# Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers

> Operate or monitor railroad track switches or locomotive instruments. May couple or uncouple rolling stock to make up or break up trains. Watch for and relay traffic signals. May inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and hand brakes. May watch for dragging equipment or obstacles on rights-of-way.

- **SOC code:** 53-4022.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-4022-00
- **Also known as:** Brakeman, Locomotive Switch Operator, Railroad Switchman, Trainman, Carman, Fireman, Railroad Brakeman, Terminal Carman
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Observe train signals along routes and verify their meanings for engineers.
- Signal locomotive engineers to start or stop trains when coupling or uncoupling cars, using hand signals, lanterns, or radio communication.
- Operate and drive locomotives, diesel switch engines, dinkey engines, flatcars, and railcars in train yards and at industrial sites.
- Pull or push track switches to reroute cars.
- Observe signals from other crew members so that work activities can be coordinated.
- Monitor trains as they go around curves to detect dragging equipment and smoking journal boxes.
- Inspect couplings, air hoses, journal boxes, and handbrakes to ensure that they are securely fastened and functioning properly.
- Observe tracks from left sides of locomotives to detect obstructions on tracks.
- Operate locomotives in emergency situations.
- Raise levers to couple and uncouple cars for makeup and breakup of trains.
- Climb ladders to tops of cars to set brakes.
- Receive oral or written instructions from yardmasters or yard conductors indicating track assignments and cars to be switched.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Transportation _(knowledge)_
- Control Precision _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Far Vision _(ability)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Perceptual Speed _(ability)_
- Reaction Time _(ability)_
- Public Safety and Security _(knowledge)_
- Operations Monitoring _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Google Android _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Electronic train management system software
- Electronic train management systems ETMS
- Route mapping software
- Time tracking software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 14th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 28th percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 6th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 1.0% growth (About average); 1k annual openings; 11k → 11.1k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $65,480; 12,460 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-4022-00_