Train driver

A train driver, engine driver or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a person who drives a train. The driver is in charge of, and responsible for operating the engine, as well as the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all train handling. In American English, a hostler moves engines around train yards, but does not take them out on the normal tracks; the British English equivalent is a shunter.

"Railroad engineer" redirects here. For people who design railway infrastructure, see Railway engineering.
The cab of a New South Wales Xplorer diesel multiple unit
Inside the train driver's cab of a German ICE train
Female railway shunters, England, c. 1915–1920

Career progression

For many American railroads, the following career progression is typical: assistant conductor (brakeman), train conductor and finally the engineer. For many years the fireman was next in line to be an engineer but that classification has been eliminated. In the US, drivers are required to be certified and re-certified every two to three years.[1]

The traditional career progression in the United Kingdom (for steam locomotives) was engine cleaner, passed engine cleaner (i.e. passed assessment for fireman), fireman, passed fireman (i.e. passed assessment for driver), and driver.

In India, a driver starts as a diesel assistant (or electrical assistant for electric locomotives). They then get promoted on a scale: goods, passenger, mail express, and the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto express services.[2]

The United Kingdom based transport historian Christian Wolmar stated in October 2013 that train operators employed by the Rio Tinto Group to transport iron ore across the Australian outback were likely to be the highest-paid members of the occupation in the world at that time.[3]

Notable train drivers

See also

References
  1. "2003 CFR Title 49, Volume 4; Part 240: Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers". Code of Federal Regulations. United States National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  2. "Train Crew". FAQ: Railway Operations. Indian Railways Fan Club. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  3. Elisabeth Behrmann (3 October 2013). "Rio Replacing Train Drivers Paid Like U.S. Surgeons". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. Waterson, D.B. "Chifley, Joseph Benedict (Ben) (1885–1951)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  5. López, Carlos Andres (14 March 2017). "US' First Woman Train Engineer Speaks in Las Cruces". Las Cruces Sun-News. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-29.

Further reading
  • Huibregtse, Jon R. (2010). American Railroad Labor and the Genesis of the New Deal, 1919-1935. University Press of Florida.
  • Licht, Walter (1983). Working for the Railroad: The Organization of Work in the Nineteenth Century.
  • Orr, John W. (2001). Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949.
  • Tuck, Joseph Hugh (1977). Canadian Railways and the International Brotherhoods: Labour Organizations in the Railway Running Trades in Canada, 1865-1914 (Thesis). 37. Dissertation Abstracts International. p. 6681.

The following examine the role of the railroad engineer from 1890 to 1919, discussing qualifications for becoming an engineer and typical experiences on the job:

  • White, John H. Jr. (Fall–Winter 2003). "Oh, To Be a Locomotive Engineer, Part 1: Once It Was Every Boy's Ambition". Railroad History. 189: 12–33. JSTOR 43504848.
  • White, John H. Jr. (Spring–Summer 2004). "Oh, To Be a Locomotive Engineer, Part 2: More About the Lives of Eagle-Eyes Famous, Infamous, and Forgotten". Railroad History. 190: 56–77. JSTOR 43524273.

Media related to Railroad engineers at Wikimedia Commons

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