Re: Guards to Drive During Olympics?

[David Johnson <trainman@ozemail.com.au>]

Rod wrote:

> There is no way a Guard will be fully trained in 14 weeks!

You are quite right.  Guards have been in training since they started as Guards.

> NSW is not a lot different to Victoria. When we had Guards they were mainly
> failed "Firemen"
> who were re-employed as Guards, shunters, Signalmen or Station Staff. Some
> even ended up on the Gangs. My Friends North of the border assure me it was
> the same there!

Perhaps in freight, but not on the sparks.  I left a job at Scientific Services
to go guard for the sole purpose of later transferring to driver, as I did not
want to go through the freight side.

> Many hundreds of Victorian Guards and other staff have been offered seats on
> our Locomotives. Very few finished the normal training schemes, that is 3
> years, amd most of those, with a few noteable exceptions, were unable to
> continue in the grade.

But they did not have to pass an exam and interview process to get into the
course?

> You guys will be a danger to yourselves as well as others, untill you learn
> respect for the power of the machine you will be asked to control.

If you say so.

--
David Johnson
trainman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/