LS2015

On 2/12/2018 at 5:41 PM, AirBrake said:

For the guys who are qualified and on the job: How bad were the nerves your first time taking a train out by yourself?

The 1st week it felt weird being by yourself in the cab. 

Sorry for late response.

Without a doubt its very intimidating to commit oneself to remember pages of information that was written as far back as the 1800's verbatim. However after a while, you will figure this out yourself it is manageable as long as you keep up with the studying. What I mean is everybody develops their own system in the program (Phase II) and after a while of being bombarded with seemingly random railroad jargon certain it starts to make sense. Like switches are protected by signals so once you draw a particular track on the main with a switch you best assure there is a signal protecting. You will also realize that railroad signals have set sequence that hint the next signal and so on. The bottom line is try to take it day by day and you will succeeded. Also plan on not having a social life while your in the program.

I noticed some ask a question about certification pay. Yes Engineers do get 10 dollars for each day worked. So when your sick or on vacation you do not get that pay. You also dont get the 10 dollars twice if you doubled in one day either.(A double is when you start to work on the day your already completed a shift).

Qualified as an Engineer over 6 months ago.  Could answer basic questions regarding the process/job.

Congrats!

First thing first if you put in the time you will qualify! Second don't let anyone intimidate you a lot of the program is break or make game, just go with the flow. The less you question the logic the easier it will be.

Phase I is going to feel like eternity! you will need to remember dozens of paragraphs verbatim. Get the definitions, indications, signals and notes down as best as possible. No time to learn those when phase 1 starts.

Qualified this month!

Could answer a couple of questions about the program.

true still might be hope .what other opportunities are you looking at ? 

Yea, I just applied for a conductor position. 

yes, it is really tough to force yourself to study the information and not know for certain that your hard work will bear fruit.  

So i took a break from the index cards.... big mistake im really rusty now...

I was called and told that I did not make the December class, and to be ready for phase 1 sometime in March. 

anyone know else know what else we have to do prior to phase one?

Sorry for the delay, Im new to this form and these "moderator approvals" are a little annoying. 

lirrlocomotivetraine,

Today I got confirmation for March class! I'm so excited for the opportunity! 

Need to get back to studying my flash cards like a part time job!\

Anyone else received a conformation?

Hi Fellows,

I'm glad I found this forum! I am also currently waiting on the results from the interview that I had in mid November.

By the way, how are y'all studying going?