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Signal and Track Switch Repairers

Install, inspect, test, maintain, or repair electric gate crossings, signals, signal equipment, track switches, section lines, or intercommunications systems within a railroad system.

What you’d do

  • Inspect and test operation, mechanical parts, and circuitry of gate crossings, signals, and signal equipment such as interlocks and hotbox detectors.
  • Inspect electrical units of railroad grade crossing gates and repair loose bolts and defective electrical connections and parts.
  • Test and repair track circuits.
  • Drive motor vehicles to job sites.
  • Install, inspect, maintain, and repair various railroad service equipment on the road or in the shop, including railroad signal systems.
  • Tighten loose bolts, using wrenches, and test circuits and connections by opening and closing gates.
  • Inspect switch-controlling mechanisms on trolley wires and in track beds, using hand tools and test equipment.
  • Replace defective wiring, broken lenses, or burned-out light bulbs.

Skills that matter

  • Troubleshooting
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Repairing
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Critical Thinking
  • Operations Monitoring

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Signal Inspector
  • Signal Maintainer
  • Signalman
  • Train Control Electronic Technician
  • Railroad Signal Maintainer
  • Signal and Communications Maintainer

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