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Signal and Track Switch Repairers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Install, inspect, test, maintain, or repair electric gate crossings, signals, signal equipment, track switches, section lines, or intercommunications systems within a railroad system.

Related: Electrical & Electronics Installers & Repairers, Transportation Equipment Electrical & Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, & Relay Electrical Power-Line Installers & Repairers Power Distributors & Dispatchers Rail Car Repairers

Industries: Transportation & Storage Government

Summary
Details

Replace defective wiring, broken lenses, or burned-out light bulbs.
Inspect electrical units of railroad grade crossing gates and repair loose bolts and defective electrical connections and parts.
Install, inspect, maintain, and repair various railroad service equipment on the road or in the shop, including railroad signal systems.
Tighten loose bolts, using wrenches, and test circuits and connections by opening and closing gates.
Inspect, maintain, and replace batteries as needed.
Record and report information about mileage or track inspected, repairs performed, and equipment requiring replacement.
Clean lenses of lamps with cloths and solvents.
Inspect switch-controlling mechanisms on trolley wires and in track beds, using hand tools and test equipment.
Tighten loose bolts, using wrenches, and test circuits and connections by opening and closing gates.
Install, inspect, maintain, and repair various railroad service equipment on the road or in the shop, including railroad signal systems.
Inspect electrical units of railroad grade crossing gates and repair loose bolts and defective electrical connections and parts.
Drive motor vehicles to job sites.
Test and repair track circuits.
Test and repair track circuits.
Lubricate moving parts on gate-crossing mechanisms and swinging signals.
Inspect and test operation, mechanical parts, and circuitry of gate crossings, signals, and signal equipment such as interlocks and hotbox detectors.
Inspect and test operation, mechanical parts, and circuitry of gate crossings, signals, and signal equipment such as interlocks and hotbox detectors.

Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.

Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
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.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

92080/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

44.27/hr

Currently Employed

340

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Self Control
Stress Tolerance
Integrity
Initiative

Adjustable wrenches
Ammeters
Articulating boom lift
Audio spectrum analyzer
Brush cutter
Closed circuit television CCTV system
Crimping pliers
Digital cameras
Forklifts
Frequency analyzers
Hammers
Inkjet fax machine
Inkjet printers
Lifts
Megohmmeters
Notebook computers
Oscilloscopes
Passive infrared sensor
Personal computers
Power drills
Power grinders
Rail joint gap gauge
Rail switching systems
Relay tester
Screwdrivers
Shovels
Slip joint pliers
Specialty wrenches
Stop watch
Voltage or current meters

Electronic mail software
Facilities management software
Industrial control software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Signal and Track Switch Repairers

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES