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Locomotive Firers Go Back to List
Monitor locomotive instruments and watch for dragging equipment, obstacles on rights-of-way, and train signals during run. Watch for and relay traffic signals from yard workers to yard engineer in railroad yard.
 Tasks
 
  • Monitor oil, temperature, and pressure gauges on dashboards to determine if engines are operating safely and efficiently.
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  • Monitor trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.
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  • Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
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  • Observe train signals along routes and verify their meanings for engineers.
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  • Receive signals from workers in rear of train and relay that information to engineers.
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  • Signal other workers to set brakes and to throw track switches when switching cars from trains to way stations.
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  • Check to see that trains are equipped with supplies such as fuel, water, and sand.
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  • Inspect locomotives to detect damaged or worn parts.
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  • Operate locomotives in emergency situations.
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  • Start diesel engines to warm engines before runs.
  •  Skills
     
  • Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
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  • Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
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  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
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  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
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  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
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  • Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
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  • Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
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  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  •  Knowledge
     
  • Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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  • 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.
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  • Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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  • Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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  • Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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