Pros
You get to see parts of the country that not many people get to see. Lots of historical sights to be seen and work around. I did it for 8 years.
Cons
Management is very unorganized. As a journey man mechanic you get paid the same as a senior mechanic and even the laziest mechanic. All overtime is pretty much minimal and working away from home for 9 months of the year. If working on a rail crew you take your own vehicle to site. Once a very family oriented business now with new management the family aspect is no longer there. As well safety is preached by management, rather then figuring out ways to fix it head office requires ground management to find failures in safety. Currently their is a huge safety issue to be taken care of with lots of accidents and CRVs.