Re: Excess NR Locos for Sale

["Pumbaa" <jcostello@ozemail.com.au>]

Listen here, you're playing the daddy tonight. HAHAHAHAHA

How would you now describe our/your working within NR now ?

Where do you reckon we'll be in the next 12 to 24 months ?

Privatisation, you fore or against ?

Joe
"f.u.i.t.b.e.t" <fuitbet@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
3b16d609$0$25491$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au">news:3b16d609$0$25491$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
> So Rod,
> The story in NSW went something like this.....FH,NM,MM,DG and a few others
> came to Sydney`s hosting of the AFULE`s annual   piss up....1993 was the
> year.....We all got this very rosy picture painted about the coming of NR
> especially by Frank....So the seeds were then sown to the union guys and
> they were recruited into Frank`s web of deception...... I believe the
> forming of the PTU was instrumental in the setting up of NR....I also
> believe the players involved all had prior Knowledge and an agenda never
> shown to us at the grass roots level....Myself Glenn and others joined in
> April 1994 and set up the rosters, crew co ordination, loco rostering etc
> etc....Only 12 months had  passed but things were starting to go
> sour......Frank had well and truly jumped the fence and would do and say
> anything to survive.....the DIC`s had served their purpose so they were
> disposed of..... control of the rosters etc was taken far away from us...
> and all this.. after the Dic`s being  personally recruited by frank and
all
> craft members... they were now being removed by other forces at
play....Very
> few Dic`s remained in the management side of things only the one`s that
> danced to the right tune...NM is one of them.....So as you can see Rod the
> same thing happened to all of us as has happened to you guys down there
with
> one difference we gave up all of our entitlements to go to NR..I for one
> cannot wait for sale of the century....
> P.S Do you see the moth about thses days?
> Stephen Pracy
> Locomotive driver
> Sydney NR
> "Rod [comtrain]" <freight_man@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3b14d1c6$0$25488$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
> > Gidday Glenn!
> >
> > Its a funny thing about that question, it gets asked a lot by National
> Rail
> > Enginemen!
> > This answer should more probably be sent privately, but as you asked it
on
> > the group, I will answer it on the Group.
> > It should be a comprehensive answer, because chatting over a shandy or
two
> > with other Enginemen who did not go to NR, I am positive it applies to a
> lot
> > of Engineman, not just me.
> > A long time before the jobs were called at NR, Melbourne, several Union
> > Meetings were held, dominated by Hxxx, and many of the Dynon Hard Core
> > Unionists like Mxxxx , Dxxxxx and Lxxxxx etc etc.
> > These people were dead against National Rail and the Union Meetings were
> > running on the theme that it will never happen.
> > Being a fan of American Big Train Railroading, all I could think of, was
a
> > difference a truly National Railway would make to both the Economy of
> Rail,
> > and my job. Maybe I could operate some long heavy trains, with modern
> > horsepower.....etc etc. I knew that I could do it, I was not frightened
by
> > training, exams or anything else!
> > I jumped up at one Union Meeting and announced to all and sundry, that
> > National Rail was going to be our last chance to shaft the Trucking
Lobby,
> > and at Rails latest share of East Coast Traffic being less than 5%, We
> were
> > the ones being badly shafted.. No body else in that meeting spoke for
the
> > Governments plan to form National Rail. Privately many said they agreed,
I
> > remember saying after the meeting, that regardless of what you do Fxxxx,
I
> > will be signing up, first chance I get.
> > The next several years, the Union down here was dead against National
> Rail.
> > I was transferring around the place getting as much big train experience
> as
> > I could get. I never got into trouble, in fact I was pretty pleased with
> > myself, and could not wait for National Rail.
> > Well the application forms arrived in the mail. Pretty simple stuff
number
> > from 1 to 5 your competency with each question asked. 1 being absolutely
> > competent, 5 being completely ignorant.
> > Can't remember the Questions, you know them, others might not
> > as an example
> > Can you competently drive a train?..
> > .easy       answer   1
> > Can you operate a computer?    did not own one never used one ...easy
> > answer  5
> > Can you operate a signal box?    never trained as a signalman but I can
> read
> > a diagram  good answer would be 4
> > etc etc
> > 20 % of the questions were not directly concerned with Driving a Train,
> and
> > I answered all questions as honestly as I could, but obviously still
erred
> > to my advantage.
> > Later on after all the Drivers had been selected, and I had not got an
> > interview, it was easy to blame the Union Executive who had all jumped
> ship
> > applied and got jobs with NR, despite their continuing opposition to the
> > formation of National Rail. XXXXXXX even took his Fireman along, who was
> not
> > even qualified as an Driver!
> > Those of us who had missed out, all reacted in different ways. I admit
my
> > anger was intense, I was really pissed. Some went crying to National
Rail,
> > and amazingly got jobs, the rest of us continued on as we could and made
> the
> > best of it. We continued to drive Interstate trains for a year or so,
till
> > NR got their crews all on line. I transferred around the State and ran
as
> > many trains as I could till the inevitable chop came, as V/Lines work
> dried
> > up. Fortunately the New Union Management cooperated with V/Line and
> Victoria
> > came out of it pretty well. No one was pushed, Some took packages, the
> rest
> > of us worked plenty of O/T and our pay packages, thanks to Aggregate
> Wages,
> > climbed within a few thousand of NR's . When NR lost part of their
> payments
> > a couple of years ago, we  were receiving pretty much the same as them,
> with
> > a hell of a lot less stress. I began to be very happy with my job, and
> > thanked my lucky stars when I finally, after 20 years got my job back at
> > Wodonga. So I am very glad I never got that job with NR in Melbourne.
> > Why did I not get the job in Melbourne? The consultants in Adelaide made
> the
> > recommendations to NR on the basis of the
> > score received on the Application. In Melbourne, to get a recommendation
> for
> > Interview, you needed to score no more than 5 beyond  the total of the
> > Questions, so they told me. This would mean if their were 50 questions,
> any
> > one who scored higher than 55, was not invited for interview. These
> figures
> > are not all together accurate, I am only illustrating the selection
> process.
> > It was very obvious to those of us at the Dynon Union meeting, that
first
> of
> > all You had to tell lies to get an interview. Nobody could have known
> every
> > job that was listed on the application form!
> > and secondly you had to be liked by the 4 ex union bosses who made the
> > Interview selection process at Melbourne.
> > I was told (privately) that my old foes Dxxxx and Mxxx had voted me out
of
> > an Interview, as Adelaide had highly recommended my application. Thank
God
> > they did.
> > A lot of those John West rejected, were in the long run pleased. Our
Union
> > Meetings were much more democratic, we got rid of a lot of shit, and
lost
> a
> > lot of good mates [they were much too busy in those days to have time
for
> a
> > beer ]
> > So say what you may, but with pricks like Dxxx and Mxxxx, and Union
Bosses
> > like Dave Gunn and Bob Lawrence and Frank Hussey, who threw the AFULE to
> the
> > dogs to control and in my opinion drag NR back from its full potential,
> > people like me never had a chance, and although I learned to be very
happy
> > about it, I will never forgive those who stuffed up Australia's best
> chance
> > of making Railways a force to be reckoned with in this Country.
> > I guess I don't want Legal Litigation to upset my perfectly incredible
> > retirement ;o)) the x'd names I send to you separately for your eyes
only,
> > and only because you seemed to want to know what was in my head. Hope
this
> > gives you a little insight about one "chinook"
> > Rod [comtrain]
> > ps I no longer work for Freight Australia because I suffer PTSD, which
> > coupled with age and the stress induced by our New American masters, an
> > accident or two, my wife becoming ill with Cancer, caused a situation to
> > develop where I could no longer trust myself to react in a Safe and
proper
> > manner. As Safety of the Public is of prime importance to this Driver,
and
> > as my Vietnam Experiences were found to contribute much of my anger and
> > stress I decided to accept my Doctors advice and retire early. I am
happy
> to
> > say my wife is recovered, my stress levels are way down. I have a
fistful
> of
> > Dollars and can happily survive beyond Railways...amazingly enough!
> > Got time to booze with my mates, and can hop on the footplate any time
it
> > suits me, although I have rarely done this.
> > Wave to me around Wodonga, if you see a baulding fully bearded cameraman
> > taking your picture. I dusted off the old Pentax, I think it works after
> all
> > these years.
> > Proud to be an ex.Driver/Gunzel
> >
> > "fatboy" <fatboy64@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:s9OQ6.26750$BU4.45097@news1.blktn1.nsw.optushome.com.au...
> > > Rod,
> > > You  seem to direct a lot of resentment towards  your fellow ex
> workmates
> > > ( be it Ex Vic Rail or State Rail),  and  maybe that's why you no
longer
> > > work on the footplate.
> > >
> > > Did you actually apply for a job with National Rail and miss out I
> wonder.
> > >
> > > Happy Motoring,
> > > Glenn Don
> > > Loco Driver
> > > National Rail Sydney.
> > > "Rod [comtrain]" <freight_man@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >
> >
> >
>
>