How To Become A Railroad Operating Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a railroad operating engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a railroad operating engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.83 an hour? That's $39,170 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRailroad Operating EngineerUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,170

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.39%

Asian 1.92%

Black or African American 14.89%

Hispanic or Latino 10.07%

Unknown 4.62%

White 68.10%

Gender

female 1.89%

male 98.11%

Age - 47.5

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 - 47.5

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a railroad operating engineer

Explore railroad operating engineer education requirements

Most common railroad operating engineer degrees

Bachelor's

44.0 %

High School Diploma

24.0 %

Associate

16.0 %

Start to develop specific railroad operating engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Track Maintenance	55.20%
Switches	28.86%
Hand Signals	9.77%
Rail Cars	6.17%

Complete relevant railroad operating engineer training and internships

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

Research railroad operating engineer duties and responsibilities

Operate locomotives to transport freight.
Preform daily safety inspection of locomotive to ensure safe operations according to FRA and company policy.
Qualify on all NORAC rules and physical characteristics of the regional territory.

Prepare your railroad operating engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your railroad operating engineer 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 railroad operating engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable railroad operating engineer resume templates

Build a professional railroad operating engineer 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 railroad operating engineer resume.