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Bridge and Lock Tenders vs Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Bridge and Lock Tenders and Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Bridge and Lock Tenders Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$58,490
$65,480
Employment · BLS OEWS
2,720
12,460
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
0th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Bridge and Lock Tenders Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
Median pay $58,490 $65,480
Employment 2,720 12,460
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-3.3%) About average (+1.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 300 1,000
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 0th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 25th pct · 18% of tasks —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Public Safety and Security, English Language, Monitoring, Information Ordering, Near Vision, Selective Attention, Control Precision, Far Vision, Auditory Attention, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Judgment and Decision Making, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Perceptual Speed, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Reaction Time, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Reading Comprehension, Time Management, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Multilimb Coordination, Transportation.

Specific to Bridge and Lock Tenders

  • Speaking
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telecommunications
  • Education and Training
  • Writing
  • Service Orientation
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Category Flexibility

Specific to Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers

  • Manual Dexterity
  • Response Orientation
  • Rate Control
  • Mechanical
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Visualization

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software .

Specific to Bridge and Lock Tenders

Specific to Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Bridge and Lock Tenders or Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Bridge and Lock Tenders vs Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/bridge-and-lock-tenders-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Bridge and Lock Tenders vs Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/bridge-and-lock-tenders-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-bridge-and-lock-tenders-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers,
  title  = {Bridge and Lock Tenders vs Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/bridge-and-lock-tenders-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.