SubwayGuy

As fast as that sounds, it's not really. The only way you will learn to master the craft is by practicing. If all you do is read the book, study, and memorize, you may well have a ton of book knowledge, but without hands on field knowledge, it is useless. You need both to succeed down here. Posting is where you will practice and reinforce what you have learned, and you will also see some of the pitfalls and learn things you should and should not do. You will also begin to get familiarity with the system which only comes in time. Pretty much every line and location in the system has at least a handful of "quirks" that are unique to it, or that are slightly different than what you'd expect based on book knowledge. Why? Because the system is very old and wasn't all built at the same time. It is imperative that you recognize, learn, and come to understand these quirks as knowing them will make you better at your job.

Yes. You are letting the tower know you are "ready" to proceed behind a red signal, so that they will establish your lineup and clear the signal. Once your route is established and the signal is cleared, then you are telling the tower that you see the clear signal in the field, and are asking for "permission" to leave the track now that the signal is cleared. You MUST always identify the track you are on when communicating with the tower, sometimes even more specifically (33 track head out vs. block, or Apple 12 track Coney Island end vs. Apple 12 track NY end). Sort of like you give call letters on the road, in the yard you give your track number to identify yourself since the tower cares where you are, not what your name is or your job since that would require them to look through the move to figure out what track you are on. Just give them your track. Certain yards (such as Jamaica Yard) also require you to give the signal number you are behind, or sometimes even ask you your operating motor. Not all require this, so it's not going to be part of the procedure everywhere. Obviously if you're where you are supposed to be, this information is easy to find if asked for.

Regarding leaving a track in the yard please remember the following. A LOT of people have been screwing this up and it could cause a split switch or derailment AND get your coworkers in the tower in trouble. Train is ready to move, signal is red. "READY TO PROCEED on track XX" Train is ready to move, signal is clear. "PERMISSION TO PROCEED ON CLEAR SIGNAL (# if required) on track XX" DO NOT ASK FOR "PERMISSION" TO LEAVE A TRACK IN THE YARD IF THE JACK IS RED. People have been doing this and it can confuse new tower operators or dispatchers. Also, never leave a track in the yard if the jack is red. Ever.

Just wear black shoes (not sneakers) for the time being. You will not walk any tracks until you have been issued proper footwear, so your class will take a trip to the shoe truck first before you need shoes with any specific safety features. The boots take a while to break in, my best advice on that is to try and wear them for short walks on your days off, it really does help get them broken in a lot. If the only time you wear them is in 8 hour spurts at work, your feet will be hurting by the end of the first week. They do get better (a little) but best to ease the transition if you have the option. Also get the inserts (Dr. Scholls) or other they will help too. As for lateness, it's never encouraged and never OK, but once you are placed in your smaller class (about 10 or so) exchange phone numbers with your classmates and, if they are comfortable with it, your TSS's. It may save you a write up one day if you are legitimately late for a valid reason (IE got on a train that was scheduled to arrive on time, got caught up in signal problems, and got there 25 minutes late). At least this way your class and your TSS's will know where you are and wait for you rather than consider you AWOL and go on with the rest of the day.

Yup and I'm seeing guys telling me they spent most of their schoolcar time on one or two pieces of equipment and hardly any time at all on the rest of the equipment...so therefore they are completely unfamiliar with it when asked to move it on their own

Based on things I am hearing in the field I am going to add one more thing in here for all the students out there. After your instructors have been with you for a few weeks and you have begun moving trains, practicing cuts and adds, and making station stops on an empty train on the mainline for a while... If there is a subject, an area, a piece of equipment, or a procedure that you feel you have not had adequate exposure to, or practiced enough with...mention it to your classmates and collectively ask your TSSes if it will be possible to review or practice that item. Do not wait until you are starting YX, or when you come back from YX, or worse, when you are road posting or on your own, to address this "thing that's been bothering you" for the first time. There are horror stories in the field...people out here who don't know how to cut this equipment or that, who don't understand troubleshooting adequately (basic stuff they've already taken a practical on, yet they don't grasp the concept behind what they did and will likely forget the procedure soon), or people who are blatantly scared of or have never touched a particular piece of equipment. There are also numerous Train Operators who have been sent for reinstruction due to an incident on their own (goes on your permanent record, by the way) or others that have lost the job altogether. Do not become one of them because you are not willing to ask or bother your TSSes to go over something you don't feel you've had adequate exposure with. You really need 4 things to learn: -Read the book -See it done -Do it yourself -Repeat If you haven't done all 4, you haven't learned it. Your TSSes are there to help you, but sometimes you have to help them do that. If there is an area you feel deficient in, make sure you let them know. Do not "let it go" and just assume that you'll get it later....BRING IT UP!

It's a new test you will be asked to take at some point after taking the multiple choice exam. This is the first time it is being given for the CR title. Probably consists of assessing the clarity of your speech in some way.

They will not hire the entire list. They never do for open competitive TO or CR exams. Expect the current list to come to an end sometime roughly a year (or slightly more) after the date the new TO exam is given.

You will be asked to provide it as part of processing your paperwork when you are called down to be considered for hiring. If you are not eligible to work in the US, you cannot take the test. I believe the minimum age to take the test would be 16 with working papers, but I'm not sure since DCAS is no longer handling administration. I'm sure if 12-14 year old kids could take the test, more of them (read: more than zero) would, I just don't have the technical explanation at the ready for why they can't.

Do not lie on your application. They can and will find out, and the penalty for omitting information on your application is dismissal. They are more concerned about your work history being complete than about necessarily calling all of your old jobs to ask how you were as an employee and asking for recommendations. It's as much to make sure you've paid all your taxes and documented all your career steps, as it is to get an idea of you as an employee and person. Don't worry about it, but disclose everything.

For Train Operator, the cutoff date is the end of the filing period. If you have 6 weeks in college at the end of the filing period, then proceed to get your masters, PHD, a JD MBA, Rhodes scholarship, Fulbright fellowship, and a Nobel Prize between the end of the filing period and the date you are asked to pee in a cup....you will still be denied for being ineligible. The ONLY instance where someone can fill the criteria "by the date of appointment" (ie before they are hired) is a Conductor must have a HS diploma by the date of appointment. Obviously you already have that, so it doesn't apply to you, but it'd be interesting to see if that changes. Some people have started at TA days after their 18th birthday by meeting that criteria and the age requirement to file for civil service exams. Your safe play, and your only play really, is the Conductor's exam. I am not trying to discourage you from becoming a Train Operator but based on the info you provided, there is really only one way for you to do it. Become a Conductor first and take the very next promotional exam. Focus all your energy on the Conductor's test since you will need to do very well on it to have a chance of getting hired. Just passing isn't good enough. For some rough figures: -I believe close to 20,000 people took the last Conductor's Exam -Of those, about 14,000 passed. -Of those, they have called just under 4,000. This is a very high number for a typical exam, especially considering the list still has room to run before a new list replaces it. Usually this number is closer to 3000 - 3500. -Those called all pretty much have scores of 92 or better. -The list will expire shortly before the list is established from the test you take. -Anyone who passed the exam but has not been called before the list expires will not be offered the job, and will have to take the test you are taking if they wish to get hired by Transit as a Conductor. So work towards that 100%, get your foot in the door, and get the job. Don't worry about an exam you're ineligible for. When you become a Conductor, the 5 years work experience does not apply for promoting to Train Operator since promotional exams have different criteria, in the case of Train Operator, it only requires that you are appointed in a title that promotes to Train Operator (and Conductor certainly qualifies for that). Also, where a promotional and open competitive list are created at the same time, Transit MUST hire from the promotional list first. The person who passes a promotional test with the lowest possible passing score will still get offered the position before the person with 115% on the open competitive list.

Yup Albanese is very knowledgeable. As long as you do the reading, he will answer all your questions, but if you don't do the reading and ask questions he will see right through it and be rough with you. But facts - you should be doing the reading anyway. His personality is a certain way but you'll realize he doesn't mean anything by it - His tone puts some people off but again he really doesn't mean anything by it. Some people look for an excuse to take everything personally. Don't. Here's there to help you, and he's been doing this for a very long time, so he knows what he's talking about, and he's good at what he does. Once you start moving trains, he also will hold you to a high standard of train operation that will make you better in the end. Come in fast (not timid), make smooth stops, have full control of the train, and respect the timers. If you learn to make proper station stops (and not crappy slow ones where you take and release brake 5 times before finally coming to a stop), it will be easier to keep schedule, avoid sick passengers (yes, passengers will actually get sick on your train if you jerk them around too much) and complaints, and hit the mark at every station...especially where you have to punch. You are not going to get a silver star from him just for not putting a door panel out of a station, or being +/- 3 feet from the stop marker. And that's a good thing. Because once you are out on your own, when it comes to making station stops, Transit is going to expect you to be perfect. 100% of the time. No overruns, no short stops. No missing a punch (especially if it is for a tower controlled automatically). So it's better to start working towards that early. Just because of people's personalities, you may meet some jokers in your class or another that don't take the training seriously, don't read, and don't study. IGNORE THEM. Do the work. There are two parts to this job, one is book (know the rules, know your job, as TSS Alesso would say), the other is operational (learn to really control that train and operate safely and efficiently). You need BOTH to make it down here. This is your career, you waited a long time for this opportunity, don't piss it away by being lazy. It's a good job with security in a world that doesn't offer that anymore. Remember that, put in the work, and you should do fine. As for TSS James, I don't know enough about them to comment, the only James I know in schoolcar is a Superintendent. Last I remember he was at the simulator. Cool dude though. If he's still there you'll meet him on your simulator days. Hah. Have fun with the mullet lady. It's a TA rite of passage.

The test is very basic. It's frankly not worth the cost of filing just to get a hypothetical score and not have the exam graded. And if the exam is erroneously graded, I stand by what I wrote earlier... He has perfectly legit qualifications to file for Conductor, and is nowhere close for Train Operator so as to even bother trying (such as if he'd actually have a valid reason for appealing if denied...he doesn't since he has the equivalent of <2 years work experience and they require 5). Instead of worrying about the Train Operator exam at all, he should focus all his energy on the Conductor exam, which is very similar anyway in terms of difficulty, and try to get the best score possible in that exam to guarantee himself entry into Transit. That way, he will be eligible for the next Train Operator test as a promotional, with no doubts as to eligibility that could land him in unemployment if not discovered initially. Again: A permanent employee (probationary) who accepts appointment to a new title forfeits their right to return to the original title. Given the closeness of the exam filing periods, and the similarity in scores between the two tests since they largely test the same skills, there is a real chance he will end up in this situation if his exam actually gets graded. If it doesn't, then he's just throwing his money away. If he wants to see how he'll do on a test, take the Conductor test!!!

No. You are ineligible for Train Operator and this could land you in a hot mess if you do it. They do not always immediately disqualify applicants, sometimes they get caught after the fact. If this happens during the probationary period, the employee will be removed from their title. Example: -You are called first and hired as a conductor. You are perfectly eligible for conductor, so there's no problem. -While still a probationary conductor, you are called for Train Operator. Since you did not complete probation as a Conductor, you will not have permanently established yourself in that title which means you can never go back to it. -While working as a Train Operator, it is discovered that your experience is insufficient and you are ineligible for the title. You will be removed from the title immediately. Unfortunately, in this example, since you will have forfeited the Conductor title you were eligible for, you will go back to unemployment and will have to beg to be reinstated on the Conductor's list (which will only get you placed in the next unfilled class, assuming they are still hiring Conductors when this happens). Even if you are able to get the Conductor job back, you will have lost any seniority you had in the title, must go back to the bottom, and go through schoolcar again. It will also mean an end to your "continuous term of employment" which means when you are let go your pension will be cashed out (since you won't have been vested at that point), and upon reinstatement later, you will have to go down to NYCERS and buy that service time back, or else your pension will be permanently reduced as a result. Never ever lie, fib, or manipulate these applications. They can check. Full time or part time work is ONLY valid to be included if it is legitimate (paid) AND you paid federal and state taxes on the earnings (no under the table stuff) - since they WILL check with SSA and the IRS plus NY State Tax & Finance. Nonjobs such as babysitting for a neighbor who paid you in cash and the 2 of you never reported it, don't count. Volunteer service never counts. College only counts if you have the credits necessary. You can max out work experience through college at 4 years by having 120 credits. They will not give you credit for 4 years with fewer credits, even if you are mid-degree and will finish. The cutoff date is the end of the filing period. You don't even want to bother taking the Train Operator test to "see your score" if you are not eligible since best case scenario, they determine you are ineligible and your score says NOT ELIGIBLE. Worst case is the scenario above, where they don't catch it till you're already working here and you lose the job. I say this as strictly as I do because I have seen people screw themselves out of this job by fibbing, misrepresenting, misinterpreting what is being asked, or even making errors in their application and it has cost them the job. Don't be one of them.

There are several rates you will encounter. -When you are hired, you will be hired at Train Operator (Yard) rate. -Upon satisfactory completion of schoolcar, you will progress to starting Train Operator (Road) rate. -After 231 road days, you will progress to full Train Operator (Road) pay. -During January of 2016, you will receive a contractual pay increase of 2% of whatever rate you are earning at that time (and all rates are affected by this). This raise will be reflected in ALL of the payscales, so if you progress from say, yard to road rate after, the road rate will also be higher than what it is now, for you, by 2% once you earn the progression. The chart explains most of them, however, when you are hired, during orientation, the folks from HR who handle compensation will be present and you can ask them for all of the rates.

Yes, they have to take it twice. Showing a student around the yard a couple weeks back and he told me the same thing. Apparently the issue is the YX program. The students study and learn the signals, then they go to YX which can be a great learning experience if you let it...but too many people look at it as "lazy time" where they can work cushy senior jobs and not seek out all the knowledge they can get. Then they forget their signals after a lazy week, especially if they are confined to yard limits and not actually encountering mainline signals anywhere. Then, still during YX, they have to make a put in over the mainline, or a layup, or transfer a train...something involving going down the road, even though there are no passengers, and an incident happens where the YX, um, misinterpreted the signal. Or, in other cases, the signal misinterpretation waits until road posting to occur, or during practice road ops with a TSS on board. In any case, bad news. You've had all kinds of foolishness in schoolcar the last couple years. Including people on final notice who are out of service for reinstruction and operating with a TSS and a Superintendent riding with them on a light train for practice who...hit a signal. Not saying everyone forgets their stuff (since of course that wouldn't be true, and there are people that do a lot of good with their YX time) but it has happened enough times to cause concern hence the 2 signal tests.

Somewhere in one of these threads I posted a link to the most recent version of the rulebook. Here's the link again. You can study this if you're chomping at the bit to go: http://transportworkersunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rulesbook-TA-OA.pdf Look at CHAPTER THREE ONLY. Some of the other info has been superceded by bulletins and is no longer current. Signals chapter is money though.

No. But many retirements tend to take place around that time frame because in May is when annual allotments of sick balances come in, so people who are eligible for sick leave payout can retire in May and add to their terminal leave pay (or use the rest of their sick time if trying to zero their balance). In December/January is when vacation accruals from the previous year come in, so a lot of retirees will pick the first 5 weeks of the New Year as vacation, retire, and not come back from their vacation. By doing it this way, their last day of service is the end of their vacation, but their last actual day of work is much sooner. And by doing this at the beginning of the year (as opposed to the end), they avoid having to work most of the year without using their vacation, instead taking it immediately. Other retirements happen throughout the year...as well as promotions, demotions, people resigning, etc. so staffing is a year round issue. Retirements do tend to "bunch" around those times, and they are aware of it.

He's talking about classes coming to the road. There will be a surplus if his numbers are correct, so odds are they will wait to hire at the moment (or hire smaller classes than they've been recently) until the May retirements go through so they see how big their surplus of Train Operators looks with an eye towards estimating personnel needs for the winter season when people go out at the end of the year.

Yes. You are only afforded the job security of being treated like a promotional employee in that instance if you complete probation in the Conductor title (at least 1 full year as a Conductor) before accepting appointment to Train Operator. Picks will be explained to you when you are hired, or shortly after.

You can request: Saturday/Sunday/Wednesday or Sunday/Wednesday/Thursday. You will not get approved for Thursday if you request Saturday/Sunday/Wednesday/Thursday. If the IVR doesn't have a job listed for you, you will need to call the crew office, or if you live near a terminal in your subdivision, pop in and check the sheets. You can also ask someone you trust at work to check the sheets for you.

For AVA/OTO/PLD and non-picked vacation days...that is true. They will not grant you more than 3 days in a row. The only way to get more than 3 days off in a row is to pick vacation. You can, however, get more than 3 days if you bookend your day off requests around your RDO's, if you have picked RDO's. You can also try this when you are new if the crew office has been giving you steady RDO's, it can't hurt.

He is one of the best. The real fact of the matter is that no one down here, not Kenny, not the #1 T/O, not the #1 T/D, actually knows everything down here. Things constantly change, and you have to constantly refresh yourself. New timers are put in, new equipment gets ordered and existing equipment gets modified, rules and procedures change. Plus this place is so big that no one person can truly know every nook and every cranny of every location. So...try to learn everything...but recognize that part of that is to also recognize that no matter what, you never will. And give consideration to others when they DO know something you don't. As much as I enjoy this job, it would be a heck of a lot better if everyone looked at it that way.

Yes, but it has weird hours for alternate side. The best two options for parking at Woodlawn are to park over by Bedford Park Blvd. and ride up, or to park on Jerome Avenue by the cemetary - if you do the second one...ONLY do it if you're working during the day! Cars have been broken into and vandalized up that way after dark, so it's not recommended. Mosholu Yard is tight, but if you can get in, go for it. Just be aware they have a bunch of 6-2 and 7-3 spots for the AM folks so you'll want to not mess up their flow if you do park there.

A-They have you guys on board? That's something new. Are they actually "board" jobs, or are they "test train", "general order", or "relocation" jobs where you just sit at the location unless you are needed for a move? Yes, you are supposed to be working various locations and learning, but people have been complaining about having to travel for work so the Crew Office has been extremely accomodating in recent months as far as reporting locations to new employees. It never used to be that way, so that's a good thing if you don't like far away reports. B-"Extra Board" can sit and pick up a job on the yard or the road. "General Orders Yard" jobs are generally test trains or to relocate trains. You can be asked to help drill in the yard, or with a test train, you may be asked to prepare a train, operate through a GO area after its completion, and maybe even make a put in, or just bring the train back to the yard when finished. Generally relocation jobs would be to assist with relocating layups due to general orders - perhaps certain yard tracks are out so layups will be going to a mainline location instead. C-Both. If a terminal needs to use their extra board person, they will call the Crew Office to let them know they are being used. Likewise, if the Crew Office needs them, they will call the terminal to have you sent to wherever you need to go (or let you know you're picking up a job where you already are). There are always things to be learned, even if you're just sitting. While it may not be ideal, make the most of it. Pick a senior guy's brain, or ask questions if you can think of any. You will have plenty of chances to practice moving the train, and you don't want to get on the crew office's bad side in the meantime, especially in the beginning. Odds are there are probably just a surplus of YX people at the moment, and they want to get the newer employees some experience too.