The Long-Awaited "Big Move" of Train Operators (Mass Retirements)

[Globetrotter]

Man they are letting YXs go  left and right...

 

Im hearing horror stories and i have seen some cray cray chit...

 

65 percent making PAST probation is a horrible Number....

 

That is why they are asking extra extra "Volunteers" from the A Div  to come over to the B Div...

 

Soon it wont be that they will just take em from the Bottom of the extra extra list, and they wont have a thing to say about it....

 

Sigh

I hope they scrap YX altogether, if you ask me. It is definitely not in our best interest as T/O's

[Globetrotter]

A lot of the big move of T/O's can also be attribute to an increase in promotions within the past few years. Being that they are calling of the bottom of the list (8098) only about 70% are passing school car and out of that only about 65% are making it past probation so it it will be hard to keep the ranks filled when that's happening. A lot of he veteran T/O's I know are now TSS's, Dispatchers/ATD's now. Retirements are always happening so that really isn't the long awaited "big move".

Yes, I am also seeing many former T/O's in Dispatcher & TSS titles. The question is, how many of these positions can there possibly be? If my memory serves me well, I think there are only about 400 TSS's in total. Even if a whopping 40% of them retired en masse (unlikely), that's only 160 positions. There are probably even fewer Dispatchers than TSS's, though I'm not sure.

[SubwayGuy]

I hope they scrap YX altogether, if you ask me. It is definitely not in our best interest as T/O's

 

The problem with YX is so many of YX jobs are station switching. The point of YX is to get T/Os familiar with the equipment, preparing trains, cuts and adds, troubleshooting, etc. Things that tend to go by the wayside and be more easily forgotten after a couple years on the road. Relaying trains all day, or doing layups, doesn't accompilsh that.

 

The other thing (since I take students and talk to them) is that so much of the newer training seems to be focused on the 2 signals exams. Yes, signals are incredibly important, but not to the point you have people road posting already who don't understand how to have their trains under control because they are still inexperienced operating.

 

And the week of "route familiarization" is a gigantic waste of time. Taking new train operators who've never been taught how to read a tower board around to all the towers to learn all the places they can be turned, rerouted, etc. with no context just goes in one ear and out the other. They'd be better served with operating time or troubleshooting time...

 

The things I hear they're doing just don't make a lot of sense if you want someone to learn something they are unfamiliar with. You don't read in a book how to do woodworking, then someone sets you up in a fully equipped woodshop and goes "ok kid, now make me a balustrade" on their first day.

[Globetrotter]

And the week of "route familiarization" is a gigantic waste of time. Taking new train operators who've never been taught how to read a tower board around to all the towers to learn all the places they can be turned, rerouted, etc. with no context just goes in one ear and out the other.

 

 

 

The problem with YX is so many of YX jobs are station switching. The point of YX is to get T/Os familiar with the equipment, preparing trains, cuts and adds, troubleshooting, etc. Things that tend to go by the wayside and be more easily forgotten after a couple years on the road. Relaying trains all day, or doing layups, doesn't accompilsh that.

 

The other thing (since I take students and talk to them) is that so much of the newer training seems to be focused on the 2 signals exams. Yes, signals are incredibly important, but not to the point you have people road posting already who don't understand how to have their trains under control because they are still inexperienced operating.

 

And the week of "route familiarization" is a gigantic waste of time. Taking new train operators who've never been taught how to read a tower board around to all the towers to learn all the places they can be turned, rerouted, etc. with no context just goes in one ear and out the other. They'd be better served with operating time or troubleshooting time...

 

The things I hear they're doing just don't make a lot of sense if you want someone to learn something they are unfamiliar with. You don't read in a book how to do woodworking, then someone sets you up in a fully equipped woodshop and goes "ok kid, now make me a balustrade" on their first day.

I wholeheartedly agree. Visiting the towers to learn "route familiarization" did absolutely nothing for me as a student. I didn't even know how to read a tower board for crying out loud! But, even if knew how, I would have been better served by actually operating all the routes and memorizing where and what to punch. And, I'm not talking about doing this while posting. This should be done in Road Ops, so that, by the time you actually post, you already know all the routes, and can focus solely on your operation. I was a lost puppy when I was first spit out on the road, and that's all because so much time was wasted visiting dingy towers that meant nothing to me.

[Trainmaster5]

And the week of "route familiarization" is a gigantic waste of time. Taking new train operators who've never been taught how to read a tower board around to all the towers to learn all the places they can be turned, rerouted, etc. with no context just goes in one ear and out the other.

 

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. Visiting the towers to learn "route familiarization" did absolutely nothing for me as a student. I didn't even know how to read a tower board for crying out loud! But, even if knew how, I would have been better served by actually operating all the routes and memorizing where and what to punch. And, I'm not talking about doing this while posting. This should be done in Road Ops, so that, by the time you actually post, you already know all the routes, and can focus solely on your operation. I was a lost puppy when I was first spit out on the road, and that's all because so much time was wasted visiting dingy towers that meant nothing to me.

The only time I was involved in a gap filler overrun was with a student at 14th St-Union Square. The young man was okay from Dyre Avenue up until that point. He was about two feet past the marker. I called it in while he and my C/R keyed the people off and on so we weren't too delayed. The next day the deputy supt., stationed at Grand Concourse, told me via radio that my students were not allowed to operate in Manhattan during the PM rush. That didn't sit well with me so I responded via my radio on Command Center mode " Are you telling me to not train the student properly?" It came down to me versus him and RCC and school car backed me up 100%. I didn't know that when school car operated down Lexington Avenue, whether express or local, the towers would turn off the gap fillers. How does one learn operation when a main component is turned off? What happens when the student is "road qualified" but has never been taught where to make reverse moves on the main line ? That always bugged me. I remember being told that students were not to operate when a train was late 5 minutes or more but if we were dragging behind a few trains that were all 5 minutes late I would ignore that directive. Maybe that's why school car liked me. That and the fact that the #1 TSS used to be my M/I on the line. Carry on.

[Globetrotter]

OK, no one knows how many T/O's will leave due to attrition (retirements, promotions, etc.), but any idea if there are plans to scrap the awful YX program eventually? That in itself has reduced our effective seniority by at least 2 years.

[SubwayGuy]

And the week of "route familiarization" is a gigantic waste of time. Taking new train operators who've never been taught how to read a tower board around to all the towers to learn all the places they can be turned, rerouted, etc. with no context just goes in one ear and out the other.

 

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. Visiting the towers to learn "route familiarization" did absolutely nothing for me as a student. I didn't even know how to read a tower board for crying out loud! But, even if knew how, I would have been better served by actually operating all the routes and memorizing where and what to punch. And, I'm not talking about doing this while posting. This should be done in Road Ops, so that, by the time you actually post, you already know all the routes, and can focus solely on your operation. I was a lost puppy when I was first spit out on the road, and that's all because so much time was wasted visiting dingy towers that meant nothing to me.

 

Perhaps it would serve a purpose after road posting during the final week, with part of that time being spent showing students how to read a tower board...since once they're out on their own, a dispatcher will often show them how to make an unfamiliar move on the board first before they make it.

 

But it serves absolutely no purpose before posting, and especially not jumping from tower to tower all over the system in an "information overload" kind of way.

 

Doubly worse when the students' train control is shaky at best, and they're unfamiliar with moving bad equipment. I always make it a point to ask students, OK you're on you're own, and get a bad train and call it in...and it's so bad RCC tells you to take it out of service based on the problem you describe....what do you think the next thing control will tell you to do is??? You'd be surprised how many think (wrongly) the answer is "the TSS will show up and operate...."

[MTATrainFuture]

The problem with YX is that it was an open and comp test and most people are from the outside. Let's call a spade a spade.

Those cray cray stories can be directly related to the TSS's that are in school car and the SI that has been running school car.

 

The reason we don't know anything is because it's never been taught.  There's no perks in being a TSS and most if not all don't want to be there.

The funny thing is that Senior T/O's have kids to and they will need a job one day.  Let's hope precious tier levels can take care of children & grandchildren as well when they can't find a job..  

 

Meanwhile, 10 train operators from schoolcar and on probation are getting fired a week.  10 in my class down to 3.  40 in my induction class down to 21 while posting.  School car needs to be revamped and why teach or become a TSS if you don't want to be there.. Stack your pension elsewhere.

 

It's no secret school car has been failing for about 3 years or more that's why it's a revolving door.  They get in and see how it's ran and run right back out or make it worse at the expense of a student..