Some Assembly Required

"You know like an erector set or a box of Legos"

"So you are telling me you get paid to play with Legos?"

"Yea basically"



Two flood platform pieces and the stairs

This was a portion of a conversation I had with my teenaged son this week trying to explain to him the flood platforms we were putting together.  Now I will try and explain it to you.  A flood platform is just what it sounds like, a platform to keep our crossing house up off the ground in case of flooding.  It sits about 9' in the air and it does not come all in one piece.  You get a kit that pretty much resembles the adult version of an erector set, a box of bolts and washers and a bunch of different pieces for you to fit together.  It also comes with a vague set of directions that if followed will not get you quite where you need to go. 

The discussion

The platform itself comes in 2 pieces, there are uprights, cross supports, foundation screws and so on and it will go together as described in the directions, the rub comes when you try to set the house on the platform and run cable into it.  If you put the house on the platform as intended, you can not open the front door all the way, nor can you run the cable straight up into the house because there are I-beams and cross members in the way. So we had to get a little creative, slide the house back, cut the grating and rig up 4 aluminum pipes so the cables are not swaying in the breeze. 

So yea I pretty much get paid to play with the big kid version of Legos. 

You can't have a week on the railroad without seeing something strange and this week was no exception.  It was goat week this week here at CSX, it's kind of like shark week, only less teeth.  While setting some 707 boards in Lynchburg yard we ran across a family of goats just wandering down the tracks, Mama, Pappa and a few kids takin a stroll through the yard.  Papa was pretty friendly so we fed him some crackers and then shooed them off the tracks.  That same evening we pulled the boom truck into the hotel parking lot just as a girl came out of a room to get into a Jeep Rubicon.  She was carrying a red bundle all swaddled up like a furry baby.  I looked closer trying to figure out what kind of critter it was and of course, it was a goat.   I know goats are cool and all, but swaddling one up and traveling with it seemed a bit odd to me. 

 

What is it Like Working with a Bunch of Guys?

When I tell people that I work for a class one railroad, and that I do it in a construction capacity, I get a lot of different reactions.  Many people want to know “do you work with a bunch of guys?”  Yes I do, as a matter of fact, women represent only about 1% of the signalman for CSX, and that number probably isn’t much different for other class 1’s.  “What is it like to be the only girl?”  This is what everyone wants to know, be it from concern, disdain or just plain curiosity, they want to know what it is really like to hang out with a bunch of guys all day.  So below I have listed some differences and commonalities of being around guys all day.  

The Differences

Get used to poop - For some reason guys are fascinated with feces.  They describe it, discuss how they feel before and after, and sometimes even plan their next one! A strong stomach is sometimes required.

They talk about Girls, a lot - This isn’t like when I was 14, at a slumber party talking about that one particular guy I liked, and we all giggled and gossiped.  Men love women, all of them, all shapes, all sizes and all parts.  Every women we pass gets a once over, and we will probably drive around the block again just to check out the girl jogging without a bra on.  The first time one of the guys said “wow she has a sexy back” I said “Crap! Now I have to worry about what my back looks like?” He said “Nah, we like all parts”

They Spit! - Oh how I wish I could change this one, guys must have extra salivary glands or something because most of them spit, and many of them do it every 5 minutes. If they also chew tobacco then you can add bottles of chew spit left everywhere to the mix.  If you can’t tell this is the one I have the hardest time with.  Look at women, talk about poo but for the love of all things holy, please stop spitting everywhere!  

They tell Dirty Jokes - I don’t think this one is any big surprise, guys tell jokes about sex, it goes with the loving women thing.  If you don’t have a sense of humor, and a pretty dirty one at that, you probably should steer clear of working with a bunch of guys.  

The Commonalities

Guys Gossip - That’s right guys gossip, and many of them are worse then a bunch of old women in hair salon. I guess that’s why they have barbershops, so they can talk about us just like we talk about them.  Some of them are down right drama queens, worried about who is doing what, who is working where, what Jim said to Bob and so on.  

Guys have Feelings - I have no idea who started this myth, but guys do have feelings, and some days I think they are more sensitive than most women.  If you cheat on your guy, he is going to be hurt, if his Mama dies, he is going to be sad.  They may not react like most women, but they feel just as deeply as women.  If he finds out you cheated he may go get drunk or beat the guy up instead of keying your car, but he is still hurt.  You may not see him cry about his Mama, but he will.  

Guys are Afraid of the Dark - Ok not all guys, but some are and some are afraid of snakes, some are afraid of spiders, some are afraid of bugs, I think you get the picture.  Guys love to act all tough and make fun of a girl for squealing at a bug, but I have seen grown men that have served in the military do the same thing.  Don’t let them fool you, guys have phobias to.  

    Really guys are just people, I like some and I don’t like some.  Some of them are good to work with, some of them hide when the shovels come out.  Some of them are smart, some of them not so much.  Everyone has good traits and bad traits, we are all human.

My conductor class from 2008

Back to My Tools

 

     Last month the decision was made that I should go back to my tools, and I am not upset about it at all.  I missed getting dirty, I missed the camaraderie of being on a gang and most of all I missed building things.  I will not get into all the political BS that I know some of you reading this are hoping for. Sorry sunshine but the absolute biggest take away I have from my time in management is to focus on the positive, because the negative can easily consume your life.

     I really feel like I have been given a second chance.  When I was in management it was all life consuming, I worked ALL the time.  I went an entire month without even laying eyes on my horses or cooking my husband a meal.  That is not the life I want to live and I am so happy to have been given the chance to find a better balance.



First fish of the season!

     So the positive, I am back on an 8 on and 6 off schedule, so I have a little more time on my hands.  Of course me being me, I have quickly filled that time.  I have started taking a writing class, I found an old barn that needs to be taken down and I am waiting on permission to start recovering the wood.  I plan on riding more, writing more, cooking more, building more and enjoying the hell out of life more.  There are a lot of fish out there to catch and mountains to climb.

     My first week back was interesting, I had to drive the boom truck for the first time in 2 years and I was definitely a little rusty.  There was a little gear grinding going on and I did have to stop on a hill when I missed my downshift. It is coming back, but I could still use a little practice.

     I am on a crossing gang now and we have plenty of crossings on our schedule and each one requires a specific design so I shouldn't have much of a chance to get bored on this gang.  I am already pinking up the place with my pink tools, pink nails and pink phone charger but I made cupcakes so the guys can't get to upset with me.  In the future look for more posts with me in awkward and interesting positions.  If anyone has any questions they would like to ask, post them in the comments and I will try and answer them in future posts.


My pink phone charger in the work truck

5 Tips to get Hired on a Railroad

 

"How do I get on with the railroad"?  "I applied but I didn't even get an interview".

When I tell people where I work, one of these two things is usually the next thing out of their mouth. There isn't really some strange trick, nor do you have to be the brother of the president to get hired, but there are a few things that you can do to up your chances of getting a job with a railroad company.

There are a lot of different positions that major railroads offer, but most people are asking me about transportation, track or signal jobs.  Here are a few things you should know about these jobs before applying for them. Too often I see people get hired only to run the other way once the work actually begins. Railroading is not for everyone.  If you get called to an interview, the presenter will tell you this while also showing you all of the wonderful things that you will get if you are lucky enough to be chosen for the position.  Lets skip the cool video and smiling faces and get the bad stuff out of the way.

Railroading is 24/7/365

Time to go to work Timmy

If you don't want to work on your birthday, anniversary, Christmas, Easter etc., this job may not be for you.  In any one given year it is unlikely that you will have to work all of them, but you can bet that you will have to work some of them and you won't always know which ones.  If you work in transportation you do not get holidays. If you work in the track department and a train falls off the tracks on Christmas morning, open your gifts quick because you are going to work. If you work for the signal department and Gary the gate runner gets hit at a crossing on his way to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner, tell your family to save you some pumpkin pie because you are going to work.  This is how these jobs work, you will get called in the middle of the night, when you are at a movie, when you are just getting in the car to go on that long planned date with your spouse.  So if you are looking for a predictable 9-5 type job, this job probably isn't for you.

Come rain, snow, sleet or hail...

Drowned Rat

In case you haven't noticed, railroading is also a mostly outdoor job.  If it is raining, you will get wet.  If it is snowing you will get cold and wet.  While most of the time we do try and take the weather into consideration, trains have to run and they need track and signals to do it so if you are working in these types of positions, there will be days that you resemble a drowned rat.

It's dark out at night.
This fact doesn't seem to register with some people until they are standing in the middle of the national forest at 2am trying to find a broken knuckle.  There are places in this world where there isn't a lot of light pollution, and railroads run through these areas.  If you are afraid of the dark, this job probably isn't for you.

Night Grinder

If you read through those 3 paragraphs and still think you would like to work for the railroad here are 5 tips to get you started.

1. Double check your online application.  Many times someone who is qualified will slip through the cracks because they have forgotten to check a box somewhere on the online application.  Go back through and double check that you have completed each section, answered all of the questions and that the box you have checked, is the box you meant to check.

2. Brush up on your basic skills.  Most applications require you to complete a basic math and reading test before being hired. If you are like me and have forgotten most of the rules of dividing fractions you can go to a site like this one to get a little free practice before you take the test.  Yes, I know it is for kids, but anyone that has seen "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" knows that kids are better at this stuff than adults. 

3. Highlight outdoor or on call work on your resume.  As I said in the beginning of this post, this work is mostly outdoors and mostly on call.  If you have held positions in the past that have required you to work outdoors or on call make sure the person reading your resume can find that information easily.  Google even has a resume builder that can help you show off your skills. 

4. Discuss the job with your family.  The interviewer is going to ask you about this, he is a railroader and he knows that this job can be very tough on families.  Have a serious discussion with your family about how they will feel about you being gone a lot, on holidays and on short notice.  If you have already had this discussion with your family you can be confident when you discuss the topic with your interviewer.  Family issues are the number one reason people quit the railroad, showing your interviewer confidence in this area can be the difference between getting hired or not. 

5. What have you done for safety?  Safety is a big deal on the railroad, too many people get hurt or die doing these jobs, so you can bet that you will be asked this type of question.  Before you go to your interview think of ways that you have contributed to safety in your past positions and practice telling a short story about it to a family member or friend.

Good luck with your endeavors

The Dig From Hell

     I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I wanted to post about this particular dig and it has taken this long to get it done.  This is not a dig (no pun intended) on the crew working this job, this is just to illustrate what a giant pain in the hind parts this has been.
 
The task; dig a 6,000 foot trench and install power cable to replace a solar location.
     Sounds like a fairly easy job, grab the trencher and go to work, but that plan was not to be.  You see this location is solar for a reason, if it was that easy, there would already be power there.  No this location is on the edge of a mountain side, with a pretty good drop off into the Potomac.  To say that access is limited would be the understatement of the century. Add in that we were originally trying to do this in sub freezing weather and it all adds up to a 3 month dig. 
     After breaking some equipment, renting bigger equipment, taking a break to let the weather warm up and chipping back the side of the mountain, I am ecstatic to say that this job is finally done.   I need to thank the crew that worked on this, and the transportation department for working with us and giving us some great track time to get it done.

     I have a few more big digs coming up on another project and I am praying that I won't have anything nearly this exciting to talk about.  I have added a few pictures from the project for your viewing pleasure. 

Chipping back the mountainside

Dig man dig!

Follow Your GPS

Amelia Island, FL

         I hope everyone is enjoying their winter, or maybe you are more like me and are just praying for spring.  I titled this post "Follow Your GPS"  but it also could have been titled "I Really Need a Camera"  because in following my GPS I have seen some very interesting things, and only a few I have managed to get pictures of. 

       In my new role as a signal construction engineer, I drive.  A lot.  And I don't always know where I am going. I am often told to go survey one job or another, given a mile post or signal name, patted on the head and sent on my merry way.   Enter my handy, dandy GPS that is programmed with every mile post on the system.  This is a truly handy thing to have, but it doesn't always work as intended, or at least not how I intend it to work.  On occasion the GPS has told me things like "Turn left on road"  or "Navigate off road".  In both scenarios there is usually a corn field or a deer trail where it tells me to turn.  That leaves me driving around trying to find access to the right of way.  The bad part is I can usually see some railroad tracks they just right there!  Although there was the time I saw a back hoe, and a signal bridge and thought I found what I was looking for, only to find a crew of very confused NS signalman.  Ooppss wrong railroad.

      Even when you put in what sounds like a normal address, it does not always take you where you want to go.  For example, I punched in the address for the Days Inn in Bridgeport, WV and ended up on a single lane road in front of a lovely farm.  Honestly I would have gladly stayed at the farm, but it didn't look like they left the light on for me.  So I found a hill where I had 1 bar of signal and pulled over to call the Days Inn to get some real directions.  Judging from the number of cars doing U-turns on this road, I wasn't the only one with this problem. 

      So you really have to have a sense of adventure to do this job and blindly follow your GPS all over the countryside.  Sometimes it takes me down highways, sometimes back roads, the occasional dirt road and sometimes it is just confused and I am out in the middle of no where looking at one of those strange paper maps trying to figure out where to go.  The one thing I can always count on is that I will see something beautiful, strange, or otherwise interesting.  Although I hate the snow, some of the scenery it creates is amazing and I often find myself wishing for a better camera then the one on my phone.  Since it is currently the only option, I have included a few pictures that I have taken with my phone, and hopefully I will soon be the proud new owner of a digital camera, and can show you some of the other things I run across, you know, like the haunted mansion/campground. 

 Keyser, WV

Snownado

How To Kill A Truck

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Nothing if that is your choice and Happy all of the other things that I forgot. 

      I have been happily employed as a Signal Engineer for about 3 months now, it is challenging, interesting, and I like the people I work with very much.  The problem I seem to be having is keeping my work truck road worthy.  Now it isn't really a truck, it's a Chevy Tahoe, but still, it is a bigger than average vehicle.  One that say a deer could see before it SLAMMED into the drivers side door! 

      That is what happened the first week I had the truck.  I believe I had it for about 6 days.  There I was driving along and I see a deer standing on a high bank on the drivers side of the road.  I slowed down in case he ran out in front of me, but I guess I screwed up his timing, because he ran into the drivers side door, took out my drivers side mirror, used his little spike antlers to carve a scrape in my window, spun around hit the drivers side rear door, and got up and ran off.  So not only did I have to do an accident report 6 days into my new job, but I didn't get any venison out of it either.  This type of incident will also allow you to test your heart functions and your vocabulary, as your heart rate rapidly increases and some colorful language follows. 

     So I got the truck fixed while I was on vacation in November (see shameless brag photo below) and all was well, or so I thought.  Just before Christmas I was cruising up route 81 and dash lights start flashing and the engine starts making a god awful noise. Not good.  I pull into a Sheetz station and called the fleet service.  (A Sheetz station is a gas station + minimart + deli, kind a like a super WaWa for those of you in the northeast) 

     The shop got to it the day after Christmas and low and behold I needed a new engine, there is a piece on one of the lifters that tends to wear out, or so the man at the shop told me.  So in the span of 3 short months I have had to replace a door, a mirror and now an engine.  If this keeps up I am going to have a whole new truck in a year.  They have given me a Toyota 4 Runner to drive in the meantime, if I break this one I might be in trouble. 

     As I mentioned I also went on vacation in November, and we had a blast.  We went to a resort on the Estero Bay in Florida and I went on my first private fishing charter.  Oh so worth it! So here are my shameless brag pictures.  (I did catch the biggest fish!)