A train driver is a person who operates a train, railcar, or other rail transport vehicle. The driver is in charge of and responsible for the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all train handling (also known as brake handling). Train drivers must follow specific guidelines to drive a train safely.[1]
Naming
British English terms for a train driver include engine driver, engineman, and locomotive driver. The term in North American English is railroad engineer,[2] but the simpler term engineer is more commonly used. Terms for a train driver in other English dialects include locomotive handler, locomotive engineer, locomotive operator, train operator, and motorman. In American English, a hostler (also known as a switcher) moves engines around rail yards, but does not take them out on the main line tracks; the British English equivalent is a shunter.
Career progression
For many American railroads, the following career progression is typical: assistant conductor (brakeman), train conductor, and finally the engineer. For many years, the fireman was next in line to be an engineer, but that classification has been eliminated. In the US, engineers are required to be certified and must then be re-certified every two to three years.[3]
The traditional career progression in the United Kingdom (for steam locomotives) was engine cleaner, passed engine cleaner (i.e., the employee has passed the assessment for fireman), fireman, passed fireman (i.e., passed the assessment for driver), and driver. Michael Reynolds, locomotive inspector of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, proposed a system of locomotive driving certificates to stimulate improvements in service and competence.[4] However, no such system was ever universally adopted by the railways of the UK.
In India, a driver starts as a diesel assistant (or electrical assistant for electric locomotives). They then get promoted on a scale: goods, passenger, mail express, and the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto express services.[5]
The British transport historian Christian Wolmar wrote in October 2013 that train operators employed by the Rio Tinto Group to transport iron ore across the Australian outback were likely to be the highest-paid members of the occupation in the world at that time.[6]
Orr, John W. (2001). Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904–1949.
Tuck, Joseph Hugh (1977). Canadian Railways and the International Brotherhoods: Labour Organizations in the Railway Running Trades in Canada, 1865–1914 (Thesis). Vol.37. Dissertation Abstracts International. p.6681.
The following examines the role of the railroad engineer from 1890 to 1919, discussing qualifications for becoming an engineer and typical experiences on the job:
White, John H. Jr. (Spring–Summer 2004). "Oh, To Be a Locomotive Engineer, Part 2: More About the Lives of Eagle-Eyes Famous, Infamous, and Forgotten". Railroad History. 190: 56–77. JSTOR43524273.
Wilson David C Forward! The Revolution in the Lives of the Footplatemen 1962–1996 Published by Suttons ISBN 0-7509-1144-1
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