A railroad company in my local community has advertised for trainees, brakeman/conductor/engineer combined, to work on trains. The job is very dangerous, people do get killed, and the hours are highly irregular and all over the clock. This is not a job you do until retirement, as leaping onto, or leaping down from, a moving train is hard on the body.
My nephew always wanted to be a train engineer. He has applied for the position along with 6 other daring young men. Two have already failed the drug test!
I’ve always encouraged him to do what he loves as that is the best path to financial success. He used to be crazy about computers and it looked like he would go into IT. He has changed his mind and is looking at trains instead. OK. But I’ve encouraged him to acquire other skills, such as welding, machining, or keeping up with computer technology for that day when physically he can no long work trains.
My great grandfather died working for the railroad. My grandfather started working on the railroad at the age of 13 and retired after forty years. Some time after he was married, he got fairly regular routes and the time away from family was about two weeks at a time. Not an easy life but it was a good one and he enjoyed a long retirement after commandeering a small town in rural New England which he would pass through on the rail.
Trains will always be around. Fundamentally, rolling metal on metal is about as frictionless a means of transportation there is and won’t be outdone by any other means. The high tech will come to those wheels. I don’t think your nephew need to worry as long as he works hard and maintains his relationships.