LIRR Assistant Conductor Trainee

[Ajay223]

Is orientation one day or three days?

[JHP87]

Good luck to everyone starting a/c class tomorrow. Enjoy the first 3 days of orientation because you’ll have no life for the next few weeks once rules class begins on Monday. 

[snoopys16]

13 hours ago, JHP87 said:

Good luck to everyone starting a/c class tomorrow. Enjoy the first 3 days of orientation because you’ll have no life for the next few weeks once rules class begins on Monday. 

Thank you, can't wait to actually get started! 

[Two2Go]

On 2/10/2019 at 8:16 PM, Sean said:

Does anyone here live in NJ? Trying to see if it’s possible to commute from NJ or if I need to move. I live right off the bridges but still it takes some time to get to penn station.

There are a number of people who live in NJ and work for LIRR, both conductors and engineers. There is even an Engineer that lives in Delaware and makes it work. But it'll be tougher when you're new, especially on days when you're hanging. Can you make it from your house to Port Jefferson or Speonk with 3 hours notice? Do you live near a NJ Transit station so you can easily get to Penn and West Side Yard?

[Sean]

I would say it takes about 30 mins to an hour depending if there's delays on the nj transit to get to Penn from home. I can get to speonk in about 2 hours by car. Not sure if I'll make it to speonk within 3 hours by train though. It'll be cutting it close. 

[Two2Go]

5 hours ago, Sean said:

I would say it takes about 30 mins to an hour depending if there's delays on the nj transit to get to Penn from home. I can get to speonk in about 2 hours by car. Not sure if I'll make it to speonk within 3 hours by train though. It'll be cutting it close. 

You'd never want to try to report to Speonk by train. The schedules aren't frequent enough to a place like that. In many cases, it would actually be impossible to take the train there with only 3 hours notice. In most cases it's possible to report to somewhere in electric territory by train, but unless the schedules line up perfectly, you're not going to want to. Don't forget that in addition to getting there on time, you have to make sure there's a train to get you home as well. 

Living in NJ, you're going to want jobs that start out of Penn and WSY, or maybe Jamaica or Atlantic Terminal. But just be prepared that when you're new, you can definitely get sent anywhere, and you're going to want to drive there.

[fd87]

6 hours ago, Two2Go said:

You'd never want to try to report to Speonk by train. The schedules aren't frequent enough to a place like that. In many cases, it would actually be impossible to take the train there with only 3 hours notice. In most cases it's possible to report to somewhere in electric territory by train, but unless the schedules line up perfectly, you're not going to want to. Don't forget that in addition to getting there on time, you have to make sure there's a train to get you home as well. 

Living in NJ, you're going to want jobs that start out of Penn and WSY, or maybe Jamaica or Atlantic Terminal. But just be prepared that when you're new, you can definitely get sent anywhere, and you're going to want to drive there.

Great information. So does Speonk have a parking lot that LIRR employees can park? 

[Two2Go]

2 hours ago, fd87 said:

Great information. So does Speonk have a parking lot that LIRR employees can park? 

Yeah, there is parking in the yard. Almost every east-end terminal has some sort of employee parking. The big exceptions are West Hempstead and Babylon Station (there's plenty of parking in Babylon Yard, but very little employee parking at the station. If you're a ticket collector reporting to Babylon Station, arrive early and be prepared that you may need to pay for parking in a private lot). West Hempstead does have a small public parking lot which employees park in if they can nab a spot, but there's also a shopping center across the street that I've heard employees use. 

Jamaica Station does have some employee parking, but it's very limited and hard to get. Generally it's only reliable if you're reporting late at night or on a weekend. Jamaica Storage Yard (on the other side of the Van Wyck from Jamaica Station) does have a little bit of parking, and the adjacent Morris Park Yard (walkable to the Storage Yard) has plenty of parking.

Atlantic Terminal used to have parking in the nearby VD Yard but they got rid of it, so now you're stuck finding street parking if you have to drive there. Penn Station obviously has no parking available but the nearby West Side Yard actually does. It's not a ton of spots, but they're there. Plus they have some sort of arrangement with a newly opened parking garage in Hudson Yards (the development being built over WSY), I don't know exactly how it works but there's something like 25 or 30 spots that we can use in there.

[Jayy]

Hey guys, I passed my S&D on the 12th. Does anyone know when the next class will be ? 

[IronHorse]

13 minutes ago, Jayy said:

Hey guys, I passed my S&D on the 12th. Does anyone know when the next class will be ? 

There's a so called hiring freeze in effect but I think it's just a load of Bullshit!  Only time will tell......

[bp98]

2 hours ago, Jayy said:

Hey guys, I passed my S&D on the 12th. Does anyone know when the next class will be ? 

There is an "internal" hiring freeze in effect.  The RR still has plans for 6 classes this year.  The first two classes are in hillside right now.  Not sure when the next one is, maybe summer.

[Two2Go]

My gut tells me that this hiring freeze will magically go away as soon as the MTA board votes on the next fare hike. There's a lot of belt tightening right now because the MTA is "broke"...until they get the fare hike they want, and then it'll go back to business as usual.

[dn6791]

I passed my S&D exam on the 12th but didn't feel great about how the interview went. I didn't too amazing answering the scenario questions. Got maybe 3 check marks out of 6 on each question.  Should I be concerned about getting eliminated at this point in the game??? 

[Jayy]

23 minutes ago, dn6791 said:

I passed my S&D exam on the 12th but didn't feel great about how the interview went. I didn't too amazing answering the scenario questions. Got maybe 3 check marks out of 6 on each question.  Should I be concerned about getting eliminated at this point in the game??? 

I worried about my interview too. 

[IronHorse]

23 minutes ago, Jayy said:

I worried about my interview too. 

No, don't sweat it......you're in the pipeline, sit back and chill.

[dewclaw]

4 hours ago, dn6791 said:

I passed my S&D exam on the 12th but didn't feel great about how the interview went. I didn't too amazing answering the scenario questions. Got maybe 3 check marks out of 6 on each question.  Should I be concerned about getting eliminated at this point in the game??? 

 

3 hours ago, Jayy said:

I worried about my interview too. 

 

What are some example questions they asked? 

[Two2Go]

2 minutes ago, dewclaw said:

 

 

What are some example questions they asked? 

I honestly haven't met anyone that felt like they aced the interview.

First part of the interview is they're going to have you read Rule G out loud to them, and then they're going to take away the paper and ask you questions about the rule to see how much you remember. Rule G is the rule that talks about drugs and alcohol usage. After that they'll ask you a bunch of scenario-based questions. For example: "You are collecting on a train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma and the Ranger game just let out at MSG. You see a rowdy group of passengers in your car, how do you handle them?"

Or: "You are collecting tickets after Jamaica and a passenger tells you that she saw a man leave a large suitcase in the vestibule and get off the train at Jamaica. What would you do next?"

It's all stuff that you haven't been trained on yet, they are just trying to see what your initial reaction would be without them training you on it. If you get it "wrong", they're going to keep rephrasing the question in order to nudge you in the right direction. I've never seen anyone post on here that they passed S&D's but didn't get hired because of the interview. 

[dewclaw]

9 hours ago, Two2Go said:

I honestly haven't met anyone that felt like they aced the interview.

First part of the interview is they're going to have you read Rule G out loud to them, and then they're going to take away the paper and ask you questions about the rule to see how much you remember. Rule G is the rule that talks about drugs and alcohol usage. After that they'll ask you a bunch of scenario-based questions. For example: "You are collecting on a train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma and the Ranger game just let out at MSG. You see a rowdy group of passengers in your car, how do you handle them?"

Or: "You are collecting tickets after Jamaica and a passenger tells you that she saw a man leave a large suitcase in the vestibule and get off the train at Jamaica. What would you do next?"

It's all stuff that you haven't been trained on yet, they are just trying to see what your initial reaction would be without them training you on it. If you get it "wrong", they're going to keep rephrasing the question in order to nudge you in the right direction. I've never seen anyone post on here that they passed S&D's but didn't get hired because of the interview. 

Okay thanks. I’m in the process for block operator but just wanted to get an idea for how interviews tend to be conducted. 

 

You’re saying Rule G is alcohol and drug use rules for employees? Do you know if or know of, Block operators are interviewed about this subject?  

[Two2Go]

1 hour ago, dewclaw said:

Okay thanks. I’m in the process for block operator but just wanted to get an idea for how interviews tend to be conducted. 

 

You’re saying Rule G is alcohol and drug use rules for employees? Do you know if or know of, Block operators are interviewed about this subject?  

Honestly not sure what the employment process looks like for a block operator. Rule G does apply to them, though.

[Trainguy77]

For the Standards and Definitions test, do they give you the “Sound”, say “O - O” and you have to write the “Indication”? Or is it the other way around. Where they give you the indication and you have to write the sound. 

[Mikey23]

This is very discouraging, my class is made up of a bunch of donkeys. We already had one person fail the book of rules test and now we are right in the middle of air breaks. One girl in the class literally broke down and was crying her eyes out over air brakes. I have never seen so many grown men so scared as these guys in this class. We do go out and look at all the stuff on all the different types of trains and i am at the point where i am super bored in class. 

 

If you just passed your signals and definitions test this past week think long and hard about working here as an a/c. All you do is study within a half hour of waking up all the way up until you close your eyes for bed. 

If for some reason you decide you dont want to to study for just one night you fall very far behind. When they say you will have no life you really dont have any life at all for years.So consider this a warning ac class sucks think twice before you actually take the job.

[IronHorse]

7 hours ago, Mikey23 said:

This is very discouraging, my class is made up of a bunch of donkeys. We already had one person fail the book of rules test and now we are right in the middle of air breaks. One girl in the class literally broke down and was crying her eyes out over air brakes. I have never seen so many grown men so scared as these guys in this class. We do go out and look at all the stuff on all the different types of trains and i am at the point where i am super bored in class. 

 

If you just passed your signals and definitions test this past week think long and hard about working here as an a/c. All you do is study within a half hour of waking up all the way up until you close your eyes for bed. 

If for some reason you decide you dont want to to study for just one night you fall very far behind. When they say you will have no life you really dont have any life at all for years.So consider this a warning ac class sucks think twice before you actually take the job.

Wow, you sound like a real cry baby pal!  Do the RR a favor and dropout now..........mommy & daddy probably wiped your @$$ till you were an adult.  Whah, whah, 😢😭😭😭😭.  Grow a pair of balls and put a sock in it.  Geez!

[Two2Go]

8 hours ago, Mikey23 said:

This is very discouraging, my class is made up of a bunch of donkeys. We already had one person fail the book of rules test and now we are right in the middle of air breaks. One girl in the class literally broke down and was crying her eyes out over air brakes. I have never seen so many grown men so scared as these guys in this class. We do go out and look at all the stuff on all the different types of trains and i am at the point where i am super bored in class. 

 

If you just passed your signals and definitions test this past week think long and hard about working here as an a/c. All you do is study within a half hour of waking up all the way up until you close your eyes for bed. 

If for some reason you decide you dont want to to study for just one night you fall very far behind. When they say you will have no life you really dont have any life at all for years.So consider this a warning ac class sucks think twice before you actually take the job.

Mikey, I feel bad that you're not enjoying the job so far. Fortunately, the job isn't anything like being in class. Life sucks right now, but it gets a lot better once you start working the trains, and even better once you've got a little seniority and can start working some decent shifts. In a few years you'll be qualified and making some serious money, which is what we're all here for, right?

I feel bad for your classmates that had a great opportunity and lost it, probably forever. If you are feeling bored in class, maybe don't study quite so much at home and utilize your class time more efficiently. I'm just curious, do you have any previous college experience? I found A/C class to be comparable to a very difficult college level course. Full-time college students typically take 5 moderately difficult courses each semester. 

A friend of mine actually was one of the 8 that passed S&D's this past Wednesday, I am absolutely encouraging him to take the job. 

[Joeybats]

I’m in air brake right now. I saw nobody cry. 

[Cdima123]

11 hours ago, Mikey23 said:

This is very discouraging, my class is made up of a bunch of donkeys. We already had one person fail the book of rules test and now we are right in the middle of air breaks. One girl in the class literally broke down and was crying her eyes out over air brakes. I have never seen so many grown men so scared as these guys in this class. We do go out and look at all the stuff on all the different types of trains and i am at the point where i am super bored in class. 

 

If you just passed your signals and definitions test this past week think long and hard about working here as an a/c. All you do is study within a half hour of waking up all the way up until you close your eyes for bed. 

If for some reason you decide you dont want to to study for just one night you fall very far behind. When they say you will have no life you really dont have any life at all for years.So consider this a warning ac class sucks think twice before you actually take the job.

You’re a tool man, to be honest I hope you fail airbrake, calling your co-workers donkeys lol, even if you get through I’m sure your time on the RR will be interesting based on how you treat others...

 

And to anyone in this dudes class, you guys should put him on the spot on Monday, see why he’s calling you a bunch of donkeys if I was you....