Re: re why ......

["Rod [comtrain]" <freight_man@hotmail.com>]

Greg <good@heart.organ> wrote in message
V8ei6.7682$4a.11600332@news.xtra.co.nz">news:V8ei6.7682$4a.11600332@news.xtra.co.nz...
>
> "Rod [comtrain]" <freight_man@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> 3a828453$0$16374$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au">news:3a828453$0$16374$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
> > obviously Greg a moron would know...eh?
> > by the way, I have a military trunk overfilled with Classroom notes,
> > manuals, safeworking exams, appendixes, Diesel guides, Help manuals etc
> etc.
> > You are welcome to come and peruse them any time,
>
> what for?  i have studied as much if not more
> ie .. i had to sit an 8 hr written signalling exam with an 80% pass mark
as
> one of my tests, a secondfailure in this exam meant end of employment..
what
> were your exams .. lengths and pass marks?
Actually My examiner was Gerald Dee, of Victorian Steam fame
I arrived in Melbourne from Wodonga at 0900, was met at Spencer Street, and
the examination started as we left the train walking down to Dynon Loco
where we occupied the class rooms. We stopped at 1230 for a meal, and barely
got back to Spencer Street for my connection back to Wodonga at 1700 hrs { I
was both lucky and unlucky as this was Geralds first Enginemans examination)
we spent from 0930 to 1230 on signalling and safeworking At lunch Gerald
told me he would fail me, because I could not give him a correct
interpretation of the automatic fog signalling machine installed on the
viaduct between Spencer Street and Flinders Street. I later found out that
no body at Jolimont had ever seen it being used, some Drivers had never
heard of it, and they had been Driving since the war!
After lunch Gerald asked me if under the circumstances, did I want to go on
with the exam. I decided to continue, and fully passed another 3 hours of
Westing house brake and more safeworking.
None of this was written, it was all oral questions and answers.
I returned to Dynon 3 months later and repeated the exam and was passed as
Driver 3 on 17-07-80, again with Gerald.
This exam took only 3 hours, and Gerald told me that he had been very hard
on me, the first time. He had since modified the exam to 3 hours, about an
hour on each subject. We attended Institute Classes held by Keith Moore
twice a week 2 hours each for at least two years prior to sitting the
Evaluation Exam, which lasted 2 hours and all this in our own time. After
passing Evaluation we were allowed to sit the Drivers Exam. All in all I
spent 4 years as a second man, under the insructions of a driver, who unpaid
gave me continuios help, instruction, and by example, taught me the
responsibilrity I would inherit as a Driver.
Pass marks for Drivers in Victoria were 100% Signalling {probably because of
the incompetence of signalmen, which meant the Driver was the last man who
could protect the train and the public, in the final annalysis}100%
Safeworking
and 80% Westinghouse Brake.
Parts of the Brake Exam could not be failed also.

This exam contrasted with the guards and Signalmens exams held at the time,
usually when the Melbourne Examiner arrived and all went to the Commercial
Club in Albury to test a few theories over the one armed bandits.
If this sounds a little anti Traffic Branch, well it seems that it is
contagious. Reading between the lines, you seem to promote a similar apathy
towards the Drivers, without whom you just would not have a job.
In Victoria 85% of all Signalboxes have been demolished, and without the
obvious interference of Traffic types, we would have had a electronic
Safeworking system in place all over the State, which seperates the trains,
allows the drivers to set the routes ahead, that is change the roads, either
into or out of loops on single lines, and also set up junctions and platform
arrival. This system was knocked over by incompitent Train controllers who
did not want their jobs to go the way of guards and signalmen in thkis
State. Adelaide Train Control is now instituting a new similar system which
will operate Australia wide, in the near future.
AATC will soon announce a deal to take over all Interstate routes in NSW,
and this will see the demise of many signalmen in that State also.


Now Mr Troll..eh Greg [I just read down through the rest of your answer to
my post..I am waisting my time I guess]
my point is you must be a very lonely person indeed. It seems that rather
than promote good congregation between those that use this group, you would
rather annoy good people who would rather just partake of a little friendly
chat.
Well Sir, I am sorry for you.
Recently I  noticed a few messages under the headings of Guards are c... or
something or other.
please go join that conversation, and I hope you either recover or depart
real soon,
cheerfully
Rod [comtrain]



+































> although I doubt that a
> > moron would get much value out of any of this stuff! Then probably that
is
> > what is wrong with Sydney's Electric Train System at this time...they
want
> > to relax the job classification so that wages of $75000 can be
'moronised'
> > back to a comfortable $35000 or so. Guess what would happen to your
trains
> > then?
>
> a  driver paid 35 would be capable of doing the same job as a driver paid
75
> .. explain why he would not be?
>
>
> >
> > In Melbourne we got rid of guards pretty quickly.
>
> Happened many years ago in my country... your point?
>
>
>  Guards were offered spots
> > in classes to learn how to drive trains and much to the Drivers disgust
>
> ahh so its all about hurt feelings when drivers realised they were not
brain
> surgeons and infact any one could be employed as a train driver......
>
>
> were
> > offered reduced classes, taking account of their experience[?].
> > My figures are a little bit flaky, but essentially very few guards
> actually
> > took up the option, most left the job, or remained in the traffic sector
> as
> > Signalmen, shunters and even gangers.
>
> no doubt put off by the up themselves pompous attitudes of drivers such as
> yourself?
>
>
> > Of those that sat the entrance exams, less than 5% went on to Drive.
>
> rofl what losers .. i was a "ticket collector" before sitting my second
> class the first class loco engineers tickets
> exam results all in the high 90 % s  .. your point is?
>
>
>
>