Have Trains Influenced Your Career?

Yes. I added a 32+ year railroad career to support my hobby. That what I tell them when they ask how I can work all day in the industry, and then come home to play with trains.

Yeah, I imagine it did.  

My love for toy trains turned into a business that lasted 30 years for my wife and I.

Yes it did.  My love for trains influenced me into Civil Engineering with a focus on Rail design. I am now a 4th year at The Ohio State University and I couldn't be happier! 

Nope.

With the exception of having Burlington Northern and MoPac as customers in my territory of the computer company I worked for in the 1980's, I'm an outsider.

I did, however, influence me to volunteer at IRM during that time.

Rusty

This is an interesting quesiton but I imagine it's is very much chicken or the egg. 

I think in my case it was the other way around: my parents always told me at an early age I showed an inclination towards engineering -- including not just liking model trains (many more than just kids headed for engineering liked them) but especially tinkering with them: I remembering adding front and rear trucks to a 0-4-0 when I was maybe 10 to make it a 2-4-4, etc., experimenting with making my own strange rolling stock, etc.   

The opposite cases are also very interesting - why do people who do love toy trains all their life?  My middle son is an example, of my three boys, he is the one who most loved model trains.  Since age 2 and to this day he has no engineering or technical interest or apptitude - can't even do routine maintenance on this car.  He's now a newly minted attorney, looking to buy his first house, and making space for a nice train layout his second priority in choosinghis home (after adequate space for a bass boat!).  I have another son very much into mechanics and engineering who showed no great interest in trains as achild or now.

I have trains on display in my business and they are  always an ice-breaker.

It's certainly not unusual for a person with a lifelong interest in trains to seek employment in the field, especially if you pursue the right education for it. Straight out of college, I had my "dream job" with extensive travel and opportunities on a major railroad, for a while. But the railroads underwent massive downsizing in the 1980's and that cut me short on a "lifelong career".

A short stint with a western shortline turned sour when they rehired previous employees after an internal labor dispute, and I was out the door again. Then when major railroads started hiring again over the last 10 years or so, I was too old to be a prime choice, and I was no longer interested in a major geographic relocation. So now it's back to hobby-only status. I'd rather run my own railroad.

I started out with an interest in trains because I grew up next to the mainline of the New York Central. We had HO trains around the Christmas tree which turned into a permanent layout in the basement. And after 35 years out of the family, my dad's old 1933 Lionel train found its way back to me in 1998 and got me involved with O gauge.

My desire to enjoy this hobby to its fullest lead to my retirement at the ripe old age of forty-five. Since then it has been toy trains, my wife and the grandkids. 

I wanted to be an architect since age 12 and most of my career has been in architecture.  I spent all my childhood drawing trains.  I guess my recent consulting for 3rd Rail might count a little too. 

After wiring a few layouts in my teens, and trobleshooting them and others, I spent my career as an auto mechanic specializing in wiring problems. Its hard to believe how much of a boost it was.

   Ed

If you came out my front door of the house I grew up in and turned left you had the Boston and Maine Bedford Branch, Look to the right at the top of the street you had Arlington Fire Dept Headquarters station. Fire won the career battle and the trains/railroad won the hobby side.

Over the years I have been very lucky to run in to  fellow firefighters and cops who are huge rail fans & model railroaders, many of who are friends over 20 plus years.

Funny thing is how many Railroaders who a fire/police buffs.

Regards

No luck, although, with a recommendation from one of my grandfather's buddies, I

went for an interview at a railroad's shops.  I was fresh out of school and wearing

glasses...turned out the interviewer didn't like "college boys" or people wearing

glasses.  My grandfather was a master carpenter who put interiors in cabooses...

I can't remember what his buddy did for the railroad, but probably something in

the shops, too. My grandfather had been hired out of a crowd during the Depresson, by his interviewer, based on his physique as a sturdy farm boy. Didn't work for me. Hindsight says I should have promptly gone to the head office and put in a resume.

Instead, I spent years with the competition, involved with aircraft.

I got my first serious (Lionel) trains when I was 7 years old. According to my family, I understood instinctively how to wire them and make them all work properly.

Then I received a kid's electrical project toy, where the kid could takes bits of wire and make switches and buttons control lamps, buzzers, etc. I remember getting that on my 8th Christmas, and immersing myself totally.

After college, came the choice to be a school teacher ($5,000 per year) or a telephone man ($8,000 per year.)  30 years later, I retired from the phone company. Now, I have my own electrical and communications contracting business.

I took the (former) PRR / LIRR / Metro- North signal maintainer test after retirement, and aced the test. I told them that I live on Shelter Island and would accept a job at Riverhead or Southampton. After they got done laughing, they said that if I took the job I would be assigned to Jamaica, and if I worked about 40 more years, I MIGHT get transferred to the East end, but not to hold my breath. I would be around 95 years old at that point, so I had to turn down the job offer.

So, when there was a  time to choose a career path, electricity from the train set was involved in the decision. I have been very successful and content with my work, so far, thanks to Lionel trains.

As a result of my passion for railroading since a very early age, while in high school I decided to make railroading my career in some capacity. Since that time, I've been involved in the industry to varying degrees ranging from working on Conrail during my college days, to certification by the Academy of Advanced Traffic in the study and application of the Uniform Freight Classification, the rail industry's principal document governing freight transportation, to working directly with individual carriers in the capacity of shipper and receiver. Oh yeah, I even spent some time working in the repair department of a train store.

In summary, I guess it's safe to say my avocation has transformed itself into a vocation as well.

Bob     

Had trains as a kid and still have my first set headed by a 1946 Lionel 221. Later in life as a Legislative Budget Analyst I was in charge of Transportation.  I definately enjoyed my five years dealing with freight railroads and Amtrak. I  think the rail operators and lobbyists liked having someone who had some basic knowledge of trains after suffering with the usual highway oriented staff. Guess I'm in the "kinda" group. Still keep my hand is real trains as a Board Member of a rail historical society and activist in two passenger rail advocacy groups.

Tony

Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"

This is a very interesting thread so far, thanks guys!

Let's see...I have been staying up late playing trains. I get up early and play before work. I browse trains on the net at lunch. If only I could make money from it instead of spending it. I can't think of a way to capitalize on toy trains financially but it has done wonders for my stress and blood pressure. I would love to be able to do something train related for an income.  I have placed signs saying I'll buy your old trains in my retail shops fro over 30 years. Picked up a few but not as many as you would think. 

Most definitely and unequivocally YES!

My dad (was a lawyer) taught me the basics of electricity using our Marx trains to illustrate how an electrical switch (knife-type!) worked, how the different taps of our transformer made the train go slow or fast, and use a rheostat to further control the speed from any of the taps, and many other things electrical. He started showing me this when I was around four years old.

Shortly after, he made a circuit using relays so my older brother wouldn’t be able to crash his train onto mine at the one crossing we had. That was the first example of automation I saw.

By the time I was seven I  had my own (small) layout with switches (all knife-type) for lights and to control track blocks. I could also wire my friends trains, and make their accessories work. We did not have enough money to buy accessories (my dad was an excellent lawyer and highly respected, but he was rather ‘poor' money-wise) so I built many working accessories with my No. 7-1/2 Erector Set.

Eventually, I became a EE, and worked in industry designing machines (mechanical and electrical design) and eventually specialized in automation using microprocessor and computer controls. I was awarded nine patents in a short span, the promotions started, I got into management, and the real engineering fun started to dwindle. There isn't much time for hands-on engineering when you are a VP, General Manager, or President of a company.

I retired almost a year ago, but have continued doing small engineering projects and teaching, which is my favorite thing to do. Today my trains are my primary engineering occupation.

Yes, trains made me do it!

Alex

 My interest in model trains led to a job in the freight traffic dept of the Illinois Central RR.  I left after three years because being a clerk and shuffling papers all day was just too boring for a 25 year old.  Years later I was interviewing for a job as a technical writer.  I used my article in MR as part of my resume.  By chance I was being interviewed by the great, great, great.......etc grandson of the man who basically invented railroading as we know it back in the 1830s.  It helped that I could enumerate and discuss the accomplishments of his namesake 150 years before.  I got the job.    Odd-d

Well in the early to mid 90's I worked in one of the biggest mail order model railroad shops in the country. For the past 16 years, I've been a conductor for BNSF....... so yeah!

Yep I'm an electrician.

It did, from playing with my brother's Lionel 2026 train, (I eventually gave it back), to watching Rock Island trains pass Vigus, MO, baseball field when my Dad played semipro baseball back when I was probably 5 or 6.

I had enough O-27 track to run from one end of the house to the other in the attic. (Kinda warm in the summer!) 

Today I am in my 39th year on the Mopac/UP, 3 years as a switchmen the rest as a locomotive engineeer.

Dan

I guess i am different in that my interest in toy trains led me to a career in the museum field, rather than working on a real railroad. I volunteered at the Wilmington (NC) railroad Museum when I was in high school and college in the 80s, then started volunteering at the NC Transportation Museum in 1993 when I started my first permanent job. I accepted a position at the NCTM in 1996, and remained there for the next 15 years, moving up the a management position. I still live near this museum, and hope to continue to help the site out in the near future. 

I guess you could say that.  After two other interesting careers, I wound up as a partner in O Gauge Railroading  Not too shabby!

Ed Boyle

Yes. I was able to get a job with NS as a conductor. But after an off-duty car accident I am trying to find a new position with the company. I am however still an NS employee.

Bill

Trains haven't really given me a career, but they have given me something to use in my career. I am a school teacher who works with emotionally disturbed and autistic children. I use trains as a form of experiential learning. Some of you might remember last school year we built a helix layout in my classroom. The children (ages 6-10) measured, cut, screwed, wired the entire layout with help from me and a colleague. This taught a lot of things such as measurement, angles, safety, taking turns, sharing, working together, among other things. It was a great experience. This year we will model the layout. (Thank you again to the forum members who donated track and trains!!!!) Also every year we put up a layout in the school lobby. The work is all completed on that layout, but we still have to work together to set it up. 

The goal this summer/next school year is to build an outdoor layout in our school pond area. 

Just a small part of my career has been influenced by trains. I work as a park naturalist, conducting all sorts of programs on nature, local history and outdoor recreation. One of the more popular trips I run is one on the railroad history of our area, where I take a van-load of participants on a day-long tour of what remains of the various lines that once came through our area (including the Blue Comet!). I've also put together a powerpoint presentation on the same topic that I give to various organizations.

Because I loved Lionel trains at a very early age, this did not influence my choice of a career path directly. However, the skills in design and having a hobby that I was very much involved with that gave me great pleasure had a very strong positive influence on my progression in professional circles. I dare say I would not have gone as far as I did were it not for this influence.

I for one am very grateful to my Dad & Mom who started me out in this wonderful hobby of O-Gauge trains. They were truly wonderful people who have been a great influence in my life.

Yep! Formerly a volunteer brakeman at a tourist line and a CSX conductor. For the past ten years I've been a railcar fleet manager.

Yes.  When I was 7 years old I recieved a Lionel elctric train for Christmas.  I was instantly facinated at how this "invisible electricity" could remotely move an engine and how it would also make a lightbulb shine and a crossing gate to move.  I was so facinated that I took apart all my toys, trying to find out how electricity worked.  At a young age I went to the library and checked out books on electricity and eventally built all sorts of electromagnets and various circuits.  In high school I took an electronics class.  After graduating an stumbling through liberal arts programs for a few years, I realized that my one real interest was electricity and electronics, so I went through a 2 year associate program in electricity/electronics at the local community college and then a 31 year career as an electronics technician.

Yes, it did.  Although I'm riding a Cotton Belt SD-45T-2, I was working for the Santa Fe. We were switching it to EMD Los Angeles for final prep before it was delivered.  Later on I became Chief Clerk in the office.

CC

I was offered a job for the Reading RR way back but didn't take it.

From the moment I first saw the toy train Christmas displays, in 1949 at Wanamaker's department store downtown in Manhattan, I knew I wanted to be a honky-tonk musician and own a bicycle store for my day job.

Pete