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Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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 Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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.”

Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$74,080
$65,480
Employment · BLS OEWS
42,710
12,460
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
52nd pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers
Median pay $74,080 $65,480
Employment 42,710 12,460
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.1%) About average (+1.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 3,100 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 Moderate · 52nd 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: Oral Expression, Public Safety and Security, Transportation, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Monitoring, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Near Vision, Far Vision, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Information Ordering, English Language, Operations Monitoring, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Operation and Control, Written Comprehension, Reaction Time, Reading Comprehension, Perceptual Speed, Visualization, Selective Attention, Control Precision, Auditory Attention.

Specific to Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

  • Speaking
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Written Expression
  • Category Flexibility
  • Education and Training
  • Law and Government
  • Writing
  • Active Learning

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

  • Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Response Orientation
  • Rate Control
  • Mechanical
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Visual Color Discrimination

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: Office suite software , Spreadsheet software , Electronic mail software , Expert system software .

Specific to Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

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 Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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. "Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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/railroad-conductors-and-yardmasters-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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/railroad-conductors-and-yardmasters-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-railroad-conductors-and-yardmasters-vs-railroad-brake-signal-and-switch-operators-and-locomotive-firers,
  title  = {Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters 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; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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/railroad-conductors-and-yardmasters-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.