Pluspunten
It's a union position---it's one of the best paying jobs you'll be able to find without a technical degree/Masters/PhD. Gratifying if you enjoy working outside or love trains (of course).
Minpunten
Schedule, Schedule, Schedule. 24 hr call schedules sound manageable until you're living with it day to day. It's exhausting/frustrating to answer all of life's questions with "I might have to work." It's difficult to plan anything in advance. This is not a career for somebody with young children or somebody who likes to ...have a life. You schedule has potential to improve once you build seniority, but, it could be a decade before you have a scheduled, same shift, 5 day a week job. Seriously, the schedule is brutal. Also beware hiring blitzes---the railroads are notoriously bad about hiring a ton of people at a time, then realizing their projected needs were incorrect and gradually (or not) laying all those people off.