Rail Car Repairers
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul railroad rolling stock, mine cars, or mass transit rail cars.
- Median pay
- $67,530
- Doing it now
- 20,100
- By 2035
- Up 2.6%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
1,600 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Repair or replace defective or worn parts such as bearings, pistons, and gears, using hand tools, torque wrenches, power tools, and welding equipment.
- Test units for operability before and after repairs.
- Record conditions of cars, and repair and maintenance work performed or to be performed.
- Remove locomotives, car mechanical units, or other components, using pneumatic hoists and jacks, pinch bars, hand tools, and cutting torches.
- Inspect components such as bearings, seals, gaskets, wheels, and coupler assemblies to determine if repairs are needed.
- Inspect the interior and exterior of rail cars coming into rail yards to identify defects and to determine the extent of wear and damage.
- Adjust repaired or replaced units as needed to ensure proper operation.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/TechniciansSee 2 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $67,530 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.