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Locomotive Engineers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Drive electric, diesel-electric, steam, or gas-turbine-electric locomotives to transport passengers or freight. Interpret train orders, electronic or manual signals, and railroad rules and regulations.

Related: Bus & Truck Mechanics & Diesel Engine Specialists Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, & Hostlers Railroad Brake, Signal, & Switch Operators & Locomotive Firers Railroad Conductors & Yardmasters Subway & Streetcar Operators

Industries: Transportation & Storage

Summary
Details

Monitor gauges or meters that measure speed, amperage, battery charge, or air pressure in brake lines or in main reservoirs.
Confer with conductors or traffic control center personnel via radiophones to issue or receive information concerning stops, delays, or oncoming trains.
Interpret train orders, signals, or railroad rules and regulations that govern the operation of locomotives.
Check to ensure that brake examination tests are conducted at shunting stations.
Inspect locomotives to verify adequate fuel, sand, water, or other supplies before each run or to check for mechanical problems.
Monitor train loading procedures to ensure that freight or rolling stock are loaded or unloaded without damage.
Receive starting signals from conductors and use controls such as throttles or air brakes to drive electric, diesel-electric, steam, or gas turbine-electric locomotives.
Observe tracks to detect obstructions.
Respond to emergency conditions or breakdowns, following applicable safety procedures and rules.
Inspect locomotives after runs to detect damaged or defective equipment.
Check to ensure that documentation, such as procedure manuals or logbooks, are in the driver's cab and available for staff use.
Receive starting signals from conductors and use controls such as throttles or air brakes to drive electric, diesel-electric, steam, or gas turbine-electric locomotives.
Call out train signals to assistants to verify meanings.
Operate locomotives to transport freight or passengers between stations or to assemble or disassemble trains within rail yards.
Prepare reports regarding any problems encountered, such as accidents, signaling problems, unscheduled stops, or delays.

Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

73410/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

35.29/hr

Currently Employed

780

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Self Control
Integrity
Cooperation
Stress Tolerance

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Adjustable wrenches
Claw hammer
Desktop computers
Diesel freight locomotives
Diesel passenger locomotives
Electric freight locomotives
Electric passenger locomotives
Personal computers
Radio frequency transmitters or receivers
Rail couplers
Rail switching systems
Screwdrivers
Socket sets
Steam engines
Tape measures
Thin client computers
Train braking systems
Two way radios
Vehicle horns

Expert system software
Route navigation software
Spreadsheet software
Time accounting software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Locomotive Engineers

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