The Schoolcar Experience

[RTOMan]

22 hours ago, Elfamoso2020 said:

She better have lots of patience then. If the mta wanna keep pushing out T/O on to the road that’s not ready yet then mistake will happen. It is what it is. 

There is a difference between mistakes and mistakes that become compounded making things worse.

 

[RTOMan]

I have to say y'all got it  easy these days when i started in 2001 there was no social media..

No groups online to help us..

People wanted us to crash and burn we got dirty looks in crew rooms T/Os refusing to take us as students..

We had to learn everything on our own, make our own Line Up cards route Books...

It was much harder to get through Schoolcar..

Oh and the Former head of Schoolcar Rocko Cortse had NO patience....

[nipaaaa]

Having passed the final signal exam, I'm going to summarize the YX (yard extra) experience. Overall it was a pleasant learning experience and at the same time mind numbing especially when there's no work assigned. I could only study and review so much. I think working in yards is more valuable than relaying trains at terminals. Though the latter makes the day go by faster. I've had nothing but bad experiences at terminals. I had 1 guy passed out on drugs and one lady who tripped while boarding and busted her ass all over the place. On both occasions, I had to stay at the scene and wait for paramedics to show up. The lady who fell was during morning rush hour and I had to ask the horde of commuters to detrain, they were pissed off! Turned out she faked the injury because the TSS report stated that the doctor said nothing was wrong in the x-rays. If only those commuters knew.

Also, radio signals suck major ass. I almost got in trouble because apparently the terminal dispatcher was calling for me but I swear I didn't hear anything. It was a good thing that I was with a tss and he vouched for me cuz i was under his watch during that period of time assisting with the lady who fell on her ass.

My tours of preference are: evenings > mornings > midnights. There is nothing worse than watching the sun rise with no sleep. I dodged the bullet and didn't get any midnight shifts.

My highlights of YX was going down the road for testing trains with TSS Fingers from Jamaica yard to Bedford-Nostrand and back. He's one of the best in the system! Very eager to teach even though he's not a schoolcar instructor. I feel he's more qualified than the ones at schoolcar tbh. I was fortunate enough to have him for 2 consecutive days so I really got to get my R46 all-guns-blazing-station-stops down. 

Since I'm from south brooklyn, I was also very fortunate to dodge the Bronx bullets and also got blessed for my last week. I was sent 3 days in a row to coney island stillwell terminal 😍

To wrap this up, today at schoolcar the superintendent walked in and had a real talk with my class. He said he was only looking for one thing from us: perfection. He mentioned the July and August classes having too many incidents during road posting and so the bar has been set really high. I don't think he was trying to scare us, but just reminding us that this is a serious job and that we should be on our toes. I agree!

[Elfamoso2020]

5 hours ago, nipaaaa said:

Having passed the final signal exam, I'm going to summarize the YX (yard extra) experience. Overall it was a pleasant learning experience and at the same time mind numbing especially when there's no work assigned. I could only study and review so much. I think working in yards is more valuable than relaying trains at terminals. Though the latter makes the day go by faster. I've had nothing but bad experiences at terminals. I had 1 guy passed out on drugs and one lady who tripped while boarding and busted her ass all over the place. On both occasions, I had to stay at the scene and wait for paramedics to show up. The lady who fell was during morning rush hour and I had to ask the horde of commuters to detrain, they were pissed off! Turned out she faked the injury because the TSS report stated that the doctor said nothing was wrong in the x-rays. If only those commuters knew.

Also, radio signals suck major ass. I almost got in trouble because apparently the terminal dispatcher was calling for me but I swear I didn't hear anything. It was a good thing that I was with a tss and he vouched for me cuz i was under his watch during that period of time assisting with the lady who fell on her ass.

My tours of preference are: evenings > mornings > midnights. There is nothing worse than watching the sun rise with no sleep. I dodged the bullet and didn't get any midnight shifts.

My highlights of YX was going down the road for testing trains with TSS Fingers from Jamaica yard to Bedford-Nostrand and back. He's one of the best in the system! Very eager to teach even though he's not a schoolcar instructor. I feel he's more qualified than the ones at schoolcar tbh. I was fortunate enough to have him for 2 consecutive days so I really got to get my R46 all-guns-blazing-station-stops down. 

Since I'm from south brooklyn, I was also very fortunate to dodge the Bronx bullets and also got blessed for my last week. I was sent 3 days in a row to coney island stillwell terminal 😍

To wrap this up, today at schoolcar the superintendent walked in and had a real talk with my class. He said he was only looking for one thing from us: perfection. He mentioned the July and August classes having too many incidents during road posting and so the bar has been set really high. I don't think he was trying to scare us, but just reminding us that this is a serious job and that we should be on our toes. I agree!

TSS FInger is awesome! He’s always willing to teach and help you out. He’s a super cool dude. 

 

Good thing they havent mention nothing nothing about the May class. We keeping it that way. Lol 

[MarkGuy]

5 hours ago, nipaaaa said:

Having passed the final signal exam, I'm going to summarize the YX (yard extra) experience. Overall it was a pleasant learning experience and at the same time mind numbing especially when there's no work assigned. I could only study and review so much. I think working in yards is more valuable than relaying trains at terminals. Though the latter makes the day go by faster. I've had nothing but bad experiences at terminals. I had 1 guy passed out on drugs and one lady who tripped while boarding and busted her ass all over the place. On both occasions, I had to stay at the scene and wait for paramedics to show up. The lady who fell was during morning rush hour and I had to ask the horde of commuters to detrain, they were pissed off! Turned out she faked the injury because the TSS report stated that the doctor said nothing was wrong in the x-rays. If only those commuters knew.

Also, radio signals suck major ass. I almost got in trouble because apparently the terminal dispatcher was calling for me but I swear I didn't hear anything. It was a good thing that I was with a tss and he vouched for me cuz i was under his watch during that period of time assisting with the lady who fell on her ass.

My tours of preference are: evenings > mornings > midnights. There is nothing worse than watching the sun rise with no sleep. I dodged the bullet and didn't get any midnight shifts.

My highlights of YX was going down the road for testing trains with TSS Fingers from Jamaica yard to Bedford-Nostrand and back. He's one of the best in the system! Very eager to teach even though he's not a schoolcar instructor. I feel he's more qualified than the ones at schoolcar tbh. I was fortunate enough to have him for 2 consecutive days so I really got to get my R46 all-guns-blazing-station-stops down. 

Since I'm from south brooklyn, I was also very fortunate to dodge the Bronx bullets and also got blessed for my last week. I was sent 3 days in a row to coney island stillwell terminal 😍

To wrap this up, today at schoolcar the superintendent walked in and had a real talk with my class. He said he was only looking for one thing from us: perfection. He mentioned the July and August classes having too many incidents during road posting and so the bar has been set really high. I don't think he was trying to scare us, but just reminding us that this is a serious job and that we should be on our toes. I agree!

Congrats! How hard were both signal exams?

[Elfamoso2020]

1 hour ago, MarkGuy said:

Congrats! How hard were both signal exams?

For me it was a bit challenging because I don’t like memorizing exact wording. I knew what the signals meant and all, but you know they want it in their exact wording so it was a bit tricky for me lol 

[MarkGuy]

9 minutes ago, Elfamoso2020 said:

For me it was a bit challenging because I don’t like memorizing exact wording. I knew what the signals meant and all, but you know they want it in their exact wording so it was a bit tricky for me lol 

So not that hard? If you don't put it in the exact wording they want, but you get it technically right, you get the question wrong? How many questions were on it?

[Dave2836]

2 hours ago, MarkGuy said:

So not that hard? If you don't put it in the exact wording they want, but you get it technically right, you get the question wrong? How many questions were on it?

The signals test is the easiest test you will take in School Car.  Just keep reading, writing, and master 3 signals a day, and you gold.  Just keep reading and rereading chapter 3 as a new language.

The hard part comes when you have to perform, think on the fly, and figure out how to navigate through poor flagging.

 

 Lot of parters I worked with refuse to even step into the front cab or even take the test for fear of the responsibility it brings.  It's not hard, it is a challenge, takes time, dedication and discipline, but anyone can do it.  TSS Leonard had some words for us on our first day

Fear means to Face Everything and Rise.

[MarkGuy]

11 hours ago, Elfamoso2020 said:

TSS FInger is awesome! He’s always willing to teach and help you out. He’s a super cool dude. 

 

Good thing they havent mention nothing nothing about the May class. We keeping it that way. Lol 

Wait, so are you saying there is a May class, but you guys are keeping it under wraps for now?

[Imhim]

3 hours ago, MarkGuy said:

Wait, so are you saying there is a May class, but you guys are keeping it under wraps for now?

lol nah he was in the May class from last year. He’s talking about incidents from ppl in his class. 

[Elfamoso2020]

5 hours ago, Imhim said:

lol nah he was in the May class from last year. He’s talking about incidents from ppl in his class. 

Exactly. May 2018 lol 

[nipaaaa]

First week of road ops was rough 1900-0300 hours. Had a 12-9 going northbound into Tremont Ave. Wasn't me but my classmate. It was fortunate that she didn't see the guy on the tracks so it wasn't as traumatic. It was the TSS who actually saw the guy cuz he was in the center and told her to put the train in emergency. The body was closer towards the platform on the left side so with the shadow, my classmate really couldn't see the body. 

Last night we did the A from lefferts to 207, back to far rock, ping ponged to Euclid, back to rockaway park, and finally back to Euclid for the lay up. Had to wait another 30 mins to travel back to lefferts. We were on the train from 8 pm to 2 am, I felt I was losing my sanity.

Edited May 9, 2019 by nipaaaa

[Biggie]

23 hours ago, nipaaaa said:

First week of road ops was rough 1900-0300 hours. Had a 12-9 going northbound into Tremont Ave. Wasn't me but my classmate. It was fortunate that she didn't see the guy on the tracks so it wasn't as traumatic. It was the TSS who actually saw the guy cuz he was in the center and told her to put the train in emergency. The body was closer towards the platform on the left side so with the shadow, my classmate really couldn't see the body. 

Last night we did the A from lefferts to 207, back to far rock, ping ponged to Euclid, back to rockaway park, and finally back to Euclid for the lay up. Had to wait another 30 mins to travel back to lefferts. We were on the train from 8 pm to 2 am, I felt I was losing my sanity.

Damn that seems rough, hell even the first time going down the road in schoolcar, stuff like this makes people really think if they wanna come down here and do this for a living, there are way too many 12-9s lately.

[Elfamoso2020]

On 5/9/2019 at 5:36 PM, nipaaaa said:

First week of road ops was rough 1900-0300 hours. Had a 12-9 going northbound into Tremont Ave. Wasn't me but my classmate. It was fortunate that she didn't see the guy on the tracks so it wasn't as traumatic. It was the TSS who actually saw the guy cuz he was in the center and told her to put the train in emergency. The body was closer towards the platform on the left side so with the shadow, my classmate really couldn't see the body. 

Last night we did the A from lefferts to 207, back to far rock, ping ponged to Euclid, back to rockaway park, and finally back to Euclid for the lay up. Had to wait another 30 mins to travel back to lefferts. We were on the train from 8 pm to 2 am, I felt I was losing my sanity.

I heard about that 12-9, you was with my school car TSS Kelly. 

[Elfamoso2020]

18 hours ago, Biggie said:

Damn that seems rough, hell even the first time going down the road in schoolcar, stuff like this makes people really think if they wanna come down here and do this for a living, there are way too many 12-9s lately.

It’s been like two 12-9 almost everyday for the past month or so, it’s been wild 

[Elfamoso2020]

On 5/3/2019 at 11:42 PM, MarkGuy said:

So not that hard? If you don't put it in the exact wording they want, but you get it technically right, you get the question wrong? How many questions were on it?

They want it their exact wording, you can be right in your wording and they would still mark it wrong. Their exact words or zero.

 

Forst signal test is 25 questions, 10 write out and 15 multiple choice. 

The second signal test is 15 write question. One question is full flagging procedures, that takes up almost a whole page alone.

 

[nipaaaa]

13 hours ago, Elfamoso2020 said:

I heard about that 12-9, you was with my school car TSS Kelly. 

Yea TSS Kelly, quiet guy, I like him. I think he's returning tomorrow for my second road ops week.

[staffspm1]

my God, just catching up, you have a hostile working environment.

To give you an example on my side of the pond. A driver recently caused a lot of delays to the network because his train radio failed and he went onto the track to use a phone. It was in a locked cupboard and the driver didn't know (or even try) any of the keys he was issued to see if it would open.

He was in no trouble at all and the company issued a new poster to tell everyone what the key was and also I was instructed as a trainer to redo the training course for that part.

 

We would NEVER shout or have a go at any trainee for any reason. The unions simply wouldn't allow it and it is counterproductive. If there is a spate in incidents then groups are formed to find out why and come up with a solution. I do wish one of your TSSs could swap with me for a course just so we can see how the other works!!

[Dave2836]

19 hours ago, staffspm1 said:

my God, just catching up, you have a hostile working environment.

To give you an example on my side of the pond. A driver recently caused a lot of delays to the network because his train radio failed and he went onto the track to use a phone. It was in a locked cupboard and the driver didn't know (or even try) any of the keys he was issued to see if it would open.

He was in no trouble at all and the company issued a new poster to tell everyone what the key was and also I was instructed as a trainer to redo the training course for that part.

 

We would NEVER shout or have a go at any trainee for any reason. The unions simply wouldn't allow it and it is counterproductive. If there is a spate in incidents then groups are formed to find out why and come up with a solution. I do wish one of your TSSs could swap with me for a course just so we can see how the other works!!

It stems from the unfortunate tone at the top culture of guilty before proven innocent down here.  For the most part, management who came from operations on the road have a little compassion, but the people who decide our fates in Labor Relations don't neccessarily come from the road or at all from the operational floor.

When the customer is always right attitude even when they attack, curse us out, even try to murder us and the company we work for is more concerned about controlling our Over Time vs putting resources to protect their own... Speaks volumes.

[nipaaaa]

Finished my 2 weeks of road ops. I feel prepared for next 6 weeks of passenger service! Had the chance to drive the R42s yesterday, despite its age, I really like them. The brakes are the smoothest and most responsive out of all the SMEE trains. They aren't wanky like the R68A (retarded delays) or R32 (hard rough stops!) brakes... The end doors are also a pleasure to open and close unlike the R68s and R46s...

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by nipaaaa

[Imhim]

7 hours ago, nipaaaa said:

Finished my 2 weeks of road ops. I feel prepared for next 6 weeks of passenger service! Had the chance to drive the R42s yesterday, despite its age, I really like them. The brakes are the smoothest and most responsive out of all the SMEE trains. They aren't wanky like the R68A (retarded delays) or R32 (hard rough stops!) brakes... The end doors are also a pleasure to open and close unlike the R68s and R46s...

 

Good luck hopefully you get cool trainers who give you some great knowledge! R68As are cool, just get the timing down and don’t have no fear with it, because that fear will turn to doubt and then bam something happens, other than that posting is gonna be a breeze! 

[nipaaaa]

Had an interesting day on the road. Posted on the N. I was at 34 st going northbound when the local tower tells me to take an express lineup to 57 st and bypass 1 station. I make my stop at 42 st and the conductor didn't want to open the doors. Isn't 42 st station part of an express lineup? I thought we were only bypassing 49 st. In that situation, was I supposed to call the city hall master and let them know the my conductor didn't want to open the doors? My trainer told me to just leave 42 and then he goes "I think you were right"

[Imhim]

1 hour ago, nipaaaa said:

Had an interesting day on the road. Posted on the N. I was at 34 st going northbound when the local tower tells me to take an express lineup to 57 st and bypass 1 station. I make my stop at 42 st and the conductor didn't want to open the doors. Isn't 42 st station part of an express lineup? I thought we were only bypassing 49 st. In that situation, was I supposed to call the city hall master and let them know the my conductor didn't want to open the doors? My trainer told me to just leave 42 and then he goes "I think you were right"

Something similar to this happened to someone else I know, make sure when you get an order like that, the conductor acknowledges whoever gave the order. Not being on the same page can cause you both to be downtown for no reason! The way they’re taught in school car, it’s like C/Rs versus T/Os instead of working together as it should be! 

[Late Clear]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:24 PM, nipaaaa said:

Had an interesting day on the road. Posted on the N. I was at 34 st going northbound when the local tower tells me to take an express lineup to 57 st and bypass 1 station. I make my stop at 42 st and the conductor didn't want to open the doors. Isn't 42 st station part of an express lineup? I thought we were only bypassing 49 st. In that situation, was I supposed to call the city hall master and let them know the my conductor didn't want to open the doors? My trainer told me to just leave 42 and then he goes "I think you were right"

1.  You're posting.  You shall be guided by whoever is posting you.  The T/O has to work with their partner.  

2.  Stop putting everything you encounter daily on this forum.  

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:24 PM, nipaaaa said:

Had an interesting day on the road. Posted on the N. I was at 34 st going northbound when the local tower tells me to take an express lineup to 57 st and bypass 1 station. I make my stop at 42 st and the conductor didn't want to open the doors. Isn't 42 st station part of an express lineup? I thought we were only bypassing 49 st. In that situation, was I supposed to call the city hall master and let them know the my conductor didn't want to open the doors? My trainer told me to just leave 42 and then he goes "I think you were right"

Thank you for sharing your experiences in schoolcar. It gives me (an outsider) a glimpse of what a rookie T/O in training goes through. Do you have a preferred line you'd like to pick once you get the chance?