Dave Price's "Dream Job" on the Rails

Did you ever dream of driving trains when you were a kid?

"Early Show" Weather Anchor and Features Reporter Dave Price did.

Though Price grew up to do many transit-related things, such as becoming a licensed pilot, he still harbored a dream to ride the rails.

However in "The Early Show" "My Dream Job" series, Price finally got to live that dream aboard a locomotive in Seattle. Price began his route to becoming a freight train conductor at BNSF Railroad Training Center near Kansas City, Kan.

Harry Smith, the Ranch Hand
Julie Chen, Living the Dream
Erica Hill's Life on the Fast Track

After completing some training and doing some un-dreamlike jobs like mopping trains, he finally made his way to the helm of a 4,400 horsepower diesel-electric locomotive. His trip took him eastward through wheat fields, apple groves, mountains and rivers across Washington State.

To see his spectacular journey, click on the video below.

[jlf384]

I loved seeing this. My husband works for BNSF. He was conductor, and is now a dispatcher! Although they do have these amazing views of our beautiful country, one thing I can say is these Men and Women who work out there on the trains have to be away from their families, and its a lot of work. They work very hard to take care of their families. Im glad that Dave had the opportunity to see what it was like being on the train. :)

[CapeRRr]

And engineers and conductors aren't always men, as our local excursion railroad has had at least one woman conductor and two women engineers - who also started out "mopping trains."

[dadevans4x]

Do we really need to go there? Can't this just be a story about a weather guy who has always wanted to ride a train. YES women can do any job out there. YES women have had hard jobs. Yes women have struggled. But can you just let that go for five minutes please. Stop beating this dead horse and just enjoy this guy's "Dream Job"!

[daisywoman]

Hey, great report on a really good job. One problem, the reporter was calling the driver of the train a conductor. Wrong! the conductor oversees the train, but the DRIVER OF A TRAIN IS AN ENGINEER. My husband was an engineer for 33 years with Union Pacific railroad and loved it.

[KCNole]

Nice plug for the Kansas City, MO metro! The BNSF training center is located at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS, just southwest of KCMO.