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

What is a rail car 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 rail car mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.2 an hour? That's $48,265 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 17,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRail Car MechanicUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,265

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.75%

Asian 1.75%

Black or African American 5.47%

Hispanic or Latino 13.82%

Unknown 3.81%

White 74.40%

Gender

female 2.82%

male 97.18%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a rail car mechanic

Explore rail car mechanic education requirements

Most common rail car mechanic degrees

Associate

26.3 %

High School Diploma

26.3 %

Diploma

21.1 %

Start to develop specific rail car mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Mechanical Repairs	28.18%
Hand Tools	24.90%
Shop Equipment	23.25%
Torches	15.57%
HVAC	8.10%

Complete relevant rail car mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New rail car 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 rail car mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real rail car mechanic resumes.

Research rail car mechanic duties and responsibilities

Document repairs, modifications and inspections in accordance with FAA requirements on both paper and in an automate maintenance information database.
Change out turnbuckles and couplers.

Prepare your rail car mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your rail car 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 rail car 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 rail car mechanic resume templates

Build a professional rail car 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 rail car mechanic resume.