Andrew
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STUDY YOUR SIGNALS BOOKS FOR 1 HOUR A DAY, EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!
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My BIGGEST problem with New people is how often the FAIL to truly learn the system and have NO clue of these 2 misstatements. "Learn the area" "a GREEN signal does NOT mean Full speed ahead in some areas" The D and B trains leaving Bway Lafayette St on 4 track Northbound towards W4th street will encounter Automatic signals 931 and 938 which are green then they go around the curve to the right and they encounter Automatic signal 947......IF 947 is YELLOW and you are not going 25MPH and you fail to begin braking immediately, you WILL 100% definitely overrun 32 Home Signal which will be RED over RED and that could be your career in Transit right there!!! The thing you MUST do is have your train Under control when you pass 941 Automatic which is right before the curve to the right, ignore the GREEN aspect, it means NOTHING there, you MUST have your train under control by 947 Automatic if it is yellow. Remember, there is ALWAYS a home ball BEFORE a switch but there is NOT always a switch AFTER a Homeball.....but the the end result is the SAME if you overrun then while they are RED over RED. You see a GREEN RESUME Flagging signal and most people believe this means "Resume Full Speed"...........NOPE!!!!! a GREEN Flag has a different meaning to me....."A green Resume flag represents the end of the particular work zone I just operated through" On the Midnights, you will see "piggybacking" work zones, which is one work zone after another, the Green Resume will be the end of the work zone and in another 200 feet you will have a set of Yellows for the NEXT work zone, and so on........... You leave Briarwood Van Wyck Northbound on the F and you go over the switch to the right and before the curve, you see a "30 miles" sign, but you choose to ignore it.....well IF you do so, when you see a Yellow signal and you are speeding, GUESS WHAT!!!!??? You WILL overrun the next signal which WILL be red AND since it is not on Grade Time a RED automatic means there is a train in front of it which is considered a Collison and will be treated that much more seriously. And then there is 434 Home signal on the R train Northbound from 59th street and Lexington Ave. Assuming you did NOT take a Wrong Lineup into Queensborough Plaza. When you go around the curve to the left as you are going towards Queens Plaza, be sure to have your train under control because you WILL hit 434 Home signal, which is one of the most overrun signals in the system. There is a LOT to learn for NEW T/Os and it takes a few YEARS...........you new people just FORGET about being on time,it will come eventually. There are some EXTREMLY slow T/Os and no matter what anyone has told you, you cannot and will not be taken Out Of Service if you are slow. I am not saying to go 20MPH and be 30 minutes late every trip....not at all. But when you rush and try to make up time, this is when you end up making mistakes that can cost you your career down here. My school car instructor, Joe Bauer who is now retired always told us "You get paid by the minute" and it is true........there is no need to rush and create stress and problems for yourself.
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When I got the signal book when I began school car, I studied for an hour a day, 7 days a week. Thats all it took. Signals is NOT a test you can cram for, if you don't know them by the time you take the exam, you should not be here, simple as that. There are going to be times in school car when you will have your weak moments, I had mine on APRIL 16 2010 when I failed the second pratical which was preparing a Train for Road service. I did not grasp zoning and rezoning a train. I took the retest on MAY 5 2010 and passed and to this day, I am as good as most conductors are when it comes to the doors. Sometimes failing at something is the best thing, because you then truly learn how to do it. The first 2-4 weeks are going to be overwhelming for you, a lot is going to be thrown at you but don't be discouraged, things will get clearer as time goes on. You have a LOT to learn over the next 9 months and THEN the REAL learning begins, just LISTEN to the instructors and you will do good.
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I know TSS James very well. When I first came out of Schoolcar onto the road in the summer of 2010, she was the Midnight TSS on the N line and she rode my trains several times. She was always on point with the rules to me but was always cordial and easy to talk to. She is also one of the hardest working Female Supervisors I know, she would always respond to calls no matter where they were and she never complained about anything. My guess on why she is the way she is has to do with this job. Being a T/O is no joke and to be perfectly honestly with you, if one cannot handle a TSS in school car getting loud with them for something, how the heck is the said individual going to handle a Train that goes BIE during the rush hour and now they have to do their walk around investigation with RCC calling them every 5 minutes. Or how are you going to handle having to discharge a packed train at a major gap station and having to walk back and clean out your train with people cursing at you and asking question after question on what they should do to get home? I had retired TSS Joe Bauer for school car and he would challenge everyone in the class and find their weak spot and capitalize on it in front of the entire class. He was very confrontational at times as well and although I didn't understand it back then, I understand it now. Since I have have been out on my own, there has not been a single thing that has happened to me that was more stressful than some of the times I had in school car, and That is a damn good thing. Bauer was an excellent school car TSS and the majority of his former students have all managed to keep out of trouble and are having excellent careers down here. If James does yell at anyone here, DXO NOT take it personally OR Become offended, suck it up, listen to what she tells you and I Guarantee you, you will Thank Her one day.
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He is right. A lot of people get caught off guard by the final, it is all stuff you did in school car and it comprises all of the moves you made, trains you operated, just pay attention during school car and it comes to you naturally.
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I was called on JUNE 19 2008. Because of medical issues and test after test after test, and getting my number reinstated 3 separate times, I was not cleared by medical until DEC 4 2009. NOBODY wants to go through what I did, I was persistent to the 9th degree and that is what got me here, but it was hell to go through and had I known how tough it was going to be, I would have done things differently. ANYONE who is waiting on the list and who reads this, STOP eating SUGAR and SALT NOW!!!!! I don't care if its Thanksgiving and you were looking forward to that big turkey meal, all of the stuffing, bread and desserts, DONT EAT IT!! The object is to PASS your medical the FIRST TIME. 88out of every 100 people who go to the MAC for the new employment medical FAIL the first time!!!!! Thats right 88%!!!! Some are able to pass future medicals, others don't. The MTA has one of the STRICTEST medicals around and they will not let you in the door if you have blood sugar, blood pressure or EKG problems, as well as other things that can jam you up. Even when you go to school car, graduate, become a professional T/O pass your probation, you must Maintain good health, or end up being medically restricted which in turn means in some cases NO WORK...NO WORK=NO PAY!!!!!! I simply cannot stress this enough, make sacrifices with your diet, it will go a looooooooooooooong way into ensuring you have a good medical.
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I suggest very very very very very very very very very strongly that everyone who is waiting for their number to be called to change your diet NOW!! and cut out all sugars, starches and stick to meats, eggs, cheese and vegetables, limit your fruit. You will lose weight, lower your blood pressure and most importantly, keep your blood sugar stable and not in a high enough range for you to have problems with the MAC when you go for your drug test, they check to see if your urine has high sugar in it as well as just for drugs or alcohol, and if your sugar is high, you will be held back and create problems for yourself. I am serious, go on the Paleo diet, you will be grateful you did.
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Congratulations. You just passed the toughest of the practicals although don't get complacent as I failed the Preparing the train for road service practical the first time I took it so just listen to what needs to be done and you will be fine.
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Get the signal flash cards and study them every single day, 7 days a week. I did it every day for an hour and I had no problem passing, this isn't something you can hold off and "cram" You Must know this without effort.
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Those who ask questions may get laughed at or be told "You don't know that move? you were just in school car, you should know" but they still get to make that move. Those who DONT ask Questions get to sit down at 2 Broadway having to answer the question "If you didn't know or understand the move, why didn't you just ask?" and end up getting thousands of dollars docked from their pay, get to be on the platform for a long while, get demoted to cleaner, or in the worst case scenario, get fired. I am doing great, I am in the A division and I do the 2 and the 5 lines.
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Congratulations!!!! NOW comes the REAL learning. ALWAYS ASK ALWAYS ASK ALWAYS ASK ALWAYS ASK!!!!!! DO NOT let ANYONE down here, try to rush you.
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A word to the wise. DO NOT eat any food that is going to make you have to go to the bathroom suddenly. Stay away from spicy foods, especially Cayenne Pepper. Nothing worse than going in your pants on the train because you had no choice.
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WOW!! Schoolcar really changed with the signal test. My Induction date was JAN 11 2010 and My class didn't take the signal test until MAY 3 2010.
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I studied for 90 minutes a day, 7 days a week. I looked over the signals 5 times a day, every day. You do this and you will pass. Another great thing about Transit is it is more than just a job, you meet great people here and in some cases, your life will completely change. Since JAN 11 2010, my first day in Transit I have gotten married to the niece of a TSS, I have gained a goddaughter, and I have made several lifetime friends here. When you graduate school car and become extra, extra, you are going to miss your instructors and your classmates in school car. You will see them from time to time but it won't be the same as when you were in class.
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Schoolcar TEACHES you how to hit, pitch, field, run the bases. Once you are out of school car, you are in the Major Leagues and you MUST show that you can perform. To many mistakes or if you show that you don't have what it takes, you will be sent back to the minor leagues and if you come back and still don't improve, thats it, you are out. The most important piece of advice I can give is BE EARLY EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!! When you go to school car, plan on arriving there 30-45 minutes early EVERY DAY!!!!! This is NOT wasted time, it is a habit that you should get into and it will either make you or break you. DONT BE LATE IN SCHOOLCAR FOR ANYTHING!!!!!!! Those who arrive late on a consistent basis will be frowned upon by the instructors very quickly and set themselves up for getting kicked out. Believe it or not, getting there early is 95% of this job, When you arrive early for your reporting time, things just have a way of working out for the better. The ONLY time I was ever late was when I was XX and I had a job that I thought started at 0200 at Coney Island on the D line when in reality, it was 0002. I arrived there at 0100 thinking I was an hour early but I was an hour late. The crew office KNEW I was given the wrong information because I was always early every single job I had for the previous year. Instead of disciplining me, they just put me on the board and I made money on an easy job. I am a dispatchers best friend because I make their job easier by being early. IF you are one who has a habit of being late, your career in Transit will be a short one. Dispatchers HATE people who are late. This is a time sensitive job. You will learn the term "being in place" very quickly, but if you are early all the time, it becomes a habit and it will be easy for you. IF you are one of those people that the dispatcher always has to ask "Where is so and so Train Operator", your days are numbered. Everyone here should meet my friend ABE. ABE is my BFF in Transit. ABE ALWAYS BE EARLY