Rail Transportation Personnel

Individuals who work for railroads that deliver freight and travelers to destinations throughout the country; or for subways and light-rail systems that transport passengers within metropolitan areas. Included are locomotive engineers who operate large trains carrying cargo and passengers between stations; rail yard engineers, dinkey operators and hostlers who drive switching or small dinkey engines within railroad yards, industrial plants, mines and quarries or construction projects; railroad conductors who coordinate the activities of freight and passenger train crews; yardmasters who coordinate activities of workers engaged in railroad traffic operations; railroad brake, signal and switch operators who perform a variety of activities such as operating track switches to route cars to different sections of the yard, signaling engineers, setting warning signals, or inspecting couplings, air hoses and handbrakes; subway operators who control trains that transport passengers throughout a city and its suburbs; and streetcar operators who drive electric-powered streetcars, trolleys or light-rail vehicles that are similar to streetcars that transport passengers in metropolitan areas.