I previously worked as an service attendant at Amtrak prior to my furlough. I have since hired out at a freight railroad. Anyway, here are some questions you need to ask yourself...
1) Are you prepared to spend several days away from home and family?
2) Are you willing to put in long hours with short rest periods?
3) Are you able to work with money and inventory (one of an LSA's primary responsiblities)?
4) Are you willing to relocate for an available job in the case of a furlough (laid off)?
5) Are you willing to be in "on-call" status (meaning work an extra board as a fill in for regular employees)?
6) Are you willing to cross train in other crafts which may be lower than LSA?
7) Are you able to handle the pressures on board the train which may mean a managment style decision (issues within OBS component on your assigned train)?
If you can answer yes to these (and many others I can't really think of right now), then LSA is a job you should be able to do. Go for it and apply.... LSA jobs tend pop up fairly regularly. Good luck....
OBS gone freight....
I think i can manage.
i am single and i don't really like my family, this will be a good excuse not to see them
2) "Are you willing to put in long hours with short rest periods?"
I am not sure. May i ask you how long the days are and how long the rest periods are? do u get lots of overtime?
5) Are you willing to be in "on-call" status (meaning work an extra board as a fill in for regular employees)?
do you mean i would have to fill in for someone else? would i be required to fill in? do i get a warning or do i have to drop everything and go to the station?
May i ask do you sleep on the train? or do they set you up in a hotel at some point in the trip? Also are there long breaks that you don't get paid for? i mean will you get stuck in some town for 3 days with no pay?
The rest i can totally handle.
To answer your first question.... as an LSA you will work an entire day in the dining car (as the in-charge waiter) for all meals in meal periods you are on the train. That means if you work out of say MIA crewbase in FL (we'll use that location as example) as an LSA on train #98 (NB Silver Meteor); your report time is 04:30 (4:30 AM) for a 06:50 departure on that train. The diner opens for breakfast shortly after departure (usually around FTL). The lounge car LSA opens shortly after departure of MIA. You serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner for that entire day. You get to bed in a sleeper car room supplied to you on the train around 22:30-23:00. As a lounge LSA you stay on duty till 24:00 then off to bed. You return to duty at 05:30 the next morning (05:00 for lounge LSA) to serve breakfast (which is scheduled), and then any further meals that must be served if the train is running late where meal service is warranted. You then go to the hotel after you remit your money and your inventory for your rest over night (when the train gets there on time you have time to do a little in NYC on this route). The next day you report at 07:30 for the van ride out to the yards with the rest of your crew to board train #91 (SB Silver Star). You perform your duties as an LSA in regard to your inventory, manifests, etc. and depart for NYP station (your originating point) where you pick up your first passngers. The lounge car LSA opens their car as soon as the conductor collects tickets after NWK somewhere between there and TRE (both in NJ). The dining car LSA opens the diner for lunch at 11:30 whereas you serve that meal and dinner then go to bed around 22:30. Wake up the same as NB, you serve breakfast and an extended lunch (dinner if train is real late) on your fourth day home to MIA. You remit your money and inventory and leave for home. The trip takes four days in its entirety, two up and two back on this particular job.
I'll answer your questions about rest time the best I can....
For your rest period on the train, you are entitled no less than four hours of continuous rest in a sleeper car room by union contract, otherwise you must be paid continuous time. On this particular job, at the hotel in NYC from the time the train gets in till 07:30 on your third day (first day to leave back South). That means if you get in twelve hours or more late (doesn't happen often but it does), your report time is still 07:30 in the hotel lobby for the ride to the yards. I had at least a couple trips where I was so late I barely got some rest in NYC!!
Back at MIA, you take the days off as indicated in your job if you have enough seniority to hold a regular. Most of the LSA jobs out of MIA have four days of rest at MIA (the home crewbase for Silver Service OBS dept LSAs)
Now the extra board on the other hand is a completly different story. If you don't have seniority to hold a bulletined LSA job, then you are on the guaranteed extra board. That means you are paid a monthly guarantee whether you work or not providing you follow the union/company agreed guidlines in the contract regarding the extra board. On the extra board (use the example above to help you) when you return from your trip, you call in and mark up for duty. Crew management informs you of the time you must be by your phone or they will advise you of your next active call period or call in time! During the call period you must be by your phone and within two hours of the crewbase, ready to report to work within that two hours after the call. Sometimes they will give you more leeway, but sometimes it is short, but the union contract says two hours! Also after returning from a four day trip, they only allow you 48 hours of undisturbed rest at home. That sometimes is less than two days depending when you actually got home from your trip. But when it is slow and nobody is marking off for vacations, sickness, etc, then you can be home for days on end. As long as you don't break your guarantee, you still get paid for what you don't work up to 150 hours for the month! If you break your pay guarantee then younonly get paid for what you worked (I was always able to hustle and get my hours the few times I broke my guarantee)! I actually liked the extra board myself as it worked out more often to getting a weekend day off on occassion more so than a regular job did. I also managed to be home a couple of holidays, but nothing is ever guaranteed in this industry!
Keep the above in mind now.... these Eastern trains are shorter runs than those Western and MidWestern runs minus the City of New Orleans. So it is possible to work an LSA job on the "SouthWest Chief" Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago (CHI) and the return trip! That means six days on the road and 48 hours off in LAX if you are on the extra board if it is turning quickly! If you have a regular bulletined job, then you have better time off with several days in between trips.
As far as long breaks are concerned on the train, maybe as a train attendant or service attendant (reg waiter) you might get a few minutes to snooze here and there, but as an LSA there is no time during the day as you're very busy.
As far as being stuck out of town on the train, your are being paid until you reach your destination minus your downtime. If off the train at your turning around point (such as NYC was for me) they must pay you your meal allowance while your gone, and your guarantee will cover the hours out as long as you haven't broken it in violation of union/company contract during that particular month. And you'll still be on the clock for the trip home unless they fly you or bus you home. I was stuck in NYC twice during my career at Amtrak. They flew me home one time and the other time I worked home after spending seven days there in NYC (that time was when the Silver Service was shut down due to Hurrican Jeane in 2004)!
In closing..... the fact you are single, don't mind being away from the family, and quote "the rest you can handle" .... you need to go for it! It will be a good job with the right attitude. I was furloughed in 2005 (I didn't want to go back to MIA as I moved from there) so I hired on with a freight railroad. And that's where I am at. I miss Amtrak a little, but I like the arrangement now, to be honest with you!
Good luck with your venture, and if you have any other questions I'll be happy to answer them when I am able to do so.
OBS gone freight.....