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Train Operator Exam # 8098

Den

By Den,
in Transit Employment

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HopefulTO

HopefulTO

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Good luck to the guys starting tomorrow. I must say its been a crazy month so far. I know you guys will love this job. Just be on time never ever ever be late to anything. Also it will seem like a lot of info at first but don't be afraid to as questions when you don't understand. Good luck and try to meet some good ppl down there. You can tell who the f**k ups will be by day 2 stay away from them. Welcome to the Authority. 

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KenHeines

KenHeines

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I got the call to go in on Thursday for the medical/interview. My list number is 291*. They ask me to go in on Wednesday but had to ask for another day. Do they let you know right then and there if you are accepted into training? If I do get to start in the September School car, it'll be one hell of a birthday present.  

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SubwayGuy

SubwayGuy

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A word to the wise on benefits - since all of you new guys are Tier 6, if you can swing it, enroll in the 457 plan. Your pensionable amounts are quite limited in comparison to previous tiers, and you will want the supplemental income when you reach retirement. Just contribute a small amount and try to increase it every so often as you go, and you won't feel it that much. It hurts a lot less than you think.

 

Also a quick word on money - when you are new, you won't be making very much during schoolcar. Depending on the job you left you may be thrilled with what you're making, or you might be a little disappointed. Stick it out and learn the job. Once you are on your own, you can expect to make quite a bit after the first few weeks since you'll be getting a lot of overtime from being on the extra board. Don't be in a rush to stay late, come in early, work your RDO's, etc. when you are new - you'll be making money as it is. Get through probation, learn your subdivision, and wait until you have more experience and familiarization before doing late clears/overtime/RDOs etc.

 

Last, your learning does NOT end when you finish schoolcar. In fact, in many ways it just begins. If you have good trainers during posting, they will give you manuals - some homemade - with info about the area you were working in that day. Some locations may even have their own "official" things they give out. It's not for you to study all in one day, and forget about. KEEP THEM and look at them from time to time to keep sharp about that area. If you're going to be working in that location, BRING IT to work and look at it throughout the day to make sure you know what you're doing. Don't "wing it" - that's how you wind up making mistakes.

 

Take pride in your job and do it the best you can. Train Operator / Motorman is a SKILLED job, let's keep it that way. The job gets dumbed down every time you need a babysitter to watch you once you're out on your own. When your train goes out of service for a routine problem that could have been overcome. When you cause a delay with a signal hit that was caused by carelessness or inattention. When you can't overcome a solvable problem on a put-in, or a yard move, causing a passenger train to not run, a yard move necessary to provide cars for service to stop. When your operation is rough, and people complain about it. When you don't know where you're going, and wind up somewhere else. When you don't do your job and make someone else do it for you. TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WORK!!!

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WestEndMan

WestEndMan

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Thanks @SubwayGuy. Again this is the reason I come on this board.....to get advice, info etc. Also with regards to pay, unfortunately, at the current pay the MTA is starting me at, this is a step up the the almost $20hr I was making before and this is coming from a guy that was living paycheck to paycheck. So with that said, bet your a$$ I will be doing everything in my power to finish school & perform highly. This is a serious career & peoples lives will be my responsibility.

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RTOMan Train Operator

RTOMan

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Oh and I'm going to make another thing clear BE HUMBLE.

 

We are seeing it lots of new folks thinking they are the cats meow down here....

 

With the "I know I know" attitude well that attitude has been costly there's a reason they are at this number folks...

 

Take pride in your profession . When it's possible see of you can get a track map of the system and save it on your computer. That's also a great help.

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WestEndMan

WestEndMan

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To the vets of the company, already learning a valuable lesson on who to distance myself from in school just from orientation. Alot of sleepers.......literally sleeping during some important stuff. If you can't stay awake during a discussion about what to do & not do, how are you gonna stay awake in class? But making some good acquaintances. Guys who have a passion like I do. Hoping they dont split us up.

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Andrew

Andrew

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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

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SubwayGuy

SubwayGuy

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To the vets of the company, already learning a valuable lesson on who to distance myself from in school just from orientation. Alot of sleepers.......literally sleeping during some important stuff. If you can't stay awake during a discussion about what to do & not do, how are you gonna stay awake in class? But making some good acquaintances. Guys who have a passion like I do. Hoping they dont split us up.

 

Yes. You will also want to distance yourselves from the bottom dwellers. More than just the sleepers (the first week can be difficult but knowing benefits is how to get ahead...you'd be surprised how many people retiring in the next few years don't understand how their pensions work!) Sleeping won't fly once you break up into smaller groups. But worse than sleepers are the are the people who never ask questions, never want to do any work, demonstrate no interest in anything but a paycheck for as little work as possible, and have a lazy attitude every time they are asked anything, or told they have to learn something (or just joke around ALL the time). If you do the bare minimum, schoolcar will be "hard." Schoolcar is not hard. It used to be a lot harder years ago and has been simplified quite a bit (especially on troubleshooting breakdowns). You shouldn't be aiming to skate along with the lowest passing scores but to learn everything you can. Every bit of knowledge you get down here, even about titles other than your own, can enhance your understanding of the job and put you in a place to better protect your job and (sometimes) the jobs of other people around you. Always look out for yourself first - but some of us still believe in looking out for the other guy, and a lot of people don't realize that even if he gets in trouble, you might get grilled too. So in a way you are protecting yourself too.

 

The people with bad attitudes put a huge target on themselves early on. Schoolcar doesn't "want" anybody to fail, but if these people should end up on the ropes at some point in their probation, rest assured schoolcar is not going to go to bat for them. Likewise, supervision among the various lines talks A LOT more than people think, and they know who their employees are - even the extra extra people. They WILL get a "book" on everyone a lot sooner than most think. The bad reputation employees will be monitored constantly. The good reputation employees will be checked for familiarization in the beginning, and then once they've shown they're OK on their own, more or less left alone and told they can always ask a question if need be.

 

What Andrew is saying is good advice. There is nothing wrong with getting to schoolcar early. If you and a couple others do it, you can use the time when you are at your most alert (starting the day) to review signal aspects and indications together. It's one of the best ways to learn them until you pass (and you'd better pass!) the signal exam. You can also use this time to compare notes on various things, generally study, or ask questions of each other. In every class, certain people are stronger on certain things than others, so it makes sense to work together and address each individual's weak points rather than run from them. I remember when I broke in on the motors that certain signals had a person identified with them becasue they had such issues with writing that signal out. The teasing was in good fun, but they learned they had to master that signal because of it, and eventually did. Hell, when we had light trains and practiced station stops, a few people wound up with stations named for them too after overruns during practice....once they went on their own, they never overran that station. You're a team, it's not a competition, the goal is to make everyone a SKILLED Train Operator (not a "stop and go" T/O). If you guys are unsure of something, ask the instructor (don't always go by what a classmate is telling you as it may be only partly correct), but study together. And crack the books at home. A lot of people clock out at their clearing time. When the instructor tells you to read something for homework, do it. Most days you're going to have a long ride home. It's easier to learn something the second time you've seen it than if you're seeing it for the first time in class.

 

"Stop and go" T/Os can hit the proper marker at station stops. Can run their regular route. Can avoid hitting a signal. Can follow proper procedure as it relates to road operations. Sounds good, right? They get lost or confused if they are taken off their regular route. They don't know where switches and signals are, so if they are rerouted, they are either winging it or asking for a step by step tutorial. If they are going back to their original route, they may not know exactly where this will happen (this is how most wrong lineups happen). They are scared of the yard as this mythical place where derailments and split switches happen. Put ins and layups are a bit scary, and drilling in the yard making cuts and adds is terrifying. They can't handle troubleshooting. A door problem is too much, don't even worry about a brake pipe rupture, or trouble with a put in. Those, in their opinion, are jobs for the TSS or RCI. And we work with people like that every day. A skilled T/O or M/M can handle all of the above. That's what you want to be.

 

Last: When it comes to signals, stick to what the rule book says. Some classes will get the "flash cards" but if you want to be 100% sure of something you write being correct, or at least that it can be challenged, work off the rule book.

Edited by SubwayGuy
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