Back to Jobs

TTX Railcars

Railcar Structural Repair & Welding Specialist (Carman)

Location

Portland, OR

Wage

$28/hr

Employment Type

Full-time

Required Skills & Certifications

TIG WeldingSteelPIPE
Apply for This Position

Posted on November 10, 2026

Job Description

Overview

The Railcar Structural Repair & Welding Specialist (Carman) is responsible for executing structural and mechanical repairs on freight railcars, ensuring they are safe, compliant, and efficiently returned to service. This role involves working with various tools and equipment to repair, modify, and upgrade railcars according to industry standards.

Responsibilities

  • Execute structural and mechanical repairs on freight railcars.
  • Repair, modify, and upgrade railcars per blueprint/specification to AAR, FMO, FRA, and TTX standards.
  • Rebuild critical assemblies and verify function through testing.
  • Perform welding/fabrication and utilize cutting and heating torches appropriately.
  • Carry out mechanical labor using hand tools, power tools, and precision gauges.
  • Diagnose faults by visual inspection and specialized training.
  • Operate forklifts to move, align, and position parts and subassemblies.
  • Measure, cut, and thread pipe; replace air lines using proper tooling.
  • Assemble major components and conduct operational checks.
  • Repair broken components using hand tools and welding equipment.
  • Document all work in an electronic keyboard entry system.
  • Keep the work area clean and organized.
  • Set up and run metalworking tools as needed.
  • Perform other tasks assigned by supervision.

Requirements

  • Standing, hearing, seeing for 8 or 10 hours; handling for 6 hours.
  • Walking, stooping, kneeling, crouching, fingering for 5 hours.
  • Reaching below waist, twisting, feeling for 2 hours.
  • Sitting, climbing, balancing, crawling, reaching overhead, talking for 1 hour.
  • Frequent lifting of car parts 1–80 lbs; 10–25 lbs frequently; 25–50 lbs regularly; over 50 lbs occasionally.
  • Mechanical knowledge and troubleshooting capability.
  • Decision-making/reasoning at an intermediate level.

Benefits

  • PTO
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • 401k

Additional Information

  • 8–10 hour shifts; hours and rest days may change.
  • Flexible availability for shifts, nights, weekends, and holidays.
  • Mandatory 4-week training program post-hire.

Benefits

PTO
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
401k
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Portland, OR

Pay in context

At roughly $28/hr, this posting comes in about 15% below the $33/hr median for welding jobs in Portland, OR, where the middle half runs $29–$34/hr across 12 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 0% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Portland, OR

We're tracking 18 other active welding openings in Portland, OR right now, from 10 different employers. 2 of them were added in the last week. Across Oregon as a whole we're tracking 72 other active welding openings from 49 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Portland, or widen the search to Oregon.

TTX Railcars currently has 1 other opening live in Oregon, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Oregon at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Welding Shop in Portland, OR (11), AAON (3), and Peninsula Iron Works (3). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for TIG. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds.

See all railroad welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Portland, OR

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Railcar Structural Repair & Welding Specialist (Carman) figures were last recalculated when this page was built.