Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer Operate or monitor railroad track switches or locomotive instruments. May couple or uncouple rolling stock to make up or break up trains. Watch for and relay traffic signals. May inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and hand brakes. May watch for dragging equipment or obstacles on rights-of-way.
Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer is Also Know as
In different settings, Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer is titled as
- Brakeman
- Carman
- Fireman
- Locomotive Switch Operator
- Railroad Brakeman
- Railroad Switchman
- Terminal Carman
- Trainman
Education and Training of Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
- Bachelor in Railroad and Railway Transportation
- Associate Degree Courses in Railroad and Railway Transportation
- Masters Degree Courses in Railroad and Railway Transportation
Training Required for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer in different industries are
- Locomotive Engineers
- Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers
- Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
- Hoist and Winch Operators
- Rail Car Repairers
- Subway and Streetcar Operators
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
- Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
- Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation
- Crane and Tower Operators
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders
- Sailors and Marine Oilers
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
- Ship Engineers
What Do Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer do?
- Observe train signals along routes and verify their meanings for engineers.
- Signal locomotive engineers to start or stop trains when coupling or uncoupling cars, using hand signals, lanterns, or radio communication.
- Pull or push track switches to reroute cars.
- Observe signals from other crew members so that work activities can be coordinated.
- Monitor trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.
- Inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and handbrakes to ensure that they are securely fastened and functioning properly.
- Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
- Operate locomotives in emergency situations.
- Raise levers to couple and uncouple cars for makeup and breakup of trains.
- Climb ladders to tops of cars to set brakes.
- Receive oral or written instructions from yardmasters or yard conductors indicating track assignments and cars to be switched.
- Inspect locomotives to detect damaged or worn parts.
- Signal other workers to set brakes and to throw track switches when switching cars from trains to way stations.
- Check to see that trains are equipped with supplies such as fuel, water, and sand.
- Monitor oil, temperature, and pressure gauges on dashboards to determine if engines are operating safely and efficiently.
- Set flares, flags, lanterns, or torpedoes in front and at rear of trains during emergency stops to warn oncoming trains.
- Inspect tracks, cars, and engines for defects and to determine service needs, sending engines and cars for repairs as necessary.
- Start diesel engines to warm engines before runs.
- Make minor repairs to couplings, air hoses, and journal boxes, using hand tools.
- Connect air hoses to cars, using wrenches.
- Operate and drive locomotives, diesel switch engines, dinkey engines, flatcars, and railcars in train yards and at industrial sites.
- Refuel and lubricate engines.
- Ride atop cars that have been shunted, and turn handwheels to control speeds or stop cars at specified positions.
- Adjust controls to regulate air-conditioning, heating, and lighting on trains for comfort of passengers.
- Record numbers of cars available, numbers of cars sent to repair stations, and types of service needed.
- Provide passengers with assistance entering and exiting trains.
- Answer questions from passengers concerning train rules, stations, and timetable information.
- Conduct brake tests to determine the condition of brakes on trains.
Qualities of Good Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
- Accelerometers
- Air horns
- Air pressure gauges
- Automatic track switching systems
- Battery gauges
- Buffer stops
- Car pullers
- Circuit breakers
- Clamp-on ammeters
- Cut-off valves
- Derailers
- Desktop computers
- Diesel freight engines
- Diesel powered freight engines
- Diesel powered generators
- Diesel switch engines
- Diesel-electric freight engines
- Dinkey engines
- Dinky engines
- Dock boards
- Dry chemical fire extinguishers
- Dynamic braking systems
- Electric freight engines
- Electric powered freight engines
- Equipment couplers
- Freight car air brakes
- Gas turbine-electric freight engines
- Generator electrical control panels
- Ground throw switches
- Hand brakes
- Load current indicating meters
- Locomotive airbrakes
- Locomotive wheel chocks
- Manual rail switches
- Mobile radios
- Mobile scaffolding
- Oil pressure gauges
- Philips head screwdrivers
- Protective glasses
- Rail cargo cars
- Rail flaw detection machines
- Rail flaw detector cars
- Railroad track switches
- Reflective vests
- Remote control locomotives
- Safety air horns
- Safety gloves
- Signal flags
- Signal flares
- Signaling lanterns
- Specialty wrench sets
- Speed gauges
- Steam powered train engines
- Steam pressure gauges
- Steel toe boots
- Steel-toes boots
- Straight screwdrivers
- Switch handles
- Temperature gauges
- Track switches
- Track switching systems
Technology Skills required for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firer
- Electronic train management system software
- Electronic train management systems ETMS
- Route mapping software
- Time tracking software