Any Amtrak OBS's on here?

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Apd

Apd

Train Attendant
Joined
Dec 21, 2012
Messages
18
Location
Ca
Are there any Amtrak Train Attendants on this forum that would be willing to answer some questions that I have? Thanks
 
Yes. There are. I am not one of them, and some may not want to be identified per se', but if you have a question, feel free to post it publicly here.

Or, perhaps, you will now get a private message from one if it needs to be asked off-line.
 
I have 2. I noticed CofNO left CHI at 4:03AM yesterday (1/9).

Did the station close at the scheduled 11:50PM?

Assuming the delay was caused by a lack of T&E personnel, were passengers allowed to board the train at a reasonable hour?
 
Thanks for the replies. If anyone would rather PM me that is fine as well.

1. How many hours a week do you work?

2. Are you on the clock the whole time you’re on the train?

3. Does Amtrak provide your meals while you’re working?

4. How many days on/off do you get usually?

5. Do they have safe long term parking at the stations for when you go into work or do you have to get dropped off at the station?

6. How close do you have to realistically live to the station? I know Amtrak says 2 hours but is that 2 hours driving distance, or 2 hours getting ready and then getting to work distance?

7. Do you have to pass a colorblind test?

I’m sure I’ll think of some more but that is it for now. Thanks, I really appreciate it.
 
Well to answer a few ..depends on what job you work .. ( coast starlight 4 days on 6 days off, sunset 6days on 6 days off, southwest chief 6 days on 5 days off and redi crew is 2 days off 5 days on ) extra board it's depends. You have to have correct vision, our meals are included but if you work the suferliners you will be pay a amount in your check according to your contract . You must live within a 2 hour call out and yes there a shuttle but most obs paid for parking and some commute via train ( I do )
 
Guestlsa said:
Well to answer a few ..depends on what job you work .. ( coast starlight 4 days on 6 days off, sunset 6days on 6 days off, southwest chief 6 days on 5 days off and redi crew is 2 days off 5 days on ) extra board it's depends. You have to have correct vision, our meals are included but if you work the suferliners you will be pay a amount in your check according to your contract . You must live within a 2 hour call out and yes there a shuttle but most obs paid for parking and some commute via train ( I do )
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Thank you very much for the reply! When you say correct vision, do you mean like in terms of sight or color vision? The reason I ask is because I'm colorblind. I wear glasses so my vision is perfect, but I can't pass a colorblind test to save my life. Also Do you know which crews are based out of Seattle? Thanks again I really appreciate it!
 
Well if you wear glasses let them know . The crew that works 7/8 is base of Seattle & they always hiring sa/ta .
 
Apd said:
Thanks for the replies. If anyone would rather PM me that is fine as well.

1. How many hours a week do you work?

2. Are you on the clock the whole time you’re on the train?

3. Does Amtrak provide your meals while you’re working?

4. How many days on/off do you get usually?

5. Do they have safe long term parking at the stations for when you go into work or do you have to get dropped off at the station?

6. How close do you have to realistically live to the station? I know Amtrak says 2 hours but is that 2 hours driving distance, or 2 hours getting ready and then getting to work distance?

7. Do you have to pass a colorblind test?

I’m sure I’ll think of some more but that is it for now. Thanks, I really appreciate it.
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1. OBS employees are paid more on a monthly basis than weekly. For example OT kicks in at over 180 hours for the month.

2. No. There is unpaid downtime on-board. Typically it's 9:30pm to 5:30am depending upon what assignment you are working. Also typically there may be several interruptions during downtime for late stops.

3. Yes. In the dining car when working a long-distance train and a per diem allowance when in an away location.

4. 2-6 days off is routine depending upon the job. Extra board employees typically have just 48 hours off between trips. On a regular job, depending upon location and the train you work, it is more days off.

5. You report to work at a crew base. There is plenty of parking at the locations I've seen.

6. 2 hours is about as far away as you would want to live while you are new and have to work the extra board. With a regular job on a long distance train you could live farther away.

7. Not that I'm aware of for OBS. For conductors and engineers colorblindness may be a problem.

Hope this helps.
 
I'm not OBS, however since SEA is a fairly major terminal station for Amtrak, there are a number of crews that would be based out of there. The Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and the Cascades would all have a crew base in SEA.

peter
 
How are crew bases determined? If it's all seniority like in the airlines, what tends to be the senior and junior basings?
 
The coast starlight is base out of LA but there been times where Seattle has work the job as LA had to work Seattle jobs. Each crew base does their own hiring . Right now New Orleans just hired a few and I sure LA will be in few months
 
Thank you very much everyone. I think it sounds like a good fit for me and I'm going to give it a shot. I really appreciate all of the help.
 
Crew base is determined by which one you originally applied to. If opportunities open up for transfer, that's possible, but it's not like the airlines where there are more or less desirable bases. L.A., Chicago, and NY are the bases which hire most frequently (and there are FAR more TandE crew bases than there are OBS).
 
crew said:
Crew base is determined by which one you originally applied to. If opportunities open up for transfer, that's possible, but it's not like the airlines where there are more or less desirable bases. L.A., Chicago, and NY are the bases which hire most frequently (and there are FAR more TandE crew bases than there are OBS).
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Thanks for the info. I would prefer Seattle so I'm going to wait until a spot opens up. Sounds like the crew bases are LA, Chicago, Seattle, NY, and Lorton VA for the auto train? Those are the only ones that I've seen come up in my research I've been doing.
 
There is also DC is crew base and Raliegh (sorry for typo) is crew base and Oakland and Boston is LSA crew only
 
I don't think I would enjoy the late night interruptions or the 5:30AM start time. I had to do some late night and early morning work at several remote sites recently and coming back to the home office schedule felt like heaven. I find that waking up to sun light and leaving work well before sunset is worth a lot to me, although it kind of precludes working for any major railroads. For those who don't mind the early hours or the late night interruptions more power to you.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
I don't think I would enjoy the late night interruptions or the 5:30AM start time. I had to do some late night and early morning work at several remote sites recently and coming back to the home office schedule felt like heaven. I find that waking up to sun light and leaving work well before sunset is worth a lot to me, although it kind of precludes working for any major railroads. For those who don't mind the early hours or the late night interruptions more power to you.
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You ought to try shift work. For a couple of years I was a Mission Controller (known there as an Ace) on the Cassini Saturn Orbiter project. The Ace works when the spacecraft is in view of a tracking station and scheduled. That means it could be anytime, literally. I worked shifts that started in the morning, afternoon, evening, graves. The shift would last as long as the track, 10-12 hours. I started work once at about 11:00PM on Saturday and didn't get off until Sunday morning at 11:30. On this shift I was the only one there at the project and the only one of about four people in the entire operation building (four windowless floors in a concrete building about 200 feet on a side.) This will truly mess up your circadian rhythms.
 
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