SACRAMENTO — For an idea of the labor shortage in today's railroad industry, click on Union Pacific's Web site. The railroad's plea is simple and direct: "We need good people and we need them now."

From Arkansas to Oregon, Iowa to Wyoming and in Northern California cities such as Oakland and Roseville, railroads are hanging the "Help Wanted" sign to meet the growing demand for rail service and fill the gap opened as an aging work force rides to retirement.

"The railroad career is not for everyone. There's traveling. You're away from home," said Kelly Donley, spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads. "But there's no better-paying secure industry, and it's not a job that's going to be outsourced."

The trouble is, when young people think of railroads, they might think of shoveling coal and billowing steam. That sepia-toned image, however, has given way to a mix of computers, electronics and mechanics.

Wages currently average slightly more than $67,000 a year, according to the railroad association, which projects that 80,000 new rail technicians will be needed in the next five years even though technological advances will winnow the demand for labor.

Educational requirements vary widely, from a high school diploma or its equivalent in entry-level positions to two-year technical degrees or more for diesel mechanics, to engineering or science degrees for operations managers.

Union Pacific, the nation's largest railroad, looks for applicants with a journeyman's card, military training or on-the-job experience, but will provide on-the-job training for entry-level positions. The railroad also recruits college graduates with majors in accounting, computer science, marketing, production management and other fields.

The positions are in places like Cheyenne, Wyo., and Pocatello, Idaho; and Roseville, home to one of the nation's largest train yards and the biggest on the West Coast. Nearly all of Northern California's rail freight traffic rumbles through Union Pacific's massive J.R. Davis Yard in Roseville.

On a recent morning, rows of hopper cars sat behind tracks dotted with Union Pacific's trademark mustard yellow locomotives lined up end to end and side by side. A long skein of cars crawled through the yard headed east. As many as 2,300 cars a day roll along the switchboard of tracks at the 915-acre site, headed to and from the bustling Port of Oakland, the forests of the Pacific Northwest and Midwestern cities such as Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.

Finding the talent needed to meet the demand of a multibillion-dollar industry has been difficult. "While people are interested in railroads, we're still searching for qualified employees," Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.

Railroading provides the type of secure, steady pay that allows a worker to "buy a house, start a family, pay taxes," said Michael Halbern, a Sierra College professor in Rocklin teaching a new wave of tech-savvy railroaders at the college's Computer Integrated Electronics-Mechatronics Program.

Increasingly, there are opportunities for women, who make up roughly 9 percent of the total work force, according to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, the Chicago-based pension authority for railroaders.

While wages average $67,000 a year, compensation rises to more than $90,000 with benefits, according to the railroad association, based in Washington, D.C. Oddly, that was part of the problem, those in the rail industry say. Workers enticed by good pay and long-term security grew gray in their jobs.

In 2001, employment law changed, allowing workers with 30 or more years to retire at age 60. That triggered a wave of departures that the industry is still recovering from, railroad officials said. When those workers retired, not only manpower disappeared but also years of experience on the tracks and in the locomotive.

The retirements were keenly felt because railroads had trimmed their labor forces as freight shipments moved to air carriers and trucks, said Dan Williams, a Sacramento branch manager at the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.

Myriad other factors also contributed to boosting the demand for railroad workers: the growth in container shipping, limits on how many hours long-haul truckers could drive, soaring gas prices, the Wyoming coal boom, and the demand for Midwestern corn for ethanol development.

Although freight traffic nationwide was down in May, compared with the same time last year, the nation's seven major freight railroads are hauling more freight than ever and spending a record $9.4 billion to increase rail capacity, according to the railroad association.

Through the first 18 weeks of 2007, U.S. railroads hauled 5.8 million carloads and more than 4 million trailers or containers. Those cars took 588 billion tons of freight over as many miles.

Union Pacific found a few good men and women by looking to the military for recruits, Davis said. The railroad has been named top military-friendly employer the past two years by online career guide GIJobs.net for its outreach to and hiring of former military personnel.

Still, the demanding, physical work, the long hours often miles from home and an outdated image of the industry discourage some prospects.