprisingly warm.  Montana has not lived up to its bitter cold reputation, which is just fine by me!  Recently, the BNSF has started training a lot of new engineers, and they plan to continue doing that.  Next year, the rumor is that Glendive will be having 20 more engineer classes.  As a result of all these new engineer students, some of the regular engineers do not have to actually run trains very often!  Of course, they still have to be in the cab to supervise their student, but usually they sit in the brakemen's chair and enjoy the ride, giving useful advice and pointers along the way.  Of course, as a Conductor, I have had the opportunity to work with some of these engineer students, and so far, I haven't been scared by any of them!

The engineer training program lasts about six months, and has a combination of classroom time and on the job training, similar to the conductor training program.  At the end, there are tests which must be passed in order to get the license.  The training starts out with several weeks of classroom training, which actually happens in Overland Park, Kansas, at a training center there, owned by the railroad.  Basically, they go over everything one needs to know about locomotives, train handling, and the theory behind railroading.  That training session involves people from all over the country.  After a few weeks in Kansas, everyone goes back to their terminals and starts with the on the job training.  Depending on their home terminal, they have to make a certain number of trips, doing different things.  Of course, this would vary, depending location.  In Glendive, engineer students mostly are required to make trips to Forsyth.  They also have to spend some time in the yard, working on the utility crew and the switch crew.  They also have to make a few trips on the helpers.  This gives them experience with another engineer in all the jobs based in Glendive before they have to run a train on their own.  After they have made the required trips, it is back to Overland Park for the test. They spend some time there for review and more classroom time, and then take all the required exams.  Once all the exams have all been passed, they get the engineer card.

Obviously, I have not been through the engineer program yet.  If the rumor about 20 classes in Glendive next year holds true, then I will go through the program next year.  I always bid on the classes, just in case I manage to get in to one.  The bids are awarded in seniority order, so once bids close, the person who has a bid in and has been around longest gets the class first.  From there, it goes down the list, in seniority order.  If no one puts in for the class, start forcing people into the class, again, starting at the top of the seniority roster.  Usually, they have plenty of people who want to be in the class, so forcing people is not necessary.  When bidding on classes, people can bid anywhere in their seniority district.  That means around here people can bid on engineer classes in Glendive, Forsyth, Mandan, Minot, Aberdeen, and Glasgow.  People usually try to get into the class at their home terminal, for obvious reasons.  If they get into a class outside their home terminal they are required to protect that terminal for three years.  Once they get done with class, they can mark to a job at their home terminal, but if they are not working as an engineer and their training location needs engineers, they can be called back there at any time in the next three years.  Some engineers in Glendive trained in Forsyth, and occasionally afterwards, they had to return to Forsyth to work for a short time, when Forsyth was in need of a few extra engineers.

I would like to get into a class in Glendive, for obvious reasons.  I would also take a class in Forsyth or Mandan, but I am not sure I would want to go much farther than that.  They will be having classes in Minot, Aberdeen, and probably Glasgow, but those are farther away.  While they are in the same seniority district, and I could easily mark up in Glendive as soon as I got out, I would not want to be tied to any of those places for the next three years if they need more engineers.  Forsyth and Mandan are closer, and on the same railroad line, which is why I would prefer to train in those places, if I could not get Glendive.  Of course, Glendive would be most preferred, as I am most familiar with the territory and it is home.