Passsed a Trainee Train Driver Assessment
Discussion
I'll sign off 377s, 455s and 456s. I doubt I'll drive the 456s are they're off to SWT. I'll only be doing metro work, which is a shame as I really like the mix of metro and fast jobs i've been doing with me DI. My trainee colleague is based at the other end of the depot and gets to do both, so i'm pretty jealous of him doing 85 on his first day solo! There's and incredible sense of responsibility about driving a 12 car at 85mph in your first week of being alone 
Less than 4 weeks until my final assessment lads. Squeaky bum time....!!
supersixevo said:
Hi Stedman, I know this post of yours has been here for a while but I'm also doing the management interview and was just wondering if you can give me any points to ponder? Thanks!!!
There is plenty of information out there. Get back to me if you have specific questions.
I will report back once i've had my first drive.Drivers at our place can take up to 12 months.
bakerstreet said:
How does that compare to the starting salary of other operators?
I'm not massively confident, but its something that interests me and I know that trainee jobs don't come up often and even if I don't make it, I know I will have tried, which is better than me ignoring it.
The training salary is a bit less than where I am, but then the passed out salary is about the same (once you factor in Sundays)I'm not massively confident, but its something that interests me and I know that trainee jobs don't come up often and even if I don't make it, I know I will have tried, which is better than me ignoring it.
P5BNij said:
Route knowledge and its retention is a massive part of the job, depending on where you're based the amount you have to learn and sign for can be huge. My route card is pretty extensive but I have mates elsewhere who's cards are larger than mine. Imagine driving the whole length of the M6 day in, day out but having to sign a legal document stating that you are intimately familiar with every inch of it in all weathers... every route possibility, every junction, where they can take you and where they can't, every bridge, gradient, landmark, every bit of signage, every possible distraction etc, etc. Now transfer the idea to several different main and branch line routes, throw in every signal and knowing which signalbox controls it, every siding and loop (plus knowing what they're called), every station, yard, level crossing (knowing the differences between all the different types), foot crossing, bridge, viaduct, tunnel, gradient, braking point, areas of low adhesion and high winds, every signalled move it's possible to make (and those that it's not) and a whole lot more besides. It soon adds up! The trouble is most folk only see us sitting on our backsides drinking tea, pulling levers and pushing buttons. I had my bi-annual rules exam last Wednesday which took seven hours, it's surprising just how much information you can keep in your memory... what it's all for, how and when you can (and can't!) use it., emergency procedures for any given situation, of which there are many. Divided train on a single line..? Single line working by Pilotman..? Remember which signals you're allowed to pass at danger with your own authority... and which ones you can't...?
Driving the train is just one part of it, the rest goes unseen.
Good summary.Driving the train is just one part of it, the rest goes unseen.
Edited by P5BNij on Saturday 9th April 20:55
Edited by P5BNij on Saturday 9th April 20:55
Edited by P5BNij on Saturday 9th April 20:56
Knowing what every signal does (some signals have 8 different meanings!) and where they take you etc is only a small part. Now consider that 'small part' of the job requires me to know possibly 8 things about 1000 different signals in a relatively small area and it really starts to add up. Oh, and green isn't necessarily correct
The actual thought process that goes in is immense. In some places you can be in the section approaching a stop signal at 50mph and others its 15mph. You simply cannot have an 'off' day. If I had a 1% failure rate, I would be stopping-short (which means my whole train is not on the platform), missing a station, etc once a day!
Ilovejapcrap said:
Two very informative posts thanks.
So if you work a new line, Do you have to sit with someone going up and down to get to know it so to speak ?
Yes, we route learn.So if you work a new line, Do you have to sit with someone going up and down to get to know it so to speak ?
You will have a brief with a trainer and the opportunity to drive the route a few times that day. At my TOC it is a day like this, then X amount of days to 'route learn' and then a final day signing it off proving that you are competent. You can of course go back to the trainer at anytime before the final day with any problems, questions.
Sods law, you'll do something obscure on the first day of driving it alone!
Ilovejapcrap said:
What do you mean by signalling it off?
Signing on the dotted line my friend! To say that you are happy with the route etc etc and that the trainer deems you competent.Some say they're going to sign a route, some say they're going to sign a route off (the later meaning two different things!)
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