Jchambers2120

58/60 as well. I’ve had it up to here with these “customers” I hope it doesn’t take long for them to establish the list & start calling. 

19 hours ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

Really??

Who's going to operate them??

Do I need to remind you that train crews refuse to operate the r32's due to COVID??

Let's not forget that COVID still exists.

Where are you getting this information from? I don’t think some of you understand how things work here & how heavy handed this agency is in regards to disciplining its employees, but that comment is laughable at best. I vividly remember yellow chains that acted as a barrier that kept the passengers away from us I worked them on the J in 2020.

Anyway to get this back onto topic it appears that train crews who work on the lines that serve the Queens district are being called to get qualified on the R211.

3 hours ago, ealfinez said:

Promotional? I thought the December Test was open not promotional??

I meant the exam date. The filing for it is open now, but we take the test on December 8th or 9th. The filing for the open competitive exam opens on December 1st. 

19 hours ago, In4DaWin said:

When this list expires on the 9/19/23. Will they continue to canvas those who have been to pre-employment until the new list is created, or will everyone get dropped?

The list isn’t going to expire in September because they don’t have another to replace it yet. The promotional TO exam isn’t until December & won’t be ready for atleast 6-9 months so this list will be extended for another year most likely. 

2 hours ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

I just hope that those crew members that refuse to get qualified are doing what they're supposed to be doing in regards to operating a train.

The fact that they are refusing to operate a train due to cameras show that they are a safety hazard for passengers cause they don't care about the safety of the passengers.

Keep in mind that if they leave the MTA to work somewhere else, they are going to be surrounded by cameras.

Employees shouldn't be afraid of cameras unless they have something to hide.

I really wonder where some of you are getting this “info” from that train crews can refuse to undergo qualifications training. With the way this agency itches to discipline people over the slightest thing I promise you’re being fed bad info. 

7 hours ago, darkstar8983 said:

How do some conductors do it so fast when on the road that it seems almost seamless? Just for my curiosity. Some conductors and operators do it so fast or maybe there’s a “fast key” that does it faster.

 

soemthing else I don’t know is why on the  at 8 Av, conductors take SO long to open doors. I end up missing connections to the uptown  in the mornings because the conductor changes cars, and then sits down st the terminal to set the announcements going the opposite way instead of just opening the doors like the conductors on the  do at Hudson Yards or Flushing Main St. It seems that conductors on the  are allergic to hearing “this is the last stop on this train”

On R142 equipment you can program the TOD enroute with the train in motion, it’s just a touch screen & it really doesn’t take long to scroll/select the route option. 
 

Conductors on the L have to De-Zone & set up the new position for the next conductor taking over whereas on the 7 it isn’t done because C/Rs remain in the same operating position regardless of the direction the train is traveling. 
 

I don’t want to digress too much this thread is supposed to be about the R211.

4 hours ago, banjo said:

Good to know, thanks! If someone in an existing MTA position takes on a new role after Promotional exam (or OC for a different title as you mentioned) and they fail their training for the new position (which I have heard happening to promoted T/O) would they go back to their old title or the MTA would let them go entirely?

As long as you completed 1 year in your previous title you’ll return to it. You absolutely should take as many exams that you qualify for I wish I could’ve taken the last TO exam I didn’t meet the qualifications. I’m a C/R now and had to wait 5 years for the next TO exam which I’ll be applying for in August.

17 hours ago, trackerjack said:

no the list is going to expire soon this "Fall season". and folks are clearing board. which means not much jobs. which means they not gonna hire as much as they have in 2022. 
but u never know.  cuz a lot of new folks are quitting and getting fired cuz they crazy like that on the road.  so u might still be called but keep looking for other jobs in the mean time......a lot more better lifestyle out there

this Ms. Ohla sounds like OLAF from that cartoon Frozen 

 

There isn’t a promotional exam to replace this one. They aren’t going to let this list expire & not hire people without a backup exam. Like you said new folks are quitting or failing, people will continue to retire or end up on comp, restricted, etc… This list will be good for another year atleast.

1 hour ago, Future ENY OP said:

Anyone here... Are they up to the 9000's for OPA or they still dealing with 8000's for OPA.  If I were a bettor, unless they don't get to the 9000's and low 10,000's at least for OPA list is expected to expire in February.

The list will be extended for another year at least. They just had an application for promotion to conductor & it’s going to take some time for that exam to be ready to be used for hiring. Don’t sweat it. 

2 hours ago, workisforlames said:

Yeah same here. I'm only 2 weeks out tempted to bid on some am jobs this midnight shift is killing me. But I think I'd much rather keep my XX position.

Being only 2 weeks out of schoolcar you’re literally at the bottom of the list anyways  and have nothing to lose. My suggestion to anyone that’s XX unless you have a decent number and/or the crew office has you on your preferred tour/RDO’s you might as well bid on something. 

On 10/11/2022 at 4:30 AM, Jay-Oh said:

Honestly, any picked job is better than XX. Knowing when and where you’ll be working everyday assuages much of the pains of being XX, because now you can plan around that schedule. Yes, XL does exist and it has the randomness of XX, but at least you know you’ll only be working specific lines. I haven’t had a job pick me fortunately, so I don’t have experience with that. 

You have to remember all of our experiences will be different. For the majority of time I was XX I had Am’s with weekends off and when I was forced to pick it was late PM jobs on the 1 line. Forget about enjoying your summer with 5PM starts working on weekends. I loved being XX & now that I have a little more options I always go for XL because for the most part the crew office works with me.

2 hours ago, Milano said:

What are the best suggestions for new conductors in communication with you guys? What do you want to know from them and what do you want to hear or not hear from them when working together?

At the end of the day we all have a job to do and rules must be followed. My advice to you is to know your rules/bulletins, use common sense, CYA, keep in mind you never know who’s riding your train, and *try* to establish good communication with your partner. I put the try like that because once you get down here you’ll see we work with all different types of personalities.

Know your job everything doesn’t have to be put on the radio, but like I said you never know who’s riding your train. 

58 minutes ago, LGA Link N Train said:

Would reinstating OPTO on the help with a crew shortage?

Except the crew shortage includes train operators too… It isn’t helping that a lot of people are flunking schoolcar or flat out quitting + the retirements. 

The trains aren’t moving without anyone up front…

On 2/7/2022 at 7:57 AM, RTOMan said:

Once you get hired by these folk you are going to find out how much they are more concerned about you coming to work..

Than what goes on in your life outside of work...

Yeah they haven’t seen anything yet, if this is a problem now I can only imagine how they’ll fair out when they get released to the crew office…

Early Monday late Fridays on board??? 😒

3 hours ago, Jacob said:

I was wondering that. It's probably crew's that are mostly on station watch or just yard workers who are just there to supervise the foamers/fanners if they somehow act up including on par with polices. Some crew's on either front, back and ends are just for horn shows or to take a view. It's probably how my way to explain it. And if they actually bring in service in the state thats now. technically they'll be a usual 5-6  trains running lmao.

 

Just gotta think out the box somehow. It's just how my brain figures how crews can attend the r32 farewell run but they out here "dun a dunna bum quarantinas, big covidas-19s infectin me. am lazy or sum" to ride a  train lol.

bringing back  service can be a possibility. but here comes the "Crew Shortage" reasoning.

 

I can’t say for sure how the museum runs work, I do believe the people who do those trips though are volunteers and a lot of those guys have a lot of time in the system so it’s likely on their days off that they participate.

They aren’t lying or exaggerating about the crew shortage though. The RTO VP came to a location I was working at and told us we have about 1500 people out now due to the recent Covid uptick plus this is retirement season. It’s really bad now there’s been times when I had to do a trip on my scheduled lunch break because they’re so short. 

5 hours ago, TraDon said:

I was told the last class that has been scheduled for Conductor is Monday December 27th 2021. They haven't been told if there will be an extension and there are no other class dates after 12/27 that are on the calendar right now.

More than likely the list will be extended. They updated their exams schedule and there isn’t another one to replace this one. As short as they are they’re not going to stop hiring they’re having trouble making service with the personal we have now. 

4 hours ago, DRosen said:

Got hired today and I begin on Monday, I have been following this forum for years and it surreal that my time is finally here. Thank you all for the information and help given. I wish you all luck in your process.

Congrats and welcome aboard. It may seem like alot because you’re going to get a lot of information in a short amount of time, but it’s really not a hard job. 

16 hours ago, ronZO215 said:

I got placed on medical hold bc of my big ass neck(18 lol). gotta do that sleep study smh

Didn't they shut down schoolcar training bc of covid? If so, hopefully they take that into consideration and not let that list expire by 2/14. 

 

 

It’s tentatively scheduled to end 2/14, but there’s no exam to replace it with. As short as they are they’re not going to kill if the list & not have another one to replace it  I can almost guarantee they’ll extend it for another year.

3 hours ago, Fifo14 said:

That will be a big problem. Life is short man, and we all need work/life balance. If I need to do brutal OT in order to make 100K then I must put everything on a scale. Yes, the pension is good, but with all the OT you barely have time to do nothing else than working and devoting your life to NYCT. What about time for you to invest in you and your family, how do you grow your money if all you got is time to work?
How does it work? How long does it take for you to apply for promotions or department transfers? How hard would it be for anyone to go from C/R to IT? Is there an exam to go directly into IT? Would it be less convenient as far as transferring pay scale for C/R to IT? Maybe someone has some input.

Based off your post as someone with 3 years on the job I'm going to be honest and say this probably isn't the right position for you. After you finish schoolcar you'll be XX (Extra extra) and your schedule will be determined by the Crew Office (Screw office) and they like to do things like giving you the earliest possible report time on your Monday, and the latest possible job on your Friday so it's hard to really enjoy your RDO's. I'm currently extra extra and have AM's & with weekends off now due to my "seniority" on the XX list, but being that you'll be at the bottom of the XX list you can pretty much forget about having weekends off, and may end up on the PM or Midnight tour based on the needs of service. Work/life balance is very difficult with this job in the beginning. With the man power shortage they're currently going through you can expect to be at work anywhere from 8-14 hours a day.

As far as promotions you missed the ATD & Tower operator exams which came out in 2018 and 19 if i'm not mistaken, and there likely won't be new exams for those positions for a while, but there should be a new promotional exam for Train Operator maybe next year. For the IT stuff they post that stuff internally and I don't check it frequently to see how often they offer positions like that. There's plenty of promotional opportunities and ways to get off the train for conductors though.

Good luck with your decision. 

7 hours ago, exj16 said:

I’m about to begin posting this week. I hear it’s really fun.  For the conductors that are already past school car, what was it like being out there with a veteran conductor shadowing you as you make station stops? Also after school car, did you guys get to pick your preferred lines/terminals?did they place you based on where you live? Or do they really just send you anywhere to work? LOL thanks in advanced 

For the first part of your question it depends on the person who’s taking you. You’ll just have to wait & see.
 

Second question, when you’re finished and released to the crew office you will be sent anywhere within your subdivision based on the needs of service. They *may* try to keep you close to home, but don’t count on it be prepared to go any/everywhere. And forget about picking a job for now. I have 3 years in title & I’m still XX in the b division.

1 hour ago, Fiye said:

I know it’s been spoken about already but what boot did you guys recommend? 

The Caterpillars are my favorite. They feel light & secure & are very comfortable. 

On 4/30/2021 at 11:29 AM, AngelRC said:

If you want the A division, make sure to put it on the sheet that asks which division you want to be in. Just know that if you get out into the B division, when you get to pick your tour and RDOs after a few months, you can ask for a transfer to the A. And the r32s/r42s is the equipment that used to run on the B division but are retired. They are now used for garbage trains

It’s going to take way longer than a couple of months. I started in the A division and it took me close to two years before I was able to pick my first job in the B division. That’s why if given the choice it’s in everyone’s interest to choose wisely.

Congratulations BreeBree and to everyone else who made it and welcome aboard. It’s going to seem nerve wracking and overwhelming at first, but it’s really not a hard job. The hardest part is getting to work on time and dealing with these looney toon passengers. 

So they’re starting to update the R142’s. The consist I had today 6321-6441 had the ADA elevator announcements that the R160’s have, and they added the transfers back for Franklin Avenue. 

Sorry for the thread bump, but for those waiting stay patient they’ll get to you. They are starving for conductors right now, almost everyday on the radio I’m hearing them asking for conductors to work their day off, and lately on the lines I work on they’ve been ABD’ing intervals due to no conductor.
 

They are incredibly short right now so just stay patient and stay safe. Hopefully things pick up next year since they’ve certified for 200 names.

Stay safe and happy holidays everyone.

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I never said that. Your looking at it from a railfans perspective, regular riders do not care what train they get on, as long as a train is actually coming. If you choose to run R46's on the , then CIY would still have to train those crews either way, and now you start to affect riders cause of the MDBF on the R46's being as bad. 

The only logical solution is to put the R46's in a yard that actually knows how to maintain them, that being Pitkin. Not to mention that means the would now get the majority of the R211 order, so you would have even newer trains then the R179's.

Just want to throw something out there. Train crews are qualified to operate any/all revenue equipment within their subdivision. If R46's were to be assigned to the  those crews are qualified to operate it in revenue service. As far as the R179's there's no separate qualification for those either. In the TA's eyes if you're qualified to operate an R160, then you're qualified to operate an R179.

2 hours ago, RTOMan said:

After re-reading what hes saying I'm starting to wonder this myself....

I have a little over 2 years as a C/R and I’m able to pick jobs in both divisions. So yeah something isn’t adding up.