Conundrum

I'm not sure what to do… I'm facing an interesting situation. I was invited to an interview for a new position with BNSF last Wednesday… I've agreed to the interview mainly because I know I need the experience, but I’m not sure if I really want the position. I don't know if I'm ready to move on or not. I've only been in the assistant position for 3 months, and I've only lived here in Spokane for 9 months. The position is referred to as a Maintenance Planner, the idea being to coordinate all the maintenance-of-way activities (stuctures, track, and signals). I feel it would be a good developmental move because I would get experience with the other departments in engineering, outside of my stuctures experience. Yet, I think my manager would prefer for me to go into a Structures Supervisor position, and to do that I will need more experience.

I still don't feel comfortable when I'm out with the gangs, I feel like there is sooo much that I honestly don't comprehend. At lunch yesterday one of the gangs is trying to correct some alignment issues on a bridge and they were having a hard time getting their adjustments to stay when a train went over that section… so John (the supervisor) was offering suggestions and ideas for equipment that they might use to help.. I didn't understand a single thing he was talking about… I felt so completely inadiquite. But, isn't now, when I'm young enough that they assume I know nothing about railroading (which is basically accurate) the best time to be learning all this information. After I've been here for 5 years or so I'm sure my gangs would expect me to have a broader knowledge base than I would if I were to go into the Planner position.

On the other hand, I do understand the Maintenance Planner position. Granted there is stuff I'm sure that I will need to learn, but I've been filling in for our planners here in the Northwest and while I'm not great at it, I'm decently adept. And, if/when I get a planner position I'll have my own territory and I'll be there day in and day out, verses here for a week, gone for 6 weeks. I'll get out and meet my front-line supervisors (FLS's), learn their territory, etc. Also, this would allow me experience with other departments, I would get a general knowledge of time frames and time management from the track and signals side which I won't get by staying in the Stuctures department, I only get experience with bridge here.

Again something else I have to keep in mind is my husband… He wants to move, but he's not sure where too… and we both want children soon. Granted everyone is like "Oh you guys are young enough, wait awhile." But, to be honest I want to have them while I'm young and my body can heal quickly. Taking that into account, do I really want to put myself into a situation (as a FLS) where I will be 7 month pregnant responding to an all-night derailment near a bridge of ours? Do I want to be on-call while nursing a 6 month old? I have to think about all these things and it's a bit overwhelming at times. I love my job and I love my life, but before long I'll need to start making some hefty decisions.

Oh, btw the picture is on a bridge at Sandpoint, ID.