Tommy John

Thanks again SubwayGuy !!

SubwayGuy you are the greatest of all time !! THE GREATEST !!

Question to you guys... I have noticed since I started to fill out exception claim form that one guy shows me how to fill it out ( late clear, no lunch, board time etc), I hand it to the dispatcher, he says no you fill it out wrong, here do it this way. Next time that I have to fill out the exception claim form, I do it the dispatcher's way that he showed me, I hand it to a different dispatcher at my job location, he says no you filled it out wrong, do it this way. So its like literally 3 different people telling me how to fill out an exception claim form for the same type of OT. Is there some sort of guide on how to properly fill this out for different kinds of OT ?? This is not even including what type of comments that I should put. 3 different people tell me 3 different things to write in the comment section. I don't want to fill it out wrong then find out I never got paid and have to waste my time calling and getting this fixed.

Much props to you RTOMan ! I can't say this enough this forum has some fantastic people willing to take the time to help out !

RTOMan, no my carrier is Verizon. I tried my cell and my house phone but still the same problem. With this kind of problem where do I or who do I turn to for this ? Thanks man for your response at least I know its not just me having this issue. Kevinetics, thanks for the tip man. I totally know what you mean by the sun keeping you up when you trying to get some shut eyes !

Hey I tried to call the IVR just now and the automated response was "the pass number you entered does not match our records" wtf ?? I tried a couple more times and still the same... It worked a few hours ago though ? Anyone ever got this ? Thanks for any inputs

Ok thanks guys.

Thanks Success7 for the feedback. It must have been a rare occasion that my RDO changed from calling yesterday and calling again today. When you say call on Friday after 7pm you mean that my RDO for next week should be set in stone (more or less) ? There were a few occasion where some of my classmates have jobs scheduled for 6 out of 7 days for the week and had to call them to fix it. Sometimes though for some reason my name is not on the sheets, yet the IVR says I have a job and sure enough my name is on the payroll when I sign in... If your off on a certain day and want to find out your next job, do you call crew office/check IVR or do you take the time to go to a terminal and look on the sheets even on your day off ??

Question about my RDOs and the crew office. I called yesterday and was told my RDOs for next week. I called today to find out my next job and a different person said my RDOs are on a different day from what I was told yesterday. I am not complaining at all but want to know if this is common and if I should call more than once on different days from now on to confirm my RDOs ? Last thing I want is I go AWOL thinking my RDO is on a certain day but its not because it changed from the day I called to find out my RDOs, that's all.

SubwayGuy thanks for the response man ! Your one stop shop to anything and everything I need to know about TA !

Does anyone have an idea of when the hiring blitz will end ?

Damn.. my hats off to you and everyone else who had it that long. You guys definitely paid your dues and respect you for that ! Any tips on how to manage life as extra extra ? You ever had 10 or less hours between shifts ? I have seen some people as extra extra they have bloodshot eyes and are walking zombies man. Its to a point where I would be afraid of them operating because they looked like they could fall asleep standing up.

I am happy for you Etrain !

Congrats guys on able to pick. How long were you extra extra ? I am not quite there yet but one day I hope to write a post like yours.

Thanks guys for your inputs !! Congrats on you passing probation and doing well !

Thanks for chiming in guys ! Your experience and advice are priceless !

This is sound advice BroadwayBuffer, thanks for your input !

One thing I noticed during posting is every time I try to do it school car way the trainer looks at me with a "wtf are you doing" kind of look. The most common response I get is "if you do this in the real world you will be here forever, delaying service and everyone else" This is primarily for preparing train for yard movement, revenue service, cuts/adds. Its crazy, none of the people that I have been with do it the school car way, not even remotely close. Though when I am on my own I will continue to do it the school car way each and every time man because I feel uneasy doing it any other way.

Thanks guys. Yeah I admit I was getting a little worried. Hhah thanks for slapping me back in place Andrew.

Hey guys, hope everyone is doing well. I have a question about Yard Posting. It suppose to be where a trainer shows me the yard and gets me familiarized with how to make moves right ? I was given a checklist of what the trainer should show me (barn, track layout, car wash, loop, different little nuances of the particular yard etc)Though there were a couple of days in which I got trainers who are lazy as hell. I mean to the point where I did ONE move and he didn't explain anything to me. When I tried to ask him questions he gives me one word answers and felt like he didn't want to teach/tell me anything. It looked like he just wanted that 2 hours overtime and be done. I saw him for 20 minutes while doing the move then for 2 minutes at the end of the day to sign my papers. So I kind of felt cheated out of that day. I wanted to work and do as many moves as possible to learn the yard because I am assuming during my 3 months in the yard by myself I am expected to do some kind of moves. I don't want to look like I am useless over there because I am not, I was never shown how to do anything during posting. I know I have to ask many questions if asked to do a move alone but without me even doing moves in the first place I can't even picture in my head of what I am doing.

Thanks Beneka ! Your posts along with others have been helpful to me in this thread. Patcoman, no it wasn't us. We were all the way up in the Bronx. Final yard practical next week man. Things are moving quickly.

Best of luck to you man !

2 people failed the test in my class. I take nothing for granted and study everyday of everything given to me.

Thanks Patcoman ! Yeah now thinking back it was easier than what I originally thought. I did study signals everyday like how everyone on here says to do so. How are you liking YX ?

I passed the signal test/practical this week. It is a HUGE relief to get that over with. Now on to the final practical. Preparing train for revenue service and brake pipe rupture then Yard Posting. School car is moving so fast its crazy. Is there suppose to be any new model trains coming out ? I over heard a TSS mentioning something about R-217 (I could be wrong with 217, but he definitely said a 2 something model #) It was something along the lines of the R-188 is for the A division and some newer model is going to be for the B division supposedly in the future.