Driver Recruitment

trevorperera · Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:25 am

tomohawk · Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 12:12 pm

shrekman · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:04 am

Woo Hoo.

Got my letter inviting me to the medical. Last stage of a long long process, but well worth it.

Do the medical on the ninth of Sept and start the 13th October (provided they dont find something I dont know about).

I'm gonna be a train driver. Yahhhhhhh. Very Happy

Now grab my smokes and head to the pub to celebrate. Not!

Dave

tomohawk · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:10 pm

I got the same letter as Dave, got my medical on the 5th. I'm going to be a train driver too! Looks like we'll be in the same class.

ablearcher · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:02 am

tomohawk · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:38 am

ablearcher · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:21 pm

theres another called realism to.

Ned Ludd · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:33 am

Congratulations boys, and welcome to the job. You'll find that with reasonable effort you WILL become train drivers. Take it seriously and work hard in the early stages and you will get through. It gets progressively easier as you go on, but only if you have laid the foundations in stages 2, 4 and 6.

Some advice:

Your class (group) is the biggest asset you have. Work together and form study groups so you can share information. It comes thick and fast in the early stages, so you need to work together. Groups that divide into factions tend to have more failures.

Your personal and class reputations are vitally important, so keep your heads down! When it comes to assessments you will get an easier time if you are known as a good trainee by the training office. The trainers talk, the OJT's talk, the assessors talk, the managers talk. They know your measure - use that to your advantage.

It's a long 18 months but you will be well treated, and well recompensed. Once you qualify the world's pretty much the mollusc of your choice Wink

Ablearcher, grow up, or go and rain on someone else's parade. You may be feeling disappointed that you did not get in but these two guys have, and they deserve a bit of credit for it.

From years of study I have derived two observations:

1. The sum of human intelligence is a constant.

2. The population is increasing.

Disclaimer: All typo's in this post are part of the ineffable plan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

tomohawk · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:14 am

Wickham · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:19 pm

If I was to be perfectly honest, the schools don't teach you much at all.

Sure they teach you Rules and Reg's and your company's operating procedures and about the locos etc. But until you are sitting in the seat with the controls in your hand you do not learn anything. It's all rosy in a class room being told this is how it is etc etc. But as I'm sure most drivers here will tell you its a VERY different story when you're sitting in a loco.

And these days the schools are fail proof, they are all open book exams and group discussions etc so it's really not that hard to pass school it's the driving that's going to catch you out. Whether you kill someone, run a red light etc.

It's a great job, don't get me wrong but just be prepared for the absolute worse and remember there are smegheads out there who race trains, commit suicide, drive in front of trains at crossings etc. Also get used to the fact that in 10 years time you will most likely have killed someone or run someone over. Also remember for your sake Railways do not give you paper cuts, they take arms or legs off. Especially when you're doing ground work, be careful and you need to have eyes in the back of your head.

Not being negative, just telling you that driving isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anyway finished rabbiting on Razz

Enjoy it!

DalyWaters · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:04 pm

Ned Ludd · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:20 am

Thanks, Dalywaters.

I wish I'd done Wickham's driver training if failure was an impossibility. And obviously the 12 months spent driving trains under supervision were completely useless. But that's OK. I haven't killed anyone yet, but the bounty will come in handy. Found a dead feral on top of the train once but he didn't matter. My time will come I'm sure.

Tomohawk and Shrekman, one thing that you will soon learn is not to listen to the heroes of the flanged wheel. They always had it tougher, knew it better, know more, drove "real" trains, whatever.

At the end of the day we all do the same job, with minor variations.

Good luck fellas - see you round ERD.

From years of study I have derived two observations:

1. The sum of human intelligence is a constant.

2. The population is increasing.

Disclaimer: All typo's in this post are part of the ineffable plan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

rumbleman · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:35 am

Some more advice from someone who is also about to start his training with a well known company with blue and yellow locomotives, take everything in your stride and try not to be daunted by the testing or practical aspects of your training.

I anticipate It's not going to be easy, but one thing that helped me through school (and I suspect a similar concept can be applied to train driving) is if things are getting too much, chill out and take a few minutes to think over what you're doing or what the question is asking you.

Don't be afraid to pipe up and ask a question, because It's better to ask it a million times and get it right when it comes to the crunch out in the field, and you're sitting there thinking "I really wish I had asked where I'm supposed to make the minimum application to stop before that red stick!"

Wickham · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:21 pm

s02bbh · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 2:39 pm

hello all,
I got an invitation to sit the tests as Fl.st. Any idea what is involved in the testing...so I can prepare...what are the maths questions like...any one still remember what questions they got asked in the interview?? Sorry to bombard I just wanna make sure I dont stuff up... any help will be appreciated... thanks