Home
VR Demo Library
VR Welding Training for Class I Railroads

VR Welding Training for Class I Railroads

02:21 runtime
Rail & Skilled Trades
Updated October 2026

Overview

What You'll See in This Demo

This demo shows how custom VR environments take welding training to the places rail welders actually work. A Class I railroad was already using VR to train some of its welders, but the virtual setting was a generic warehouse, nothing like the back of a locomotive or an active rail yard. And the railroad wasn’t going to shut down the line so someone could practice a weld in place. Drawing on experience with one of the world’s largest welding companies and with multiple Class I rail clients, our team reused existing 3D-modeled rail assets to build new environments that put learners out in the field. These welders already know how to weld. What the program gives them is muscle memory for the unique cuts and welds rail work requires, with unlimited repetitions, less material waste, and no consequences for mistakes.

Whether you lead training for a Class I or regional railroad, manage a welding and fabrication workforce, or run L&D for heavy industry, this approach shows how customized VR can bring hard-to-reach work environments into the training room.

Key Learning Objectives

Recreate the real environments rail welders work in, from the back of a locomotive to the rail yard

Build muscle memory for the unique cuts and welds rail maintenance requires

Train welders without shutting down rail lines or stopping the movement of goods

Reduce material and equipment waste by moving repeat practice into VR

Let experienced welders repeat, make mistakes, and refine technique with no real-world repercussions

Speed up development by building new custom environments from existing 3D rail assets

FAQ

Common Questions

Can VR welding training be customized for rail environments?+

Yes. For this Class I railroad, the goal was to move welders out of a generic virtual shop and into the settings where the work actually happens: the back of a locomotive and the rail yard. Because Roundtable Learning has built VR programs for multiple Class I rail clients, the team could reuse existing 3D-modeled rail assets to create those environments without starting from scratch.

Why use VR welding training for experienced welders?+

Most rail welders arrive already knowing how to weld. What they don't have is practice with the specific cuts and welds rail work requires, in the places they'll make them. VR gives them that practice on repeat, building muscle memory before they're on a locomotive, without taking equipment out of service.

How does VR welding training reduce waste?+

Every practice weld in the real world uses materials, tools, and equipment time. In VR, welders can run the same weld as many times as they need, make mistakes, and try again with no material cost and no repercussions. For this client, that reduction in waste has been one of the biggest wins of the program.

How is custom VR welding training different from an off-the-shelf welding simulator?+

Off-the-shelf welding simulators are great for building fundamentals, usually in a booth or shop-style setting. Custom VR training adds the context of your actual work environment, whether that's a locomotive, a rail yard, or a job site learners can't easily access. The two can work together: simulators for technique, and custom environments for applying it where the job happens.

What other rail training can VR support?+

Welding is one piece. Railroads also use VR for locomotive maintenance, lockout/tagout, blue flag protection, PPE selection, hazard identification, and inspection workflows, often across dozens of modules. Any task where it's costly, unsafe, or disruptive to stop operations for training is a strong candidate.

How do we explore building a custom VR welding or rail training program for our organization?+

Every program Roundtable Learning builds is custom-designed around your equipment, your environments, and the skills your team needs to sharpen. Watch the demo to see what's possible, then connect with our team to talk through what a solution could look like for your operation.

Transcript

Video Transcript

00:00 | Why Rail Can’t Shut Down to Train Welders

The rail industry is not going to shut down the rail to train somebody how to weld on the back of a locomotive. So how do we take that learner to that environment without stopping their processes, without stopping the movement of goods? We came up with building this in virtual reality.

00:13 | The Ask: Custom VR Environments for Rail Welders

The client in the Class I space came to us with the ask of customization. They were already leveraging virtual reality to train some of their welders, but the environment they were welding in was just a generic warehouse space.

00:27 | Creating Environments That Didn’t Exist Yet

The challenge they were looking to solve was creating an environment that did not exist yet: working on the back of a locomotive or out in a rail yard. So they came to us with the ask: are you able to customize or build different types of environments for our welders to learn in?

00:40 | Building on Welding and Class I Rail Experience

With our experience working with one of the largest welding companies in the world on virtual reality simulations, the answer to that question was obviously yes. In our experience working with multiple Class I rail clients, and taking all the knowledge and expertise we’ve gathered throughout those experiences, we were easily able to take some of those 3D-modeled assets and recreate a brand-new environment to take that learner out into the field, where they would actually be performing these tasks.

01:08 | Muscle Memory for Experienced Welders

The client in the rail space doesn’t necessarily use this as a tool to teach folks how to weld. Most of these folks come to them already having experience in this space. They’re using it to gain muscle memory for some unique types of cuts and welds that they need to make.

01:24 | Training in Environments Learners Can’t Access

The rail industry is not going to shut down the rail to train somebody how to weld on the back of a locomotive. So what’s made this project impactful is that we can take the learner into environments they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access.

01:39 | Reducing Waste Through Virtual Practice

There’s a multitude of benefits that came from doing this in virtual reality. One of the first was the reduction of waste. As you can imagine, practicing welding uses all the pieces of equipment and tools these folks rely on. Being able to do that in a virtual setting, allowing folks to do things multiple times, make mistakes, and not have any repercussions from those actions, then go back and perfect their craft in that virtual setting, has been a massive win and a reduction in loss for the rail industry.

02:08 | Let’s Talk About Your Customization Challenges

If you found this video interesting, or have ever run into customization challenges in this space, we’d be more than happy to have a conversation with you. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or check out our website at roundtablelearning.com.

See It Live

Bring the rail yard into the training room! Talk with our team about building custom VR environments around your welders, your equipment, and your job sites.