As a "new hire" you will spend most of your time working nights and weekends. You will be on call. About the time you plan to do something, the Railroad will call. At first this will probably frustrate your wife and kids. But like everything else they will get used to it.

As you get established at a terminal, you will learn its cycles and will begin to tell about when and what you will work by how many times out you were when you tied up and how many trains and yard assignments the teminal has.