I am leaving a career as an aviation electrician after 23 years and have applied for a job as a diesel locomotive electrician with Union Pacific. I was notified about a skills test and was hoping to brush up a bit before the test. Which areas should I focus on studying? Also what can I expect on a day to day basis working in this field? And lastly, although I can troubleshoot and wire a jumbo liner in my sleep I don't have specific experience with large generators and motors. How will this affect me in the hiring process. Thanks in advance for any help.
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I apologize for not being able to give you specifics but from past experience I can guess it will not be anything specifically about locomotives, just general electrical principals. Railroads expect you to need training, as long as you are currently working in an electrical field, have good work record, and are drug free they will provide all the specific on the job training you need. Good Luck!
Well, two others have answered, and I consider their reputation to be good. I do not have railroad experience nor have I ever worked for the railroads. However, you did ask what you should brush up on, so I'll use my lay knowledge. Just realize, I could be completely in the weeds with this. Chief skill - Safety. Before anything else, railroads are very much into safety. Review anything you can find on high power high current safety procedures. Brush up on AC/DC/AC inverters. AC traction is replacing DC in locomotives now to some extent. (More on BNSF than UP) It isn't clear if this is a fad or a movement in some views, but I think it's a movement. I could be wrong. You will want to look at alternator technology (as opposed to generator but don't ignore that), you will want to brush up on your power thyristor theory, AC theory, and computer control skills (most loco's have PC's on board. It isn't entirely clear to me at this remove how much of that is simply reporting (I suspect a great deal) versus control (I suspect very little - as evidenced that a loco will keep going even if the computer is totally trashed.) Study power factor and correcting it. (This is more a design issue than maintenance, but you may want to know the basics on how that works so you can keep it working.) Know how to affect the speed of an AC motor (frequency, number of poles), vs. how to affect the speed of a DC motor (voltage or current). Study back EMF and why that is important to a maintainer. (DC systems.) Again, I can be completely in the weeds here and giving you bogus tips. Use a search engine to look up Locomotive maintenance and the like. Final note: Railroads are death on any drug or alcohol use. (Rule G). If you use, don't bother. Some railroads will use hair snips, which will tell the tale more than 6 months back.
