Honest questions here:
Is the title of "Engineer" a misnomer here? Does one need a background in classical engineering to be qualified to be an "engineer" on a train? You know, knowledge in energy transfer, propulsion, heat, pressure, force, etc.? If so, how does a conductor (glorified ticket taker?) find himself on a career path to engineer? What is it about being a conductor that prepares one with the study of engineering and physics to operate a train?
Or do the titles no longer have the meaning they did in the steam engine days?
-PJ
First, the conductor is NOT a ‘glorified ticket taker.’ The conductor is the senior employee on the train and is in charge of it. the fact that he or she collects tickets on a passenger train doesn’t change that.
As far as an engineer being an ‘engineer’ - equivalent terms might be ‘engineman’, train driver’, etc. Train engineers never had to have engineering backgrounds or degrees. They have always learned ‘on the job’, although these days, there are highly-sophisticated simulators that help them learn how to handle trains that are up to 2 MILES LONG.
As far as career path from conductor to engineer, all train service employees are required to learn and demonstrate proficiency with hundreds of pages of operating and safety rules, as do those of us in the design and engineering departments of railroads and consulting firms that do work for them.