On a recent Tuesday morning, at exactly 10:25, train conductor Robert Ritter glides into North Station on an Amtrak Downeaster, a 145-mile regional passenger train service managed by Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority and operated by Amtrak. The service includes five round-trips daily between Boston and Portland, Maine, with two of those trips additionally serving Freeport and Brunswick. With only 50 minutes to spare before his outgoing train departs, the 43-year-old Baldwin, Maine, resident sat down to describe a typical work-day (which, despite popular belief, doesn’t include operating the train — that’s the locomotive engineer’s job), his funniest moment during his 15 years with Amtrak, and why he wants to go to France. (This conversation has been edited and condensed.)

Q. What drew you to this job?

A. My best friend from high school got a job with Amtrak several years ago, and so when he found out that there was train service coming to Maine, he suggested I apply for the assistant train conductor position.

Q. What was your training?

A. It’s a little different from when I started, but now it’s about seven or eight weeks of training in Wilmington, Del., at the Amtrak Training Center learning all the different operating rules, learning about revenue collection, customer service, emergency preparedness, CPR, and how you switch cars. Then you come out and post on the train, basically shadowing the Conductor on different crews.

Q. A typical day?

A. I get up at 3 a.m., go to the gym, and then I’m at work at 5:15 [in Portland]. I sign up at the crew base and we go over all the paperwork, like the speed summary, which tells us any speed restrictions we have on the tracks. Then we go over the bulletins, basically anything we need to know about the tracks operationally, such as a crew that will be working on the track. We contact the dispatcher, who dispatches the railroad, and review everything we just covered. Then, we go out and do a quick inspection of the train, do our brake tests, and, on this particular job, take the train from Portland up to the Brunswick facility, which is where we start boarding the passengers before making our way to Boston.

Q. How many times do you do this?

A. I do one trip down and one back. I get off duty around 2:20 p.m.

Q. Why not work out then?

A. Because my wife and I have two kids and they’re heavily involved in sports.

Q. Do you like to ride trains as a passenger?

A. Yes, because I get to walk around, there is usually a café car, and if you have kids they can get up and walk around. Also, you’re not subject to traffic, it’s scenic, and you can take a nap. You can’t take a nap driving!

Q. Can a conductor be promoted?

A. Yes, to trainmaster, who manages all the conductors and assistant conductors.

Q. How many conductors on each train?

A. There is one conductor and one assistant conductor.

Q. Funniest moment since you began?

A. Much of it’s not appropriate for the paper — but about nine years ago when I was working the late shift, we pulled into Dover. There was this gentleman in business class who got startled by the announcement. He got up and he was coming through the cafe area carrying a briefcase in each hand. Well, I don’t know if when he sat down he loosened his pants, but he forgot to do them up — and he’s saying, “I have to get off in Dover, this is my stop!’’ and his pants fell right around his ankles. Luckily he was wearing underwear, but he didn’t stop to pull up his pants, he just kept waddling down the aisle (chuckles).

Q. Most challenging aspect of job?

A. If someone is having a bad day, trying to change things for the better.

Q. Best part?

A. Dealing with people. You get to meet a lot of really different and interesting people.

Q. Is it true you previously worked as a chef?

A. Yup. I went to New England Culinary Institute in Vermont right out of high school. After that I moved to California, where I worked for different restaurants in the Napa Valley for about eight years. Then, my parents went through a divorce and that’s basically when I moved back [to Maine] and my friend suggested I apply for the job [at Amtrak].

Q. Do you miss the restaurant world?

A. A little, but it’s nights, holidays, and weekends, and with a family, you miss a lot.

Q. How’s the train food?

A. It’s really good. They have Legal Sea Foods [chowder] and then things from several Maine-based companies, like Italian sandwiches and organic oatmeal.

Q. Favorite travel spot?

A. Probably Hawaii, which was our honeymoon. The weather is beautiful and the water crystal clear. We went snorkeling, zip lining, and swimming in waterfalls, where apparently they filmed part of Indiana Jones.

Q. Dream destination?

A. By train, through the Colorado Rockies on [Amtrack’s] California Zephyr. Otherwise, I’d like to go to France because of my food background to try the foie gras, caviar, pates, and wine.

Q. Who yells “all aboard’’?

A. The conductor or assistant conductor — whoever is on the platform.

Victoria Abbott Riccardi can be reached at vabbottriccardi@gmail.com.