A non-operating employee. This broad category covers clerks, track maintainers, signalmen, dispatchers, and shop crafts. The distinction is heavily rooted in union representation and labor agreements, separating the operating crafts who run the trains from the support personnel who maintain the infrastructure and handle the administration.
Heard on the job
The union meeting got heated when the non-op guys felt their contract demands were being ignored.
Also heard as
- non-operating employee
Related terms
MOW
Maintenance of way: the department and crews that build and maintain track, bridges and roadbed.
Car knocker
A carman, the mechanical worker who inspects and repairs railcars and tests their brakes.
Trainman
An operating crew member responsible for switching cars, throwing switches, and handling freight.