Clayton started his career with Canadian National Railways, working as a Brakeman/Switchman, while completing a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Alberta. All together, he worked for CN for thirty years in several levels of Operations management in addition to the functions of Economic Analysis, Business Planning, Marketing, and Contract Administration.
L'intérêt que Clayton Jones a très tôt manifesté à l'endroit du chemin de fer a été à l'origine d'une carrière de 42 ans dans le secteur ferroviaire canadien.