Re: Head on in the Western district

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <38465285@nap-ns1> "Lineman" <grime@dcsi.net.au> writes:
>From: "Lineman" <grime@dcsi.net.au>
>Subject: Re: Head on in the Western district
>Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 21:18:32 +1100


>"Jeff Schmidt" <jschmidt@tpgi.com.au> wrote in message
>38463aa0@dnews.tpgi.com.au">news:38463aa0@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>> <wacking great snip>
>> That's the first part of the sign...
>>
>> Jeff
>> Good one Jeff <g!>
>> So like the man said in Oklahoma
>"You gotta know the territory" Swell.
>No ifs or buts,and its something a simulator can never teach you.You have to
>feel it.
>Lineman Graeme
>>
>>
The reason I started this thread was not obviously to create a scenerio 
whereby a first time driver is going to be asked to drive a 5000 tonne train 
over a road he doesnt know , but to simply determine whether its feasable to 
allow it to happen , ie to ask a driver with competant train driveing ability  
to take in the first case a low weight train , maybe even a light loco over a 
new road.

There is a potential problem with the you gotta know the road philosophy in an 
environment with horizontal integration, in that there is no way a new 
operator can start, unless they can poach or buy a driver from an already 
existing railway who already knows the road.
As existing operators keep cutting staff, a time will come where its simply 
not possible to start a rail company as you cant get started, ie you cant get 
your first driver,as he doesnt know the road ,and none of your competitors 
will teach him.

The only way around this is to allow the infrastructure owners , to teach 
potential new drivers the road , but this assumes that the infrastructure 
owners themselves employ drivers who know all the roads within their 
jurisdiction, a not likely scenerio.

MD