All the ads are about like this one, they explain how awesome it is to move things by train, because it’s very efficient, etc. I get that, but now what am I supposed to do? Unless I run some sort of distribution network or something, I don’t get to decide whether I do my business by train, truck, boat, or what have you. So who are these ads targeted to, and what is their purpose? They just want the general population to know that trains are good?
Read your thread, InstallLSC. Looks like it’s a combination of branding, PR, and a little “marketing depts justifying their existence”. Sounds simple enough.
I think the train ad had more practical applications than the Boeing ad does. The number of people who make the purchasing decisions for firms that buy airplanes is probably quite small. But there are probably tens of thousands of people in the US who own small or medium-sized factories (I know one myself), and they have to decide how to ship the stuff they make from their factory to the wholesaler. I’d say this ad is — in part, at least — aimed at them.
As I understand it, quite strong. Union Pacific, for one, just reported a record quarter, and their stock (UNP) is doing well. They’re also running TV commercials.
Warren Buffett thinks railroads are a good bet. And women willing to put up with the old-boys atmosphere in railroading can advance quickly, as the head office seeks a little more diversity.
As for CSX, lots of nonconsumer companies advertise as a way of making their stock more attractive. They may hope traffic managers choosing freight routings think of them, rather than NS or CN. CSX may also want to be thought of warmly by the public because they want to build some project that might need public approval—though I can’t think of anything they’re involved in at the moment.
Trains run on a dedicated path and could easily be automated. Given that they have driverless cars now, I don’t see a great need for train engineers in the future.
Were both of those paragraphs a whoosh? Because if she’s a nerdly engineer specializing in railroads and rolling stock, versus a toot-toot railroad engineer, this would be a great time for her to get into the biz.
Once you get the thing moving, rolling it down a pair of rails is extremely energy efficient. A freight train can move largely under its own momentum with just a nudge to maintain speed.
Since he said once she graduates and the fact that train engineer is a blue-collar job that one works up to and is not entry-level, I am going to assume he means civil,mechanical, or electrical engineer.
I think that would be an excellent opportunity for her. The railroads went through years of hard times and didn’t hire many people. Now a large percentage of their workforce is nearing retirement so there will be lots of room for advancement. They tend to have great pay & benefits.
I often wondered about this type of commercial, until I realized that many other commercials are really targeting a very limited audience.
For instance, we see commercials for trans-oceanic business class airline service all the time. I know there are a lot of business travelers out there, plus a few rich people who can afford that level of service when traveling for pleasure. But compared with the total viewership of that channel at that time, how many of these potential customers are there? Not many, I’d think, least of all those who wouldn’t just as soon go online to decide where to book and then buy their tickets.
I’m a locomotive engineer for one of the 2 major railroads here in the northeast, I’m in the Transportation Department, I actually run the engines. I can assure you the future is very bright in this industry, even though it is almost never heard about.
All railroads are expanding their capacity, building bigger yards, adding second and third main tracks, lengthing and adding passing tracks. All of this work involves the Engineering Department, which sounds to me where your daughter would go.
Right now is a perfect time to get in, due to a perfect storm of new traffic , new government regulations, baby boomers retiring and more.
Automated trains work in certain types of controlled and closed situations, namley subway trains where the train consist never changes, or industries where the load never changes.
Computers can’t run 15,000+ ton freight trains at this point in time. That number is not a typeo, trains this heavy run every day. I’m not saying it could never be done, but it is at least 25-30 years away.
To continue on with the hijack, I am almost done with my BA in history at a top school in the country, you wouldn’t happen to be willing to pm me some links for jobs, would you?
Am I being wooshed? It’s not my intent to hijack the thread.
To answer the OP, the ads are PR type ads. Railroads were almost forgotten for a time, kind of seen and cursed when they were blocking your neighborhood crossing, but unsung in the vital role they play in the country’s riches. They tried to hide, so the public wouldn’t notice them and try to ban them outright.
Times have changed, and trains are now “green” so they are advertising
that . There are no downsides to doing so, in fact positive PR helps now whenever they try to reactivate an old line or expand yards.
It makes the NIMBY types think twice, and lessens red tape.
