18-12-12 Big BIG day

Well today is the day that I have been waiting for for a long time.

Friday last week I was assessed on the last route that my depot signs for beginners and yesterday I signed all the required paperwork.

As of today I became a fully productive driver at South West Trains and more importantly my pay went up!

So from the humble beginnings at Basingstoke train centre until this morning when I reported as the 0600 spare driver the following has elapsed...

344 days, 21 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds or:

• 29,797,200 seconds
• 496,620 minutes
• 8277 hours
• 49 weeks (rounded down)

Seems like a long time and I must admit it has felt long on some days. When I came in I asked to cover some work, I haven't spent all this time training to sit today and do nothing and I was duly rewarded.

I was asked to cover the front half of a turn that was another drivers and so at 0709 I made my was as a passenger down to Portsmouth Harbour where my train was waiting.

and this is it 2P94 0729 Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo

All went well and I later returned with a different unit back to Fratton where I finished for the day. 

a copy of my schedule today. I only had to drive up to where it crossed out and nothing on the right side but it was a nice run to ease it. The stations are crossed out as you stop at them and the large numbers are how many coaches the trains had!

Although my official training has come somewhat to an end I plan to try and update this blog every now and again if anything of interest happens. Feel free to leave messages if you want to ask questions and I'll do what I can to help!

Thanks for reading!

Route Learning

As I have mentioned before part of becoming a driver is "learning the road". Since my last post when I got my key and qualified as a driver I have been working hard to learn the routes I will drive my trains over.

It's important to point out as many readers will know that you must be assessed and know your routes thoroughly before you can drive on your own.

I have since "signed" (ie been assessed as competent) over half my routes. Namely I now know where I am going, from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo via Guildford. I have just finished learning Portsmouth to Southampton and Eastleigh via Netley and Botley and also the line from Eastleigh to Southampton via the airport. I am waiting to be assessed on that particular route and why I am waiting I am half way through learning Eastleigh and Woking.

I'm looking at about 2-3 weeks of learning, then a week to refresh everything and all going well I will drive my first train on my own!!

So off to Woking again tomorrow and bit of map studying. Not long to go...

Bit too excited at the moment. But today I passed my final and have qualified as a driver. Route learning to go!

10-09-2012 Exam coming...

Hi all

I am back to blog! I have been working still towards my final and I finished my hours with my instructor about 4 weeks ago. As there are a lot of trainee drivers at my depot I gave up my instructor for someone else and I have been route learning since.

Route Learning consists of going up the front with another driver and sitting on the non-drivers side. You then look out the window with the aid of a route map and try and take in every aspect of the route as you go along. I have attached a video I made. It shows the route from Queenstown Road to London Waterloo via the Windsor Reversible Line. The talking is the driver and I discussing the route and what to look out for!
This I did for about 3-4 weeks and now I am just two weeks from my final I have again found a DI to just brush up ready.

My final date is 24th September and will last all the week.
During this time I will be driving passenger trains and watched to see how I handle the train, I will be in the simulators at Basingstoke being put through my paces regarding emergencies and dealing with events that would not normally encountered. I will be given a smaller version of the rules exam that I took earlier in the year (and will include the rules changes that happened in between in July!) and also a repeat of the PTS (Personal Track Safety) which I haven't done since week 1!

I will also have a route conducting exercise which will show whether I can give instructions to a driver that doesn't know the route (for example, when there is engineering works).

Finally, I will spend a day in the depot doing slow speed movements, shunting, attaching and detaching units, and also repairing minor faults etc...

All being well come the Friday I will pass and be considered competent to drive a train and will be given my key.

Wish me luck!

02-07-2012 Another month another post (again)

Hi all

as it has been over a month since I last posted I thought I better make an update. I am still progressing through my hours and have managed to rack up 187 hours now. Not bad and less than 40 until I reach the minimum needed to take my drivers final. This has left me understandably nervous as it has dawned on me that this will now be a matter of weeks instead of months!

I have also since completed a week of Advanced Route Learning (ARL). This is a week where you return to the school for a day before learning the route fully between Woking and Clapham Junction. Now I always knew that route learning would be the hardest part of the course for me and even said as much at the interview stage where they asked me that very question. This was no different. Although I drive the route everyday almost, I realised just how much I didn't actually know. When you are based at Fratton or Bournemouth or a similar depot, you almost always travel through the area on the fast. You rarely stop at the stations in between or go on the slow lines, so all of a sudden you are having to learn new speed limits, cross over speeds, station names (and their order) and other exciting things. Now as I usually pass through on the fast lines the speed limits are essentially 100 then 90 then 85 then 80 then 75. Fairly simple. But on the slow lines they are all over the place. Whilst travelling up and down on the trains you are looking out for all these markers and more and you are also compiling a map of the area (which I left at home the day I had to hand it in). The end result is a written exam on 100 questions where you are shown various photos and you have to answer questions about where you are and what the speeds are other such things. As I said one of the hardest parts of the course for me so far and I only managed 90% in the test which I was a bit disheartened about. Still a pass, but not my usual high standard. Still hey ho, after that went back to DI for a few more hours and now I am at today.

just a bit of my hand drawn map showing Surbiton station and the sort of things that we had to learn!

Today was the first day of my traction course. Some of my trainee colleagues have been at the school for the last two weeks learning all about 455's but as I am at a single traction depot I join them for the next 9 days to learn about Desiro trains. I then leave them and go back to my DI whereas some of those colleagues stay for another week of 458 training!

Today was day one as I said, and we got straight into it looking at formations and where different things are located on the train and what switches are where. After just a day the traction is starting to look a little daunting so will have to really concentrate and revise this one!
Tomorrow we are at Clapham Yard where we are going to look at a static train and have a look round and see the things that we learnt today and how they work and how to fix or isolate them when they go wrong.

So hopefully the rain holds off!!

01-06-2012 New month, new post

Hi all

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, been so very busy and then when I finally get a moment I'm too tired to write anything. But I am free today (don't start until 1509 today!) and decided to write up what's been happening lately.

First of all hours continue well, I think I am around the 110 hours mark now so almost half way through. The weather has been ridiculously hot and I have found it hard to get the temperature right in the cab but then I never really liked heat anyway. The only upside is that South West Trains very kindly allow drivers to wear shorts, which is good for me and perhaps not so good for the general public!

Basically, most of my driving has been along the Portsmouth direct line which means that I have a fairly good understanding of the route now, which is nice as although my DI is still in the cab with me, I can drive fairly independently without any prompting. We have also visited the Southampton line recently and an advantage of this is on earlies IKEA is across the road and they do a decent fried breakfast with free hot drink for £1.65!!

I have also had a bit of driving on the Basingstoke mainline which means I have had a bit of train handling at 100mph which is always a novelty.

Also witnessed something a little funny at Southampton central the other morning where we were just about to depart and a passenger was walking up the platform towards our train. Anyway the platform assistant shouted to her that she would have to be quick as were about to depart, without warning she then threw the coffee she had in her hand on the platform and then legged it to our train. Bit of an overreaction!

I have also had the opportunity to drive the diesels again. I like the diesels, there fun to drive an unfortunately my DI doesn't sign then (which isn't much of a problem as neither will I when I qualify) but it still makes a nice change to Desiros.

Anyway, more hours to go and in just over a week I have my advance route learning between Clapham Jct and Woking to do. This will be a good opportunity to see other trainees in my course who I haven't seen for a while and hopefully some good stories that I can add to this blog!

Better go, got to get ready for work (and my weekend off!!!)

17-05-2012 Train racing and other fun things...

So today I got to race another train. May seem like an unusual thing to type but its not and I'll explain. First off all I would also like to point out that its not racing in the conventional sense (as in Forumla One) and is not speeding or anything else like that. It happens when you are at Woking station. If you are ever there at xx59 past the hour, you will notice that in the London direction two trains will arrive at much the same time. One comes up from Basingstoke the other from Portsmouth. Well both these trains are timed to depart from Woking at exactly the same second. So once  you get the ready to start signal from the guard (which usually happens simultaneously between the two trains) you off and accelerating up to the linespeed (which is 100mph) at that point. Obviously, we are both on rails and have signals to obey (although these are usually greens for both) and can't steer so it's just a case of seeing which train is better than the other to accelerate.
Now as my train is a 444 (5 car train with two powered coaches) and my "opponent" is a 450 (4 car train with two powered coaches) I'm at a disadvantage as I have more weight for the power available, and this is obvious as we leave Woking as the 450 races away from me. My advantage is that my "opponent" has to call at Weybridge. So we head up the mainline still both perfectly safe and on green signals with him moving further away from me until we come round the corner approaching Weybridge. As we do so he has to start slowing for the station call whereas my next station is London Waterloo and I can carry on at 90mph! With Weybridge is sight I am gaining on the 450 very quickly and easily take victory on behalf of Fratton depot (my opponent being from Basingstoke I believe!)

Other fun things today..

Congratulations have to go to my DI who managed to have complete hicups all the way from Waterloo to Haslemere taking just over an hour! The ability to keep them despite trying every idea both of us have ever heard to get rid off hicups was truly something else. Fortunately, for him he got rid at Haslemere during our 11 stop!

And finally, while at Haslemere, I realised just how relaxed this job is. We are booked to arrive and wait at Haslemere for 11 minutes why the fast service overtakes. Well I secured the train, and sat out on the platform. I could hear birds singing and the sun was shinning with just enough breeze to make you think sometimes the weather is perfect! Below is a picture!

It's hard to believe when I got back here going towards London about 2 hours later there was heavy rain. Hey ho! It was lovely when this was taken!

15-05-2012 - back at the pointy end...

Hello

I am back after 5 rest days. Still with my DI at the moment and am still clocking up hours. Bad start this morning as well, after having the time off (and being quite busy over the weekend!) I come back and seem to have forgotten how to drive a train. Fratton was the first stop, and past the stop car mark I went. Had another go at Hilsea and had to brake quite hard to stop at the end! By Bedhampton, I'm starting to get the hang off it again and managed to stop well as Havant.
Then my DI said the cursed words... "Something is going to happen today..." So for the rest of the day were driving between Portsmouth and Waterloo waiting for something to happen, but nothing does. The weather has been mad today with it being dry but cold in Portsmouth, dry and bright coming up to Havant, little bits of rain up towards Guildford and when we get to Woking it is really raining. As I approach and brake to stop at Woking were sliding all over the place, but fortunately we get it under control and stop on the mark.
Come Waterloo, and there is cold wind, heavy rain (which turns to hail) and then even a few rumbles of thunder. I know enough about railways and weather to know that we really want to get as close to home as possible before it gets bad, as signalling doesn't tend to like thunder!!
Apart from a large emergency speed restriction which practically goes from Clapham Junction all the way to Wimbledon delaying us by Petersfield we are back on time and at Havant after some amazing work by the signallers we are a little early. Even as we approach Fratton where would normally approach and be checked down to a red as we come through Portsmouth we see nothing but greens! Arriving at the Harbour (routed straight in and not waiting for anything!) I made a bit of a mistake and stop no where the buffer stops (supposed to be 6 feet) but the train is definitely accommodated and seeing as how we are taking it back out in a minute we left it!
Despite the weather and the great work by Havant signallers nothing really has gone wrong and were starting to think that this would be a nice easy day. We leave the Harbour with our train empty back to the depot and even get the route set all the way to the depot (which is very unusual, you normally get held all over the place until the depot are ready for you!)
So I slow the train down to 3mph to go through the carriage wash thinking almost done, and as I come out of the carriage wash I hear an almighty bang and see a flash. My DI sticks his head out the window and says he can see smoke coming from under our train. I'm getting warning lights on the cab panel in front of me, so on go the emergency brakes. The shunter comes running towards me shouting have you had a SPAD (signal passed at danger)? I'm shouting back saying NO, No (the signal was definitely clear) and so he says "whats wrong then?" So I'm shouting at him to cut the power to the third rail as something has gone bang and affected my train.
He does and also calls for the Network Rail Manager to come and have a look. So everyone starts looking round my train and the power is discharged. Bearing in mind at this time of day there are lots of trains that are behind me waiting to come into the depot and so delays are starting to build.
Eventually, nothing can be found so they decide to recharge the power and see what happens. While I am sat in the cab, the power is put on and I'm watching to see if any fault appear. Quite a few do (as seen in the picture below) but they can all be attributed to the power being off. The shunter then gives us permission to carry on into the depot, and so I try and take power to move the train and nothing happens. A new red fault appears on the saying traction package fault. Fortunately, I manage to clear this fault by turning power off and starting again. Once I did this, the train started to move which is a relief so I take it all the way into the depot and shut it down. As were walking back down the depot we bump into the Network Rail Manager and ask him what happens. He believes that a piece of foil he found had blown onto the third rail and shorted against something which knocked all the power off! Amazing to think something so small, broke our train and blocked an entire depot. Even when I got home after writing the report there are still delays in the Fratton area because of empty trains making the area congested why they wait to enter the depot!!
So my DI was right and the moral of this story is never say you think something is going to happen!!!

list of my faults caused by the power being cut... (except the bottom two which are just air con faults!)

my train stranded in the depot why we try and find out what happened. Where the man is stood is roughly where the bang came from!

06/05/2012 - Eastleigh, Eastleigh, Eastleigh again...

Well a new route today, and also first day where I have driven with a huge cold. My concentration levels were hard to maintain with a blocked nose, then a runny nose, then congestion etc but I made it through with no mishaps.

Portsmouth to Eastleigh is a nice route and not overly complicated. All the braking points I was taught were at bridges and signals so not too difficult to remember. Returning to Eastleigh was a bit memorable as that was my first railway job on the platform there in 2005 and it was nice to see Mr Keeling still there after all this time.

I also had my first decent scare. It might not sound much but today was my first proper drive on a single line (between Fareham and Botley) and as the evening drew in and I was driving my third trip to Eastleigh, my headlight reflected off a substation and before I knew it I could have sworn there was a train coming towards me. On go the brakes before my DI points out that it is a substation! My heart was thumping but fortunately I didn't put the emergency brake in!! As I came of the single line there was a Southern service waiting to go on, but he was no where near me!

It was also another good day for a few smaller reasons. I had two separate passengers thank me for a smooth journey which is always nice and I also had my fianceé on the train for the first time, so she has been on a train driven by me!

Hey ho, another good day I feel and hopefully I haven't passed this cold on to everyone I have met today and more importantly I hope that it goes by tomorrow so that I can enjoy my day!

Good night!

05-05-12

Good morning all, I promised an update the other night but the thing with these lates is that when I get home I am knackered so go straight to bed!

Double Waterloo's are quite long but for the most part (especially at my stage of training) really good because you get a lot of driving in!

sat at Waterloo before going back to Portsmouth

Last nights train ready to go home!

Driving at night is still going well, after the first night it doesn't faze you as much as my DI has taught me braking points for stations that are either audible (ie AWS magnets) or visual in the dark (whistle boards, substations etc). Plus as we have been solely on the Portsmouth to Waterloo via Guildford route I'm already starting to pick up the route which is very pleasing and I have already developed my own braking technique for Petersfield!!
I am in process now of starting to learn level crossings and CSR (Cab Secure Radio) channels along the route and as they weeks progress my DI is going to add more and more so that it sinks in and this will continue until mid-June when I go back to Basingstoke for a week for Advanced Route Learning (which is between Woking and Clapham Junction) and because I travel over the ARL route a lot I am trying to learn this piece of route as well so that I am ready for it.
Anyway, today's agenda is seeing me go out route learning as my DI is on leave, and for a change of scenery (and because my duty on Sunday goes that way) I am going to head to Eastleigh and back a few times!
See you later...

01/05/2012 - New Day, New Month, New Post

Just a quick update from my last post.

I am still steadily building up my hours and I am now up to 18ish hours. That's out of the 225 hours that I have to complete (which is looking at being around the end of July!)
Since my last update, I have still been driving Desiro trains in varying formations and I have also been down to Poole, where while I was waiting in the sidings to go back a steam train passed me heading to Swanage!
The weather was nice today as well which is a first since I started driving, and it was actually quite warm. I'm on my firsts double Waterloo tomorrow, and I'll report back then. Otherwise nothing else out of the ordinary has happened! One of my colleagues on the same course had a signal go back to red on him because of a trespasser on the track, and ironically I was in my either guise as a Special Constable at the time heading to the area to try and find him!!
Anyway, I'll keep updating this blog as and when anything happens, take care all!

25-04-2012 First day...

Well I was hoping that a short entry would be needed tonight so that I can reflect on today's driving but I don't think it's going to be that short.
For someone on day 1 I had quite  a lot thrown at me! The weather itself down south has been abysmal and my first journey resulted in me sliding past the 5 car stop at Fratton and that was quite scary in itself.

Anyway eventually back down at the Harbour (Portsmouth) ready to depart for a service to Waterloo via Basingstoke, everything was going fine until we approached Fareham and there's a very bright red signal on the end of the platform. Lo and behold as we came to a stop the radio springs into life and its the signaller. He tells us that there's some flooding up ahead and that can we stop at the signal at Botley and give him a ring back. So signal clears and off we got towards Botley. Next signal we come to (before the station) is red as well. As we come to a stand again the radio jumps into life and the signaller is back. As were still approaching the signal we don't answer him (as per the rules) but by the time we stop he has gone. We try and call him back but there's no answer, so on with the Hi-Viz jackets and were climbing out of the train to go and use the phone at the station. I wish I had a camera on me today as seeing your train on a single line in the middle of no where is something of a novelty. Anyway we speak to the signaller, and he tells us that he has had reports of a trespasser somewhere between us and Botley station and that we are to travel at caution and try and spot them. So off we go again and this time we are only going between 15-20mph (again as per rules) looking for someone who might be wandering along the track. As we roll into Botley station we can see the police on the platform and they have someone detained with them so its obvious that they have found who we were looking for. As I stop at the stop mark we have yet another red in front of me. Again we try and contact the signaller but we can't get through so its back out of the train and down to the signal phone. The signaller tells us that there's flooding ahead and that as a result he can't clear our signal. We're to pass it at danger with authority and proceed at caution. When we arrive at the flooding we are authorised to travel over it at no more than 5mph.

So back to the train and after speaking to the guard I pass my first signal at danger (with authority!)
Proceeding at caution to where the signaller told us the flooding was and I could see it on the track, the local fields have flooded and are leaking onto the track. Its not too bad but as the rules state 5mph is the top speed and this flooding stretched for 1/2 a mile! At 5mph, it takes ages!!!

Anyway the flooding by then had started to affect the other line so we had to contact the signaller again to tell him that the other line was now affected. As you can see in this picture taken from SWT's twitter feed the flooding caused a fair amount of delays and our train arrived at Eastleigh just over half hour late.

The journey then continued fairly normally until we arrived at Basingstoke where (and not to our surprise) given a NOT TO STOP order to run fast to Waterloo. Sounds good to us! With a good run we could gain a bit of time and our next service would leave London on time.
We leave and accelerate up to 100 mph (a first for me) and we go flying up the fast line. I looked across as we came through Farnborough (what should have been one of our stops) and see a few people hanging about on the platform. As we pass, the guard contacts us and says that control have asked if we can NOW stop at Woking. Fortunately, we have enough time to do so and we start braking for it. It turns out there was miscommunication between the guards at Basingstoke where one relieved another and they had not told passengers that our trains stopping pattern had been altered, so when we arrived at Woking there were a number of people getting off!

We had a fairly good run from there to Waterloo and we eventually arrived at 26 minutes late. No break for us and after a quick check its straight round to platform 14 where our next train is already waiting for us to go. A passenger stood next to the train asked me as I walked past if there was a problem with this train (it was already 6 minutes late) and I told him that it was missing me! He laughed and left me to go and set up.

The rest of the day to be honest was fairly quiet running with delays because of the weather which also made station stops very tricky, especially when you consider that I was day 1 trainee with my Instructor.  Still hopefully tomorrow will be much easier and after today I feel that I am almost ready for anything!!

24-04-2012 And so to the driving...

Well I am at the point of the training I have been looking forward too. Proper driving! :) Monday I spent the day at Basingstoke training school, where I had a human factors brief. It showed how your mind works and how different factors can adversely affect you. It also showed how your short term memory can only hold about 7 items and for no more than about 10 seconds although for me that sounds wildly optimistic!! We further learned how, being tired effects you and what you can do to make sure that your concentration remains high. An interesting day in all and at the end of it we had a nice chat about the next stage in our training. It was also the first day in a few weeks where the entire course was together again in one place and it was good to trade stories and experiences and was good to see only a few mistakes were made like missing the AWS!

I came back to the depot today and as luck would have it (as I was raring to start driving) I had a company development day. It was a day you do twice a year with other drivers and you get together and discuss what's going on with the company and what drivers can do to help. We talk over incidents that may have occurred not just at SWT but all over the UK and try to learn why they happened and what can be done to avoid doing it as well. Not a bad day and it gave me a chance to meet some other drivers and also spend the day with my DI ready for tomorrow.

And here it is... This is my first duty in full driving and as you can see has a 0700 start so I think an early night after dinner for me!

Just a quick one to help you with abbreviations...

PC - Prepare Circuits (Set up cab for service)

TC - Trip Circuit (Close cab down when finished)

RELD - Relieved by (someone takes your train)

REL - Relieve (you take the train from someone)

PNB - Personal Needs Break ( Grub :) )

PASS - Travel Passenger (Get on the train but don't drive it)

AP - Attach Portion (Couple to another train)

DOO - Driver Only Operated (Empty coaching trains that have no guard)

444/450 - Class of train that service should be

Anything else you would like to know, leave a comment and I'll try and answer it!!

18-04-2012 an update...

Good afternoon

Just a bit of an update, nothing really new has happened to me as of late, but I thought an update would be an idea just to show that I am still alive and well!

Since my last update when I was driving a diesel down to Exeter I have spent a few days on class 455 suburban stock and have seen visits to both Chessington South, and I also had a go from Waterloo to Guildford via Epsom and actually drove past the house of Jimmy White the snooker player!!
I must admit that I had a comfortable feeling driving one of these trains. They are so simple and are very good for braking, it was also nice not to have any modern technology on this units like a train management system, it felt like the train was much more "mechanical". It's a shame that I won't be driving these at Fratton!

Since the 455's I have started on 458 "Juniper" class trains. These are mostly found on the Reading line and when I drove one on the slow speed days I must admit I didn't really like them. However, since driving one empty yesterday and driving a very busy 0724 from Reading to Waterloo this morning I now have a new respect for them. Their braking is absolutely amazing. the brake control is fully adjustable and goes from Low to High. When driving normally, to brake the train you put it to Low which is the trains lightest braking setting and the deceleration is amazing. You very rarely move the controller past "Low" and I can only imagine just how good the brakes are if you put it into High!!

On another note, I had my first train fault today on the above service. I pulled into Richmond and after the doors released and alarm sounded on the cab. Consulting the TMS (Train Management System) it told me that the Call for Aid button had been pressed in coach 6. After contacting the guard to let him know what was happening I contacted the signaller to tell him of the delay. While I was waiting I saw that the Call for Aid was sorted and that I could continue. However, it immediately came on again and we got no response when we attempted to speak to it. The guard could not reset it and neither could we, so being very wary of the fact that my train was 5 minutes late already, was absolutely packed and there were trains starting to stack up behind me, we contacted fleet control at Waterloo to see if they could help us. It turned out they couldn't but they did give us permission to continue and allow us to be met at Waterloo by a fitter (which is good as I didn't really want to turf everyone out at Richmond!!)
After speaking to the signaller again, we continued on and eventually arrived at Waterloo 7 late. My old habit as a guard kept making me want to reach for the handset and make a PA announcement but then it occurred to me that I had a guard of my own to do that for me!!
Other than that, an uneventful day. Heavy rain has made driving a little challenging today and it is set to be the same tomorrow. Back to Reading again tomorrow which means getting up at 0400! Might as well go to bed now!!

10-04-2012 Diesels to Exeter

Just a bit of an update.

I drove my first diesel today in the form of a class 159 down from Salisbury to Exeter St David's. It is probably the only time I will ever drive down here considering that Fratton do not sign this route. Nevertheless it was fun and I did enjoy it and its a shame that I won't sign the units for a good few years.

Still it was good to drive down into deepest Devon and got experience with the driving of a 159 as they are somewhat different to the Desiro's that I am used to so far.

Tomorrow sees me up at Clapham Yard to drive a class 455 for the next few days. We will be an empty train tomorrow and then back to passenger services for the rest of the week!

04-04-2012 Calmer now

I still haven't got rid of the smile I got from driving yesterday. It got bigger today as I walked up platform 8 at London Waterloo watching passengers board my 8 car class 450. It suddenly dawned on me that I was going to be one that is driving them to their destinations and that scared me a little.

I got into the front cab and set the cab up ready for service. I had about 5 minutes before I was due to leave and I was watching the sheer number of movements of trains coming and going. A minute before departure and my controlling signal W15 is stubbornly refusing the clear and is still red. We had heard as we walked up the train that there were line problems causing hassle around the Basingstoke area so I just assumed that this was what was delaying me leaving. Still that all changed when 2 minutes late the signal finally cleared for the Up Relief line and seconds later I got the ready to start signal from the guard. This in itself was unusual as I, in the past, have always been the guard giving the driver the signal and so it was really a strange feeling to be the other end.

Anyway, we left Waterloo 2 late and headed down towards Clapham Junction watching trains coming and going, still in awe about how busy it is. Despite being checked down by signals towards Clapham Jct and giving someone a heart attack when I blew the horn going through the station as they were near the edge, it was fairly uneventful down to Woking. My station stops are already improving no end and I don't think passengers would have noticed my inexperience. Driving truly is something else and would recommend it even now to anyone, and I realised that I cannot wait until I am fully qualified and doing this everyday for myself!

We were still two minutes late at Woking as I didn't really have the chance to catch any time up. One of the best feelings today was being confident enough to wave at passing drivers and better still sound  a quick horn to children who were stood on overbridges (something that I used to do about 10 years ago!) and before I knew it I was coming down the mainline and had left Basingstoke with just one more station to go! We were almost back on time as there is a bit of time between the last two stations and as I approached I was checked down to the last signal before the station waiting for the return service to depart the platform. I was preparing to stop as it passed me but fortunately the signal cleared for me and rolled into Basingstoke platform 1, 1 minute early. After securing the train, I could finally relax!

All again tomorrow!! :D :D :D

03-04-2012 Aaaaaaaggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS in all my excitement I forgot to wish BDT4-12 the best. they started yesterday and I have a personal friend on that course. Good luck mate, and if any of you read this, feel free to say hello if you see me!!

Well I am just home from my first day on the mainline and I still have a massive smile on my face.. I just don't seem to be able to shift it! :D I started at Clapham Yard and almost immediately I was slow speed driving again up to the outlet signal and onto the mainline. We sat quietly for about 5 minutes while trains whizzed by still sat at my red position light, then without warning the points ahead of me swung over and my signal cleared. No more hesitation for me and I reset the DRA and took power at 5mph over the points onto the mainline.

As soon as my train was clear I was told to open up and then for the first time I went above 5mph and accelerated up the linespeed of 60!! Now I was in a class 450 and frankly the power these units give is amazing and before I knew it I was shutting off and coasting.

I was waving at passing trains and watching like a hawk for signals even though I had a very knowledgeable trainer sat next to me giving instructions.

In a manner of speaking I went in at the deep end and anyone who has ever been in that area will know that it is an incredibly complex area with many tracks, trains and signals to watch for.

I felt comfortable though and I decided that the cab of a train is definitely where I want to be for a job.

My first shock was approaching my first red mainline signal, and that was a nerve wracking experience as the signals around Waterloo have been passed before (definitely to be avoided!!) but I stopped and as I did so it cleared showing me entering platform 9 but also that there was a train already there.

I pulled in very cautiously knowing that a train will be there and lo and behold a class 444 was there and I had to approach carefully. The instructor knew the train much better than me and had to keep telling me to take the brake off, but its hard to do that when you are approaching a train and it feels like it is getting very close, very quickly!!

Still I stopped 6 feet away as per the rules, and secured the train and could finally relax (phew!!) What I didn't realise how much my hands were sweating and I had only done a 5 minute trip!!

I changed ends and set the train up ready to take it as far as Woking when one of the other trainees on the train would take over. I should stress why I remember that today was an empty train so we didn't have to worry too much about passenger comfort.

My signal cleared and we were given right away by the platform assistant and off we go again!
I took the train down towards Woking on both the fast and slow lines and the instructor commented on how well I handled the train, I put this down to all the years of driving I have done on OPENBVE!!

I braked well for cautionary signals and also for speed limits both permanent and emergency and also tried my hand at stopping at Walton on Thames and Woking. The first station I had to brake a bit harder than was usual as I was going faster than the train appeared to be going, however I still stopped at the mark with no jolt. At Woking, I feel that I managed a much better stop and sat bang on the 4 car mark.

So 450042 is the first mainline unit I have driven and as for tomorrow....

2L25 1012 South West Trains service from London Waterloo to Basingstoke. In passenger service. With yours truly driving. Wish me luck, there's rain on the forecast ......

me before proceeding on my first trip

cab of 450042

another picture showing my work "office"

450042 today's unit that I drove...

02-04-2012 Last day of slow driving...

After driving a class 450 today up and down 49 road at Clapham Yard at 5mph, tomorrow is another big day...

I will be taking an empty train onto the mainline for the first time and travelling at normal linespeeds and also observing signals. Definitely brown trousers time.

If all goes as planned, I will be driving my first train (which should be a class 450) out of Clapham Yard just towards the end of the morning peak and then go up to Waterloo. Then change ends and make my way towards Woking on the slow lines.

That will be it for tomorrow but that's plenty to be getting on with. After that day, the following one will see me driving not only mainline, but with passengers!!

It's also goodbye today for 7 of my colleagues as for this part of the training we split up into groups of 4 and won't see the other trainees until we go back to the training school (for a human factors brief) on 23rd April! Hopefully, there will be some good stories to tell and hear by then!

Wish me luck!!

28-03-2012 I have driven a train!!

455902. A unit to remember. My first ever drive ever on the 49 siding at Clapham Yard for just a short amount of time but it was brilliant. A massive smile on my face, and felt very comfortable in the hot seat!

Had a great day and we have it all again tomorrow but this time in a class 458. A train I have only ever been on once as a passenger!

my "special" unit 455902!

26-03-2012 No more rules, but it hasn't got any easier...

Today as we are a day ahead, we have started the introduction to basic traction before I get to drive for the first time later this week (Wednesday!!)

I say basic introduction, but it was anything but!! Now I'm not mechanically minded but at the same time I have a basic understanding on how things work and I wasn't ready for what we were thrown into!

We have had to draw diagrams of all South West Trains stock. We have had to draw to show how power is supplied, where it goes, how it gets there, how it moves the train, where air goes for the brake, where it comes from, how it's used, and all this in one day!!

I have uploaded some photos I took of the diagram we drew for a four car Class 450.

now the lines are different things going round the train. To keep things simple (so that I understand it!) The black lines is main power that comes from the third rail via the conductor shoes. It does through some circuit breakers for safety before it goes to things called the TCU's (Traction Control Units) and ACU's (Auxiliary Control Units).

Now the TCU's have the simple job of making sure when the driver asks for power the train moves and it supplies and controls the power to the traction motors.

The ACU's are responsible for altering the 750v DC current that goes into to various voltages and sometimes changing it to AC current to power other onboard systems. It powers everything from the lighting and air conditioning to the toilets and public address.

The red and purple lines are how air is distributed around the train. Trains old and new need air to operate the brakes on older trains they do lots more. On Class 450 trains, the air is made in the compressor and it is distributed to all the coaches. The BCU (Brake Control Units) then do some magic so that when the driver wants to slow his train down the brakes come on!

They are also very clever so that when there is no air because of a fault or a mechanical break, the brakes are automatically applied with a spring, so you can rest assured that it is impossible for your train to run away!

This is just basic traction knowledge, we have our full two weeks on Desiro class trains later in the year after we have done half our driving with Driving Instructors and I must admit that's one part of the course I am now looking forward!

That's it for today. I have a nice easy day at Fratton depot tomorrow to learn how to prep and dispose of trains (it also means I get a lie in for a change!)

And then... FINALLY... we will get to drive a train in Clapham Yard on Wednesday... Not long now!!

23-03-2012 ALL DONE!!!!

After a taxing hour and a half and 275 questions I have passed my drivers final.

Managed to get only 3 wrong and so very, very happy now and can enjoy my weekend.
Well done to everyone in my class as everyone passed with the worse score only being 95.6%!!

Now to look forward to next week and some driving!!

we celebrated by going to Burger King hence the crowns...

my certificate of competency :)

22-03-2012 Unexpected change

Good afternoon

Just a quick update. It would seem that we are ready for our final exam as we have revised like mad this week, and as a result my final rules exam is now tomorrow!!

Better go... Much revision to do still. Watch this space...

20-03-2012 Update to yesterday and last progress assessment

So today I have uploaded some photos I meant to do yesterday to show the track mock up at Basingstoke where we did SCB training yesterday!

the apparatus on the track is a mock of a trains wheels and third rail shoe (the shoe collects power from the rail). It can be used to practice paddling up, which I'll find out about in July when I do traction training!

As for the rest of the day, we took our final progress exam and I was good enough to get 100% which gives an overal average of 98% which I am chuffed to bits!!! I just need to keep revising this week for the final 275 question exam on Monday!!

8 DAYS UNTIL DRIVING FOR THE FIRST TIME

6 DAYS UNTIL FINAL EXAM!!!

19-03-2012 ONE WEEK TO GO!!!

Good afternoon! Nice early finish today after a practical days training and a good thing too. It would seem that some poor person has been hit by a train in the Surbiton area and that would have seen me very late home tonight. Hopefully all is well.

Anyway, today see's our intrepid group having to deal with outsiders (i.e a Guard's course!!) and we started by doing our practical Short Circuit Bar training. At Basingstoke training centre there is a small track rig which means we can do the training safely and allows mistakes to be made and this is where we were taught to use a paddle to get ballast out the way and how to apply the bar safely. Sadly, it isn't live anymore and so we all had to shout "bang" to simulate the noise it would normally make but it was still a good excuse to go out into the sun today!

We then had a trip up to Clapham Yard to have a practice at evacuating trains. This saw a fun trip to a colleagues home first as we had some spare time and with three of us pilled into his small Saxo, that was a laugh to say the least!
I can now also tick of Whitton station as somewhere I have never been.

Still at Clapham Yard we sat on a spare train in the shed while a volunteer had to get all 23 of us of the train quickly while we pretended to be useless passengers ignoring the PA and being generally useless!

Still leaving a train via a ladder is an experience trying to get away from a pretend fire and I have to admit that I was being insolent by plugging headphones in and ignoring the guard as he tried to help.

Below are some of my esteemed colleagues "saving" passengers lives!

14-03-2012 TWO weeks to go

Good afternoon

Well today was a momentus day as for the most part we have now completed reviewing the rule book. I can sit back and relax as there shouldn't be too much new information to learn now.
We finished today looking at the SP module of the blessed book (speeds) and I marveled at certain things such as a class 444 (100mph top speed) is NOT considered a HST (high speed train) in the rule book, but a 158 (90mph top speed) is!!

We also finished by looking at the third rail and how it works and what we do to get it turned off. Unfortunately we don't get to go to the ECO (electrical control operator) anymore to have a look round but fortunately I have been Brighton in the past and seen this.

All that's let to do is revise, revise and revise! I have Short Circuit bar Training soon as well which is a handle that can attach to the rail in an emergency and cut the power to the third rail. Otherwise we are just counting down the days...

TWO weeks until the final rules exam, and 16 DAYS until we drive for the first time!! can't wait!

12-03-2012 TWO WEEKS TO GO!!

Hi all

Our group have been hard at work revising and learning the last part of the rule book. We took another assessment today regarding the M modules which are for accidents and fire floods and snow which everyone passed as well, and now it is dawning on us that a fortnight today we will be taking (and hopefully passing!) our final exams!

We also had a fleet representative in today to talk to us about what they get up to and what they want from drivers. It seems to boil down to the fact that they want us to be better with fault reports and not to panic if our train breaks down. I was also amazed about how much just one unit costs to lease from the owners (South West Trains doesn't own its own trains). I won't put the figures on here in case they are sensitive information but maybe a google search will reveal all. However, it is safe to say that you can see why fares have to be as high as they are. We also realised just how many trains have to be available for service everyday and how every train has to have its equivalent of an MOT every several thousand miles.
Next time a train is cancelled because of a failure I might feel a little better about it and it is a shame that they don't put a transcript of today's lesson on the internet as passengers may sympathize a bit more as well.

Anyway, an interesting day and I'll definitely not complain next time I send a fault to fleet and it's not repaired by the next time I see the unit as they really do an amazing job in the depots!

07-03-2012 Three weeks to go

The driving centre at Basingstoke is starting to become a very busy place indeed. There are at the moment our class and the February class of drivers hard at work and tomorrow BDT3 (basic Driver training), the March course start at the centre as well. On top of that there is a new guard course starting and two currently at the centre as well so our course are quickly becoming the "senior drivers"!!

We have finished looking at the main accident handling modules and with nothing  much to do this afternoon we plowed on through the Single Line Working by Pilotman module so that we can practice in the simulator tomorrow!

This time in three weeks I should be able to report my first successful day of driving in the depot with pictures to follow!

Our final exam is now 19 days away, or 12 work days or 72ish working hours!! Scary stuff but we're getting there and I am pleased to say that no one on the course appears to be struggling and were all still together.

Good luck to BDT 3 starting basic rail tomorrow. If any one on that course is reading this then feel free to come and say hello, we're in the Avon suite and are happy to answer questions. Also a quick mention to a friend who is currently a conductor and will be joining South West Trains very soon on BDT 4. not long now mate!!

05-03-2012 TW's done and dusted

With the exam this afternoon I'm pleased to say that we are still as a group together and still working hard. Better still we don't have to look at the TW modules for a while! From tomorrow we start dealing with the M modules (Mishaps and accidents) and P modules (pilotman and single line working) so I'm happy again.

The training this week has been fairly dry as I mentioned earlier but it has been broken up with simulator training which has helped reinforce ideas and rules we are being taught.

The good news is that 3 weeks from now I should be able to report a successful completion of the final rules test!! and 23 days from now till my first drive!

Zzzzzzzz 28-02-2012 Zzzzzzzzzz still here... zzzz

Hi

As you might see from the post title, it has been hard work staying awake this week. The course has hit a section that is incredibly dry and incredibly boring but all is essential to driving.
I refer to of course the dreaded TW modules from the rule book.

In we have gone into the deep dark world of how to prepare trains for service and what restrictions are in place for certain faults and failures. A lot of the faults that trains can develop can be isolated but then this raises new questions such as how far can you go? do you need to tell the signaller immediately or the first opportunity? can you go linespeed or do you need a competent person to travel with you? and who can the competent person be as it can vary depending on what is faulty.

Then when you finally get the hang of that, they throw in a new thing. Some faults can be present when a train enters service from ANYWHERE OTHER THAN A MAINTENANCE DEPOT. Now this is important.
Take this section of the rule book about windows on the side of a train...


6.2 Entering service from a maintenance
depot
You must not allow a vehicle to enter service from a maintenance
depot if:
• the outer pane of a double-glazed window is broken
• a large single-glazed window is broken.


Now that seems fairly straight forward but what is a maintenance depot? Some people reading this will be quite intelligent and know that South West Trains has 3. Wimbledon Park, Northam (near Southampton) and Salisbury. However, what I didn't know is that they are only maintenance depots in certain circumstances.
Take the above situation. A train with a broken window cannot enter from a maintenance depot into service. Now the three depots are only maintenance depots for certain types of trains. Wimbledon Park looks after 455 and 458's. Northam looks after all the Desiro's (444 and 450) and Salisbury looks after the diesel fleet (158 and 159's).
Now Wimbledon Park often has Desiro's sat there during the day between the peaks for example but it wouldn't be a maintenance depot for them. That means a Desiro with a broken window CAN (and that is the important bit) leave Wimbledon Park with a broken window as described in red but a 455 or 458 CANNOT. Now what I have written may seem very dry, but this is why I am struggling. All faults a train can have have loads of different conditions.

Some rules require a competent person to accompany the driver to keep trains going. For example the Driver's Safety Device (or deadmans pedal as some may know it) which is a foot pedal the driver must keep depressed otherwise the trains brakes will come automatically, if it fails then the trains guard is competent in the rules to accompany the driver and make sure that he is in control of the train. HOWEVER, if the AWS (Automatic Warning System) is isolated then the guard is no longer competent to be with the driver as someone with drivers route knowledge would have to accompany him or her.

If your really interested then by going to this link... http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Rule_Book/Forms/Live_Documents.aspx?RootFolder=/Rule_Book/Rule%20Book%20Modules/TW%20-%20Train%20Working&FolderCTID=0x01200060B274261602B94B84F5B3E1E95DE5C8

you can find the TW modules and you'll see what an uphill struggle I have this week to concentrate and stay awake!!

On a much lighter note if you are still with me, a countdown has appeared on the classroom (possibly by me) to try and cheer everyone up. It shows that from today there are now just 28 days left until we drive our first train (albeit in Clapham Yard at 5mph!!) something to look forward to. But that also means that there are 26 days to our final rules exam!!

24/02/2012 Another test

After a long week of Shunting and also how to deal with signalling irregularities, we came to another exam today. For us it was good as we were supposed to being doing it on Monday but felt we were ready early.

Shunting has been a bit of a mine field as a lot of what is in the rule book isn't actually performed by South West Trains such as shunting using rope!! We learnt a lot about how shunter's work and what their different hand signals mean to me as a driver. We also learnt some of the more interesting things that are done very rarely. For example, did you know in the rule book you can drive from a cab that is not at the front in certain circumstances? One of the many interesting things we have had to learn.
We also looked at signalling failures and irregularities. We learnt how to pass signals at danger properly (with authority) what to do if you pass one without authority and also where in the can we can override certain things to do with signalling (when allowed!)
We were on the simulators again this morning, where I drove and had to deal with temporary block working. One thing that has hit me is that since the route learning exam I talked about in an earlier blog is that my route knowledge has become poor. As I was driving along at 50mph (maximum speed in temporary block working) I suddenly saw a set of points ahead of me. One goes a hard bit of braking (as you can only do 15mph over points!) and I only just managed to get to 15mph as I crossed the points! So I think I will be looking at the route learning notes I made before the exam.
Anyway, we finished with an exam this afternoon which I passed so I can relax over the weekend.
Next week is going to be difficult as we are looking at the TW modules which mean that we will be looking at train failures and how to deal with them which is very dry and very boring, but all has to be learnt!

See you all Monday!!

21-02-2012 Just a quick one...

Not much to say today, the course is progressing and with the test taken on Friday last week a day early we didn't have one Monday. We continue to work through the S modules of the rule book and today we made a start on Shunting. Tomorrow is another day out to Clapham Yard to have a look round and see shunting for real!!

That's all, I'm going to have some pancakes now!!

16-02-2012 Signalboxes

Hi all

Now you may have noticed in the past I have said I like signalling. I always wanted to be a signaller but after 10+ applications put in I never managed to get an interview, and so never got the job. So whenever I get to visit a signal box I always enjoy the trip.
When I was at Southern, I visited Pulborough (an old-fashioned lever semaphore box) and Three Bridges (a more modern signalling centre).
Today we did a similar thing and visited Farnham and Guildford signalling boxes.

I have attached pictures of both boxes.

Above is the panel at Farnham. This is an interesting example of a box which is part track circuited (From Alton where the line terminates to half way along the single line from Bentley and Farnham. This is shown on the bottom panel and routes are set up by pressing buttons between signals. Although the picture is blurry and with a bit of luck a colleague will send some better ones. The red lights on the panel indicate where trains are currently standing, and the white lights are where the signaller has already set a route for the train. At the moment on the panel, there is a train stood at Alton platform 1 and the route is set from Alton all the way to the end of panel on the right hand side.

The top panel is where the absolute block system starts and signals are controlled by the lever frame below. Despite the signal box having levers all the signals and points are electronically controlled and the signals are all of the colour light type. As you can just about see on the top panel, the track although absolute block does in fact still have track circuits which can indicate to the signaller where trains are. At the moment, their is a train in the reception road which had only recently shunted there.

For trains to continue to the right on that panel and head towards Aldershot's signalling area, bell codes are used between the signal boxes and only one train can travel between the boxes in each direction at one time.

While we were there S&T (signalling & telegraphs) engineers rang the box and asked the level crossing to be lowered so that they could do some work on the track circuits that are tied into that crossing. You could see the work they were doing as every now and then the track circuits would illuminate the same way they would if a train was there and then go out.

I don't think motorists were too impressed when the gates were lowered for 5 minutes while this work was carried out and then raised with no train crossing but hey ho!!

Later on and we headed down to Guildford box to see what they get up to. Again it is a bit of a poor photo and hopefully some better ones are on their way to me!

When we arrived the two signallers on duty were hard at work. A set of points at Shalford Junction (very top left of the panel) had failed and they could only get reverse detection and not the normal detection. This meant that trains from Portsmouth could not go north towards Guildford and were essentially trapped. If you were travelling in this area at about lunchtime today you may have noticed that trains were delayed by up to an hour as a result.

When we arrived, the signallers were too busy to talk to us as they were dealing with the points failure and also having to ring drivers of trains trapped and also the technicians. You could tell there were problems as a quick glance at the panel at the top left hand side of the panel showed a queue of trains all the way from Shalford Junction all the way back to where Farncombe signal box takes over!

Guidlford panel controls a much larger area then Farnham and this can be seen by the panel. The whole area from Farncombe and a bit down the North Downs line all the way to Effingham Junction and Woking and also to the border with Wokingham signal box.

While we were there they managed to fix the points failure and get normal detection. It took them nearly an hour, which shows it was a difficult fault to fix and they could trains moving again.

While we were there we managed to get a look at a real life demonstration of what we were practising yesterday on the simulator. A train phoned the signaller to report that he had had a brake demand as he passed a single yellow signal by the TPWS equipment (something that should not happen) as the driver was not at fault the signaller got him to fill out an RT3185 form which reports signalling irregularities and that signal was watched as the next train passed over it (nothing happened!)

Was a good day, and better still an early finish. Our next exam which was due on Monday has been moved forward to tomorrow as we are a day ahead so after the pub quiz I will do some revision.

15-02-2012

Hi all,

A nice easy day nothing really to report. As a class I think we are all starting to do well with the learning. We had some revision this morning for the test we have on Monday and no one really struggled. As we are a day ahead we got to spend the afternoon on the simulators to practice how to deal with signal irregularities and I got to be the signaller (bad photo at bottom).

Seeing as how I really wanted to be a signaller and never managed to get an interview it was really fun for me and hopefully I'll get to do it again at some point.

Still tomorrow is the day I am looking forward to as we should be going to Guildford and Farnham signal boxes with photos to follow.

Until then...

me being the signaller!

14/02/2012 - Valentines Day or more importantly signals, signals and more signals...

Hi all

I'm writing this on Valentines Day and it has been a day of mixed signals.. No.. I haven't been left by my girlfriend but have spent the day studying the S modules of the rule book where we have learnt all about what signals are, how they differ and what they mean to the driver.

We also looked at the safety systems that are linked to the signalling systems such as  AWS (Automatic Warning System) and TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System).
We looked at how when we pass a green signal, we get a nice bell in the cab and all is well. However, when we pass a more restrictive signal (NOT green in other words!) we get a horn (no jokes please) and all is less good!!

TPWS goes one step further and is like a hidden eye in the cab. It watches the driver as he drives and steps in when he may approach a red signal to fast or worse pass a red signal (known as a SPAD or Signal Passed at Danger). It will put all the emergency brakes on and stop the train and has to be respected!

We also had a wander over to Basingstoke station and had a look round the station and at the infrastructure there. We were shown how as a train passed over to track circuit the signal behind it immediately goes back to danger, and also how points work. All in all an interesting day and going out in the afternoon made what was written on paper make sense.

Tomorrow will be much of the same and then on Thursday we are going out to some signal boxes and hopefully I can get some pictures, so stay tuned!!

09-02-2012 The Beginning

And so we begin...

After the test this morning to see if we had picked up the simulator route, we get on to the meat of the course. Rules.

As a prospective driver, I need to know a lot of rules. Rules that govern how I book on for duty, what to do if I have to go by the side of the line or how to drive a train when it is slippery.

Today we started at the beginning on G1 module of the rule book. This is general responsibilities and personal track safety for non-track workers and governs what might present a danger to trains or how to stop a train in an emergency. For the most part, it was an recap of what we had done during basic rail and wasn't too taxing.
We also looked at the Cab Secure Radio, which is fitted to trains and allows the driver to contact the signaller and vice versa.

All in all, a relaxed day but we have been warned that we are now a small way up a hill on the way to being a driver and that the hill is about to get much steeper!

p.s on another note, good luck to all the drivers who are on the February course and started job training today. I have met one already and wish them the best!

07-02-2012 It's a small world...

Hi all, I'm still here and still going strong.

As I mentioned in my last post our group at the moment is hard at work learning the simulator route as the simulators will be heavily used during our rules training.
So far I have made 2 return trips from "Easton to Weston" and have probably sat with another driver for the same amount and finally I am happy to say, the route is starting to sink in.

I drove my last trip today without having to look at the route map and purely by memory which for me is a great achievement! We'll have to see Thursday morning when we are doing another assessment on the route to see how well we have picked it up.

The reason my post has the title "small world" is because on my way home today I met two persons who joined the company this week. One of which, who is going to be a driver is probably reading this as you are and it was him that reminded me to post an update this evening. The other is related to one of the drivers who I was with for cab experience who at the time I was told would be starting soon in the ticket office, so it's good to meet some more people.

i have one more day on the simulator tomorrow before the exam Thursday and then on Friday we start getting knee deep into the rule book so there is something to look forward to!

Below is a few pictures I have taken today. Both on the simulator with one showing a colleague of mine who was driving and the other showing the secondmans side of a simulator cab. If I can I will also post a picture of the route map that we as a group have drawn of the simulator route which was to help us learn as I think it is a work of art. Until then here is a video I found on youtube of a young man driving the simulators at South West Trains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgwie7PsAcE&feature=related