How To Become A Locomotive Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a locomotive mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a locomotive mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.19 an hour? That's $41,991 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 12,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreLocomotive MechanicUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $41,991

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.3

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.07%

Asian 2.48%

Black or African American 8.72%

Hispanic or Latino 15.24%

Unknown 5.02%

White 67.47%

Gender

female 3.78%

male 96.22%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

6.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.8

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a locomotive mechanic

Explore locomotive mechanic education requirements

Most common locomotive mechanic degrees

Associate

33.0 %

High School Diploma

31.8 %

Bachelor's

15.9 %

Start to develop specific locomotive mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Locomotives	27.71%
Hand Tools	14.37%
FRA	13.19%
DOT	12.51%
Torches	7.62%

Complete relevant locomotive mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New locomotive mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a locomotive mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real locomotive mechanic resumes.

Research locomotive mechanic duties and responsibilities

Provide routine maintenance, troubleshooting and repair to EMD and G.E.
Repair running gears: wheels, springs, hangers, and brake rigging traction motors.
weld with arc and mig welding.
Preform overhauls on EMD 12V645E diesel electric engines.

Prepare your locomotive mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your locomotive mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a locomotive mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable locomotive mechanic resume templates

Build a professional locomotive mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your locomotive mechanic resume.