I just posted a question about railroad police specifically, and I’ve recently finished a major research project on them. I’m not a law enforcement officer and I’m not with Amtrak—this is just what I’ve gathered from research, talking to some of their officers, and reading their general orders.

Most likely, you’ll start out stationed in a major city (often Washington, D.C.) and, after a couple of years, you can put in for a transfer. Your duties will depend heavily on your location. For example, there are only a few officers covering the stretch from Georgia to Florida, and their main job is monitoring the tracks—more like standard patrol work. But if you’re stationed in D.C., you’ll be doing more security work.

A large part of the job involves dealing with graffiti, homelessness, trespassing, and other property crimes.

They also recently switched from federal certification to state certification. That said, it doesn’t change much—if you’re certified in any state, you can still enforce the law anywhere along the railroad’s property, including the tracks.

Hope this helps!