As someone from the street who has just completed week 1 of signal school at York I can only echo the above comments, reading too much will just almost certainly confuse you. You will also possibly fill your brain up with information that whilst useful you don't need to know at this stage, for example when I got my rule books I didn't know that things like TCB, AB, Token Block etc are all different methods of signalling & I thought that I would need to learn them all! Thankfully my LOM guided me in the right direction.
There is a lot to learn and there is a method to the teaching as one thing leads to another. I've got over 30 pages of notes just from week 1!
If you are like I was sat at home frustrated with nothing to do waiting to go to school & want to try and prepare yourself I would advice that you do no more than the following.
1. Confirm what type of course you are on.
2. Learn the key definitions & principle as listed in sections 1 & 2 of whatever system you are using. Don't try and understand what they are, this will be fully explained & it will make sense. By learning the wording of the definitions it's one thing less to learn at school in week 1, and you will almost certainly need to know them for the exams.
3. If you don't know it learn the phonetic alphabet & if applicable bell codes
4. If you don't have any PTS (track safety)knowledge then have a look at section 6 of Book G1 (general Safety responsibilities & PTS for non-track workers.
If you get any of the above done it will give you a running start for week 1.
From my brief experience so far yes it's hard and there is a lot to learn but the instructors are brilliant & want you to succeed and are there to help you in any way you can.
If there is an upside to Co-Vid 19 then being at school at the moment is certainly one. Class sizes are small(5 on ours)so there is a lot more opportunities for 1-1 with the trainers if you don't understand anything, lots more time to use the simulator & importantly with no pubs etc open a lot less to distract you, a good thing especially in York!
There is a lot to learn and there is a method to the teaching as one thing leads to another. I've got over 30 pages of notes just from week 1!
If you are like I was sat at home frustrated with nothing to do waiting to go to school & want to try and prepare yourself I would advice that you do no more than the following.
1. Confirm what type of course you are on.
2. Learn the key definitions & principle as listed in sections 1 & 2 of whatever system you are using. Don't try and understand what they are, this will be fully explained & it will make sense. By learning the wording of the definitions it's one thing less to learn at school in week 1, and you will almost certainly need to know them for the exams.
3. If you don't know it learn the phonetic alphabet & if applicable bell codes
4. If you don't have any PTS (track safety)knowledge then have a look at section 6 of Book G1 (general Safety responsibilities & PTS for non-track workers.
If you get any of the above done it will give you a running start for week 1.
From my brief experience so far yes it's hard and there is a lot to learn but the instructors are brilliant & want you to succeed and are there to help you in any way you can.
If there is an upside to Co-Vid 19 then being at school at the moment is certainly one. Class sizes are small(5 on ours)so there is a lot more opportunities for 1-1 with the trainers if you don't understand anything, lots more time to use the simulator & importantly with no pubs etc open a lot less to distract you, a good thing especially in York!
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