That last day at work, when you cleanup & quit your work station , collect your personal stuff, return badges & keys, clock out for the last time & take leave from your work colleagues... when you leave the premises & enter a new chapter into your life.... awesome, my turn was 5 years ago...
Trainman asked for three step and got it. A lot of engineers don’t turn the generator field off. Good job mike. I’ve had cars move on me while hooking air. Scary feeling. Glad I’m retired. Enjoy yours sir. Well deserved
$12K/month? WTH? I only get $4400/month in RRB annuity! Was he in management and got a carrier sponsored officer's pension too? If I was married and my wife was 60 years of age the total would be $6400! How the heck does he get $12K?
Andrew LaRue i deeply apologize for the late response and i hope you were hired in. The advice would be to be on time for the session and listen to everything they're saying. As far as getting to work after you've been trained you go back to the yard you're assigned to and get trained and qualified for certain areas. Heck i go to Toledo sometimes i may run into you. I hope that helps some and once again i hope you were hired in.
Make sure you keep the targets off of your back, cause if you sneeze, in front of the wrong company official, you could be out of service, I'd also suggest that you establish a side business, you're making far too much money not to have money generated on the side!!!
I don't know you Mike,but the best on your retirement! I retired as a Locomotive Engineer with 37 years with the railroad two years ago..I don't miss it!
I'm proud of you sir. You proved like my mentor, that African-American people can do the job of a locomotive engineer. My mentor is retired too. Go out there and enjoy life. God blessed you to handle the task. May you be blessed in retirement.
Of course African Americans can drive a train........just as good as Mexican, Asian Indian or Anglo Saxon. What kind of remark was that..........Joe Biden?
Best wishes for a long and healthy retirement from a railfan and CSX shareholder. Thank you for all your work in guiding these trains safely and in sharing your experience of them!
Shame mate…., cheers for sharing your last trip..🙏🙏 Our dad drove GE U26C here in NZ🇳🇿.., I grew up going for cab rides.. from a 4-5 yrs ago.., spent weekends in rail yard n on main line.., I really miss him and “My Locos”… rip🌹 I just realised… I never got to see his last day… sad but smiling watching you vids…, the controls n sounds are exactly the same .. Except for that damn bell going all time😂👍🙏
My great uncle loved operating his huge 4-8-4 locomotive. He did not like to go on vacations.I never asked how he handled his retirement, but presume it may have been a sad time for him. (And his wife now having him around all the time!)
I had a great-step-uncle who was an engineer for (then) Southern Railways. The last time I saw him was in 1998 at my son's wedding. He passed away in 2001. A really nice guy.
I haven't watched your post-retirement videos yet, but I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for sharing your trips, I still have some catching up to do!
Just found this. Best wishes on your retirement, and future endeavors-enjoy! I'm a "Rail Rat", love trains, even love waving at Engineers. Took Amtrak's California Zephyr cross country-awesome!
Congrats on the retirement. I'm trying to get on NJ Transit. I would love to be on Conrail/CSX. I miss being in the old GP38-2 and GP40. Don't miss the B23-7. But the CW's were nice when Conrail rolled them. Heard they rolling 80MACs now. Or was. Been some years since I been near the tracks.
I hope your retirement is going well and enjoyable,, I retired 2016 an still have an afinity for the rail there is somethimg about operating the ol locomotive regardless of load tonnage length grade weather etc, ok thats enough from me
Sir you are true professional whom appears to enjoy his job. The RR seems to be shrouded with the strange of hostility and displeasure amongst employees. Seldom do you ever here employees saying if they love their jobs. It is like it is socially unacceptable for RR employees to express how much they like the job. This is the kind of video that RRs should allow be seen. That way locomotive engineers would possibly gain more respect from the general public.
If this was in 14 you ought to have a rocking chair nd a lawn mower well broken in by now. I wished I could've quit when I was an infant baby! GBWYall!
Say it ain't so. I just found your channel. Ohhh the agony. However, I do understand. You have earned a well deserved retirement. Relax, but stay busy. Maybe you'll do a video on retirement. In the mean time I'll look for someone else of your caliber to follow on the rails. Any suggestions? Best of good journeys to you. Bob
loganbaileysfunwithtrains Sorry, sir didn't hear that. Wow, that is so cool to retire from the railroad. I plan on do this in my career. Now, I'm a contractor for the rails. But, have been to a couple of interviews; Freight Conductor and such. I think being a conductor an obtaining a licence would be a nice to have. Just had an interview becoming a track labor... Excellence PAY, and good befits. Don't know when I will start. But, very excited to get started.... Do you have any railroad experience?, Do you now work in the rail? if so, Title? or have you retired already?
jsc507 ha ha no, I still have a few more years of high school before I start my career of railroading, I hope to get a job with Norfolk Southern, which I have looked into a little, want to become an engineer. only railroad experience I have is on a train simulator I bought which isn't like real railroading, but it does offer in cab views of the locomotives and controls with real world physics so it gives you an idea. be safe out on the rails, trains aren't forgiving to anyone or anything.
Toni Burnett it's not worth it. All or most class 1 railroads have there own training that you must attend. We had a guy that went there and still had to to company training. All training is paid training. But you'll have to start as a conductor and if you make it then down the road you'll get a chance to promote to engineer if you can pass that training.
Charles Stevenson it's different for every company but ours if you apply to take the engineers position and get selected then your tied to it. If you complete the training then your certified and licensed to run a locomotive. But if you fail then you get terminated.
John Wick So if I went to a school to learn about rules, regulations, etc and pass it will certify that I went for school training, but regardless to that, I will still have to do on the job training and pass before I am selected for that position?
Hey Mike through the years I had tried applying at Union Pacific and not for the position of train engineer but for just working on the tracks and trains themselves. Well I never got called not even for an interview though I've worked as a mechanic, a welder and on diesel engines. So I always got the impression they were a bunch of racist people that would discriminate against minorities or have a lot of nepotism going on because of what I had heard in the pass and because of them having the main corporate base/hub in Omaha Nebraska! I bet you were one of maybe every 100 train engineers that was a minority? 🤔
