Best degree programs for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 1 schools train Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $68,840 median wage, 12,400 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 1 schools train railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers, graduating 87 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Railroad and Railway Transportation. The job pays a median of $68,840 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About 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.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 49.0208 | 87 | 100.0% | 1 | $42,812 | $7,572 |
Top 1 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnson County Community College Overland Park, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 87 | Railroad and Railway Transportation | 31% | — | — |
What railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansaslimited | $66,990 | 390 | 3.44× | 1 | 87 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
- 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.
Skills
- Monitoring3.5
- Critical Thinking3.3
- Active Listening3.3
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Speaking2.9
- Writing2.6
- Learning Strategies2.6
- Active Learning2.6
Knowledge areas
- Transportation3.9
- Public Safety and Security3.5
- Mechanical3.3
- English Language3.2
- Customer and Personal Service2.8
- Law and Government2.6
Abilities
- Near Vision3.8
- Control Precision3.8
- Oral Comprehension3.6
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.6
- Far Vision3.6
- Perceptual Speed3.5
Core activities
- Getting Information4.3
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.2
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.1
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.1
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.0
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Railroad Brake
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 49.0208Railroad and Railway Transportation
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Railroad Brake?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Railroad and Railway Transportation, which awarded 87 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Railroad Brake?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Ground Transportation. Together they graduate about 87 people a year.
How much do railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers earn?+
The median is $68,840 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $45,660 at the 10th percentile to $86,590 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Brakeman, Trainman, Railroad Switchman, Locomotive Switch Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 53-4022.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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