74200 Railway yard and track maintenance workers

What this occupation covers

Railway yard workers regulate yard traffic, couple and uncouple trains and perform related yard activities. Railway track maintenance workers operate machines and equipment to lay, maintain and repair railway tracks. They are employed by railway transport companies.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 8 main duties for this code.

• Operate control panel switches from railway yard tower to set traffic signals and to activate train switches that regulate railway traffic in railway yards
• Operate car retarders, turntables and track switches to align locomotives and cars as required for coupling, uncoupling or servicing
• Switch cars according to instructions which indicate the location, disposition and number of cars
• Lubricate moving parts of railway cars and locomotives.
• Operate machines and equipment such as sleeper sliders, anchors, rail lifters, drag drills, drag diggers, rail saws and tie-bar cranes to lay, maintain, repair, and align railway tracks, to transfer, spread, level and tamp ballast around ties and rails and to clear snow from tracks
• Clean and make minor repairs to machines and equipment
• Patrol assigned track sections to identify and report damaged or broken track
• Perform other track maintenance duties as directed.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 8 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 72021 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
• 75211 Railway and motor transport labourers
• 73311 Railway conductors and brakemen/women
• 72023 Supervisors, railway transport operations

Excluded from this code

• Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews (See 72021 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews)
• Railway and motor transport labourers (See 75211 Railway and motor transport labourers)
• Railway conductors and brakemen/women (See 73311 Railway conductors and brakemen/women)
• Supervisors, railway transport operations (See 72023 Supervisors, railway transport operations)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

aligner-tamper operator - railway · anchor-applicator operator - railway · automatic anchor-applicator operator - railway · ballast regulator operator - railway · ballast-equalizer operator - railway · ballast-leveller operator - railway · car controller - railway · car retarder operator - railway yard · control tower operator - railway · coupler - railway yard · fitter tracks - railway · freight car distributor - railway yard · gandy dancer - railway · interlocking cabin switcher - railway yard · interlocking signal box switcher - railway yard · journal box greaser - railway yard · lag bolter operator - railway · locomotive attendant - railway yard · locomotive distributor - railway yard · locomotive engine servicer · locomotive maintenance attendant · locomotive servicer · machine operator - railway · maintenance of way employee - railway

Employment requirements

• Some secondary school education is usually required.
• Experience as a railway labourer is required.
• On-the-job training is provided.
• Railway yard workers require a Canadian Rail Operating Rules certificate.