Train driver stories reddit. Almost all classroom days are 0800-1600.
Train driver stories reddit He accepts, choosing just 1 banana. It wasn’t for me. I believe that’s usually around 2 years, I’m not sure. No model trains or railfan videos please. They are looking for diversity hires. Think about it, 1 driver can literally move thousands of people. This is what inspired me to post, because I'm genuinely curious as to what others have seen I’m not kidding. The driver relayed a story to him where one time, an old woman's husband had died and she couldn't live without him, so she sat on the track and waited for the train to hit her. According to a friend of mine whose dad is with the town police dept he stepped out from his vehicle, walked out onto the tracks and waved at the train as it ran him over. Here's one of a freight train in the port of Hamburg from onboard an electric loco. Someone told me you need to get an engineering degree. I do not have this combined airing available but I have the 10 hours from each season, e. Fundamentally, in an economy where inflation is circa 10%, it’s not a question about whether train drivers deserve a pay rise, it’s about whether they deserve a pay cut. Hi, I am not a Train Driver, but I am a Psychometric Assessor. Most staff are not train drivers though, they are customer service, cleaners, ticket inspectors etc etc and are paid a lot lower than they probably should. I didn’t understand what happened at first because I was on the other side, but I went over the station bridge as my train was the one they jumped Hi, I’m new to reddit, just wanted to ask any train drivers or anyone that works in the rail industry about the recruitment stages. It's always about the person who passed and the train its self. I think this needs to be discussed more. That crash likely would've happened regardless, since the drivers didn't have line of sight until it was too late, and the train operator behind wouldn't have been able to see that there was a train ahead of it any other way (because the problem had to do with the train location system). I feel like the driver is never talked about when someone is killed. I’m a school student looking into becoming a train driver for Sydney trains after school. Air is back. From there, I'd wager you work your way up the ranks/eventually start training to be a tube driver when a vacancy pops up. Even if they don't go under the train the impact will do a lot of damage. I’m curious if there’s any metro train drivers who could offer some insight into what it’s like. No really Get Help: USA National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK(8255) Edit: Formatting. Let’s chugga-chugga choo choo our way to this story… Some malicious railroad compliance. My husband had applied a few times. After completing them I have not received a I’m 17 years old & about to finish school, I’m looking to work in Queensland Rail at some point (eventually work my way up to Train Driver but currently looking for a more basic role) There’s a Porter job being advertised and it’s something I’d definitely be interested in, I have a passion for trains & am quite interested in the In the UK there are a mixture of operating companies. You’ll either be a driver that never gets anything or a driver that gets everything. Suddenly, the ground underneath them felt down and they ended up in a dark place. The train will hoot twice, the men will respond by raising an arm to let the driver know they are aware he is there (and not step out) the driver will hoot back to acknowledge. We then go and test it and review logging and replays and the driver changes their story pretty quick. My dad is a train driver and has killed two people committing suicide on the tracks. Throwing yourself in front of a train is a dick move. I believe it is significantly harder to become a train driver than it is to BE a train driver. Clean stop from cruising speed, inch-perfect. So if you're at a platform and want to know which direction the train goes, picture it driving on the right track just like a car. Steam, Diesel, Electric, Pneumatic, Hydraulic. It’s a significant investment to train a new driver so they want the right people. He keeps driving up alongside the train. I personally far prefer “irregular” shift work over a 9-5, and hate it when my shifts fall into AM2’s which are roughly office-like hours; you can’t do anything before work, can’t do anything after work, and you have to deal with traffic The thing is they still go under the train, now you're just turning them into a meat paste. Pretty functional stuff. The toilets are too filthy as they pissed all over it and there is not enough space, it likes you are locked inside a cramped closet with piss filled every fucking corner. 5. The train companies want to remove the train guards which would mean there is only ONE train worker on the train and that would be the train driver who would monitor everything by CCTV. The meal break location does vary - if you get one at Flinders Street you have dozens of places to grab a feed, if it's at the likes of Upfield, you've got a choice of the depot meal room, or the local kebab van. I’m just curious on how much is the salary… E. This has to be extremely hard to deal with even with the knowledge it can happen. The average is around $2500 in hand a fortnight for a trainee. A train conductor is driving a train with 50 passengers on railroad tracks. Train Driver Here, somewhere in Europe. There have been at least 3 accidental deaths from auto-train collisions, but a year ago, two cars crossed the tracks right before a train. Train manager/conductor/ticket person calls our control centre and reports. Then they'd also need to remove the bad habits out of you. Not just the train driver (who will be scarred for life), but also all the passion the train (who are often also traumatised). At the train station this person jumped infront of the train and killed themselves. I don’t think train drivers (and other rail staff) will work any less hard or less efficiently this year than the year before. No passengers, no conductors. ++ The sub will remain private for at least 48hr from 0000UTC on 12th June 2023. a few minutes with a flashlight and my dad sees part of a skull with long brown hair attached. " Hi all, longshot here but I'm really trying to get a job with BHP as a train driver and would be looking at FIFO work as I'm tied to my current situation where I am now. Bus driver threatening to kick a lady with her 4 mo old baby off in the middle of NM because it cried once after he had issued out strict rules during the debrief while pulling out of the garage. A lot of train drivers/engineers actually do use the firebox to cook their meals, like using the shovels to cook eggs over the fire. I administer assessments on potential recruitment candidates to determine if their cognitive profile fits the mould that is deemed to be required to learn to and to drive a Train safely, I suppose. It’s then upto the driver to get out and look (if they feel ok to do so and report back the findings). Makes me wonder about the mental health of the driver after. I was asked to complete 2 assessments and another one in August last year. It's "top dollar" because of the process involved. Quick story: eons ago as a young college student, I was on a local train in Mexico when it hit a cow. You might get lucky and avoid it, but if you pursue a lenghtier career in this field, chances are that sooner or later it will happen. As a driver myself some positions that interest me are driver trainer, standards officer, train crew liaison officer, compliance officer, TSDM, Network incident manager and incident rail commander. There’s nothing they can do but literally look away and hit the brakes. Mate says “if you’re a straight, white, cis Australian man you have zero chance of getting a call” Another great role in Sydney Trains is Transport Officer. He misses the last stop and crashes the train, killing everyone on the train but him. The third man was killed when he was pinned between an oncoming L train and the station platform at the Sixth Avenue station at about 10:10 p. These will be removed. I don't know where you are getting your information, but please don't correct a litteral train driver for Sydney trains who tells you they don't issue phones to all the drivers TWP 100 Reply reply More replies WOW! That's sure a long ride! My longest train leg is about 6 hours, from Berlin to Prague (after a 6-hour train trip from Utrecht to Berlin via Amsterdam). ) The only way in is to apply for a job as a trainee driver with a train operating company (or, more unusually, a freight operating company), providing evidence in your responses to the questions on the application form to demonstrate that you’ve got the necessary attributes (“non technical skills”) for the job, bearing in mind that there’ll be hundreds if not thousands applying for each I drive trains. As he's walking someone hears his switch keys jingling and the conductor hears "oh shit. I head back up to talk with pd about body. Here's one of a freight train led by an ex DR Soviet diesel loco on the Bodenseegürtelbahn around Lake Constance which otherwise sees only DMUs. It doesn't matter, let them be seen! Post your Pics, Videos, Stories, experiences The Home for all things "Iron Horse". It takes 18 months to train, and you need drivers currently qualified on the network to train the new drivers. "Cattle catchers" were designed to stop objects from derailing the train, not to save humans from getting run over by a train. But this is all beside the point; there's no visas for train drivers/conductors. The majority of train drivers I know have had at least one collision with either a vehicle or a person. Some will only recruit for qualified drivers whereas others take on trainees. m. Stupid, I know. I applied for the Trainee train driver role with Vline last year in July. Not me but a buddy. Signals, commands, trains etc would be different, and you'd have to learn all of that anyway; essentially being trained as a brand new driver. . My dad is a train driver, has been for decades, and he now has to submit his sleep apnea CPAP machine records, and if he doesn't average something like 7 hours of sleep, they start sending him to clinicians to reassess his fitness to do the job. I'm in my 50s now started writing in 83, I still look st trackside for art, wish there was more trains painted. This happens more frequently than people know. Jump in front of the train. 5 years rail experience and 2 years as a driver, hard working, never sick. Nah, the thing that pulls the train is either a locomotive or, casually speaking, a loco. The process used related entirely to a persons background because full on the job trained was & still is delivered through the Petersham Transport Training Centre. 5am-10pm working time frame (no overnight) 8 out of 28 Saturdays worked 4 out of 28 Sundays worked No public holiday. The conductor starts walking the train to find out why. r/trainstories: A place to share the good, bad, funny, interesting, boring, abnormal or everyday stories of your train rides! Most of the drivers were 40+ before they became drivers. What’ll happen will be a virtual cab, where one driver will monitor 3-4 trains from a simulator and take control if one moves outside predetermined parameters, while this is happening an AI will be learning in the background, eventually (probably within a few years) they’ll move to total AI control, we already have pilot less drones, a Train drivers are heavily unionised, so if youre not really into that you will feel quite left out. The first car had a middle aged mom in it. Nothing at site we saw the kids. Pling, pling, pling. In saying that, there are many other positions that don't interest me. He reached a check point and was forcibly removed from his truck at gunpoint. Until earlier this year the dress code was fairly loose for drivers: black shoes, tshirt/shirt and black pants, all provided by the company. 2. Jan 9, 2017 · Peter’s first fatal accident as a train driver was in June of 1990, when a woman tried to open the door after the train had started moving and she got stuck between the train and the platform. I dont think thats a big deal but some may get bored. I started signaller pretty young at 23, the training was tough, as I live in Wollongong and was waking up at 4am everyday to get to Petersham by 8, and getting home at 6 every night, so 14hr days for 8 weeks straight, I was a zombie. It’s a fantastic job, I absolutely love it, but like with any job, it’s not always sunshine, daisies, and rainbows. Body is cold. Not sure if this is the case in Britain, but there are train drivers without a drivers licence for a car. I’m one of the latter but if I can cope then anyone can (5 near misses, person between platform and train, fire on board, hit trees, hit ballast bags, had windows put through, unit failures, train to train evac. 1 day ago · Buried In Nearly $100K Of Debt, A 23-Year-Old Train Driver Wonders If Cashing Out His 401(k) Is The Answer To His $66K Car Loan Adrian Volenik Mon, Apr 7, 2025, 5:30 AM 3 min read Hello. Mar 23, 2020 · From Redditor /u/nawniemaria: M y dad works on the trains in Northern California. He gets sentenced to death by the electric chair, but gets offered a last meal first. Aaaand the real answer: cost. During the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics City Rail embarked on a massive recruitment campaign for Carriage Cleaner - Station Staff - Train Guard & Driver. If the workers are working on a line adjacent to the road the train is running on, they will be made aware and reminded not to step out on to the open line by a site warden. Posted by u/Livid-Raisin-4489 - 7 votes and 5 comments It quite recently aired a 10 hour long train ride on Nordlansbanen, put together from footage from all 4 seasons. 5 Train dispatch and shunting – colour vision 2. The 'train driver' would be expected to be capable not just of driving the train but of the selection process is very competitive, metro has drivers classes running pretty well continuously, they train maybe 20 or 30 new drivers a year and I believe it takes about 12 months to qualify, but there are a lot of applicants (hundreds often even thousands) initially there is an online aptitude test, then an interview and a medical The Home for all things "Iron Horse". You have to do (i believe) 6 months of training and then a test, then 2 years of "shunting" work, where you move the trains from the station to the "garage" (no idea proper terminologies) with no passengers on board. the full train ride as seen from the drivers position: Spring: Nordlandsbanen Spring part 1 Nordlandsbanen Spring part 2 Reminds me not far from where I live there is a walking trail that follows the train line very close by separated by a low wire fence anyway often the train driver honks at me or others which is a nice feeling (In Australia our trains are very slow) yet I am irritated by a car honking at me while walking even if I know them One morning in the early hours, R and the train driver were sitting talking as usual, as their train traveled through a heavy thunder storm through a rural part of my country. Then: pessimist saw nothing, realist saw a tunnel, optimist saw a light and a train driver saw three idiots on the track. The story I was always told is the test they were given is to stop a fully loaded passenger train so the door of the first carriage would stop right in front of the inspector with no inching up. Sectorised running in the near future will mean you will consistently drive the same lines everyday. ’ A place for railroad professionals to gather and discuss their respective crafts, the industry, etc. Train A is a conrail freight train which ran a redlight blocking 2 tracks at a merge point. Most fail the testing. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. We stopped and - no joke - the crew got out large knives and a saw and a half-hour later brought aboard some choice cuts to bring home to their families. Intercity drivers (country) classes begin every 3 months where Sydney train Drivers (suburban) classes begin more frequently. Tell of a time when in an emergency situation, what was it, what did you do, they want calm, clear, straight thinking. Singing loudly the entire time. "steam engines". It doesn't matter, let them be seen! Post your Pics, Videos, Stories, experiences He’s got a body in the weeds but it’s 1/2 mile behind where I saw the kids. There is beauty in a tag if done right and it basically boils down to freedom of expression. My father was a truck driver in East Africa in the 80’s and early 90’s. No spamming sales. I imagine that train driver in article is smashing the overtime; basic for a fully-qualified train driver is often over £50k but thats for 35 hours a week over something like 4 days (turns), but your turn is a max of 12 hours (no driving in the 12th hour) and as long as the you get 12 hours off between turns you can do as many as you like. Some poor soul that was hit or fell off a train previously. It’s still early days but within 1 day of sending my CV and asking about trainee train driver jobs at my local TOC I’m booked in for an assessment in… I work on the train in the Netherlands. Full story in the comments. During the years leading up to the Rwandan genocide, my father was passing through Rwanda. As a driver though, you get very well looked after. Mine isn’t necessarily a horror story, but I’m currently sat on the train, on the window side next to someone who is playing techno music so loud in her earphones that I can hear it while wearing headphones and she’s sort of slowing bopping along to it, can’t be very good for her eardrums, I feel quite uncomfortable and I can only lean so far toward the window, northern rail as well so My father was a driver for 50 years. This is the highest voted thing I have ever gotten on reddit, and of course its on my "sexy" account. It doesn't matter, let them be seen! Post your Pics, Videos, Stories, experiences heard so many stories of people walking in front of trains i believe they have blinds they just pull down if it happens also a sad story of a kid walking down the tracks with headphones on didnt hear the train coming up behind him - poor driver Trains are driven manually. I answered the paperwork honestly and was interrogated by the doctor for having ADHD and he wanted to know every single detail and acted like I wasn't going to pass. Most were apprentices for 20 years. ++ We look forward to seeing you later, and thank you for your understanding. Train driver here. > Suggests he's probably out of luck. Long periods of concentration example. All the roles require your skills and experience as a driver. Specifically, what is the… Really it’s a guy standing next to an older steam engine 26 years ago out in the middle of nowhere, and then the same guy standing next to a maglev train in a city center train station. Full Automation tends to work better in networks like Singapore that are designed specifically for it - completely separate lines without crossovers or junctions, no level crossings and platform gates at stations. One of my mates is a long time train driver. 'Train drivers' is a colloquial term that is probably seeping in more and more as complexity of the mechanics of working a train decreases. If you do want to eventually become a tube driver, you'll have to first get an entry levels Tfl job. 1 Infrastructure managers and railway undertakings shall not permit persons to be involved in train dispatch or shunting with defective colour vision if the work requires the differentiation of colours. In the middle of nowhere I suddently hear the intercom. Women, POCs, LGBTQ’s. Even DLR which doesn't use drivers still has a member of staff in every train. Last, Bus driver played "Turn down for what" on repeat for an 8 fucking hour drive. Swedish driver here, working for the largest passenger company. Being alone on the job is very different to the training experience. They got on the train and the engineer saw the brake air pressure wasn't coming up on the rear. British 'train drivers' are also, and were more frequently, known as engineers, but it is a term from the steam era. it was a lot of years ago). A tough job at times being away from home but when the DART came in it got better. Further back, until the late 80s, drivers wore civilan clothing except for an overcoat and hat. comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment Trains tend to have a regular schedule, yes. I was driving alone. As a driver, Know a bit of the company, its work, history, poss routes covered. it's a token - on single track lines, only one token for that stretch exists, and only the train in possession of it can enter that stretch - the token is transferred between trains leaving, and routed to arrive on the single track. You’ll work some weekends, but not many. When I was getting ready to leave I read the newspaper and it said that the guy who was in my parents yard the other day committed suicide by train. Steam to DART. Those who do undertake training are generally the larger operators such as South Western and for these there’s normally no requirement for previous railway experience however having a demonstrable work history with relevant skills such as technical learning I've always been curious about this. The only time I've heard a locomotive called an engine in the UK is when people are specifically referring to the type of motive power - e. The training is nothing like the role. Experienced in driving on air only as well as dynamic. 5 weeks AL a yr (very easy to take when you want unlike alot of other shift work jobs in Sydney trains) 3 weeks SL a yr Base starting rate of 70k but should earn around 84/85k Going up to 80k with total rate of 95k (with Why do train drivers make rubbish allegations about the signalling system? Train drivers mess up and have a SPAD then blame the signal system which is essentially claiming an irregularity. My daily commute nowadays is a 1-hour long trip from Utrecht to Eindhoven or Tilburg (I study Data Science, the TU/e works together with the Tilburg University for law, ethics and philosophy. It was my first day at my new college today and I have to take a train to get home. There are things like TPWS loops that will stop a train in an emergency if the driver cocks up and fails to stop the train themselves, but they don't exist everywhere (too expensive) and you sure as heck can't rely on them, because it's a huge deal to make that cock up in the first place and have them be activated Bear in mind these trains carry about 10x as many people as the largest bus and the driver is probably less than 2x the cost of a bus driver, so they're already pretty efficient as far as staff costs go. But overall by this stage you’re basically IN just a matter of waiting game and the results of your medical and reference check . A train driver breaks the speed limit out of fear of the punishment for being delayed, causing his train to derail and hit a house. I was driving an empty train which I was going to park in another city. I'm not a train worker but I'm a writer, a train is the epitome of the artform. Here's one of the steam train up to the Brocken summit. The Home for all things "Iron Horse". Just me. I don't think this is just on rail companies though, the national minimum wage is abysmal, and benefits employees get in these lower paid jobs awful as well. They were dead no doubt. Connect with fellow railroaders, ask questions, discuss railroad politics, vent, or share "off duty"… I just had the worst train experience in my whole life. The job is pretty straightforward day to day. I spoke to my career advisor a few weeks ago and she said that I would be able to do work experience with Sydney trains in year 9-10 some time. Almost all classroom days are 0800-1600. 1. Nobody disputes the fact that to become a train driver you have to work in a completely non related field such as ticket inspector or station staff and then get on a waiting list for an over inflated salary. We have busiest train network in Europe, and second busiest in the world, and I totally agree with you. It’s basically a trauma payment and it increases with frequency until a top-out figure of about 30k and you’re released from contract. A place to post updates, news, pictures, videos or more about trains, buses…. I know someone who's still trying to land the actual well pay train driving job. I had to pass a very rigorous medical to get into the position of a Train Driver, even more difficult than my former position as a Customer Service Ambassador. There's nothing you can do but pull the breaks, close your eyes and wait for people to pull you out of the cabin and cleanup. If the location is identical, that’s one thing, then you could say, “wow look at the development!” 17 votes, 46 comments. There's an old Thomas story where an egg broke in Duck's firebox, and his whistle sounded funny. Someone was trying to get hold of me. I and my friend went to buy the bunk beds for our 7 hour trip. I work for a Freight operator and meet Train Drivers daily, all of them love their job. They saw a pale man standing on the tracks ahead of them, with long dark hair that was plastered against his body in the downpour. g. Driving a train can get monotonous, so I got a bit spooked when I heard The reason train drivers salaries upsets people is it’s essentially a public utility which is not open to a public application process. Or you know get fucking help and don't traumatize the people who end up killing up you. For everyone. Not allowed to touch anything in the drivers cab as it’s now a crime scene. They do things like assess trainee drivers on their final practical tests before they qualify, safety audits on drivers, and man the help desk that drivers call if they need help rectifying a train fault. The employees have stated numerous times that this is a very unsafe way to go and given good reasons as to why it would be unsafe but the train company bosses We call them PDs for short, so after 7(?) years of being a qualified driver you can apply to become one. 107 people die. r/Train_Service: Railroaders love to talk. The second car had her son and his girlfriend (mid 20's) the second car darts in front of the train and is obliterated. EDIT: It was actually in his whistle that they boiled an egg, which is why his whistle sounded funny. Almost no chance for train/car, train/passenger or train/train interactions. When the train stopped his head was squeezed between the train and platform with his body out of sight below him. This subreddit has gone dark as part of a mass protest against Reddit's recent API changes, which break third-party apps and moderation tools. Regarding animals, that's another story. I recently remembered a case of malicious compliance I was involved in years ago. Rail fans, train buffs and hobbyist are more than welcome to ask questions and participate in discussion. I see that Mta is opening up the train operator on the beginning of December. In polish version it sounds better ‘cause train driver, if translated phonetically would be something like “trainist”. 23K subscribers in the MelbourneTrains community. Train is together and on the rails. Pretty much the title. Train B is an Amtrak passenger train hauling ass with a greenlight (and I believe speeding a little bit but not a huge amount. While I have this crazy theory that you need to move up the "ladder", just like getting promoted. Not sure if this story is creepy but it’s definitely scary. She speeds over the tracks. Train drivers are paid a bonus on each occurrence of this nature. Each shift for a train driver has rostered meal breaks, so they can either visit the meal room, or head somewhere and get take away. Just like cars drive on the right side of the road, trains tend to ride on the right track. Passengers are informed as the train and them will be stationary for a few hours at least. (The end is unfortunately missing because the camera gave up Normally you can apply at any train company you like, but often you do have to live within an hours drive from the station where you’re based. Drove the steam engine for the movie The First Great Train Robbery too. quite a few years ago, the foreman of the shop told him to check out the underside of the train and clear any debris, wild dogs frequently get hit by the trains and can sometimes cause problems. A train machinist is only a fraction of the total operating cost of a train, therefore making trains driverless makes little sense from a cost-saving perspective and therefore low on the priority list for buyers and manufacturers. I don't think there's any designated tube driver role. For passenger driving this means other positions that are easier to achieve can be used as a stepping stone into the drivers role, or a comfortable back-up career if driving ends up beyond your reach. You start by being a barker then move up to tricycle driver -> jeepney driver -> regular bus -> airconned bus -> PNR to finally LRT/MRT. I’m not sure what I will be doi 2 days ago · In this story, a train conductor conducted himself with dignity and aplomb when he was asked to cut corners. It was late Friday night. if there are 2 trains behind each other, but none coming the other way, the 2nd train will be given a 2nd token / ring, but only when the 1st train passes the dropoff point and the signaling worker can lock the key into the system (unlocking the other signal workers token dispenser where train 2 is waiting) 21 votes, 13 comments. chkxfyzjofisuxgsgydmnxogdqczsmgujrxzurtxmsuczsmkhbmmwhuwfwnknxyycoyailhruzriobbyt