As i m very new to this site, can anyone let me know what is the difference between a depot and a mainline driver. (depot driver especially). What kind of task does it do?
For my TOC the salary difference between mainline and depot is only 9k but to reach that it goes down for the first year & up in stages & the difference only kicks in after 3 years.
The difference between Depot Driving and Mainline is considerable. I've done Depot Driving at two different Depots, and have also done mainline cab rides to see what mainline is about.
Depot Driving has a lot of other tasks thrown in other than the Driving, as you spend a lot of time ground shunting/pulling points, train preperation for units going into service, theres typically lots more verbal communication involved than mainline (all done by hand held radio), getting on/off lots of different units, Depot Drivers do a lot more couple/uncouple, fault finding, and if its a heavy maintenance depot you'll regularly do moves that are hardly ever done on mainline like propelling, hauling a completely dead unit, splitting units/putting them back together, and moving vehicles from split units. Depot Drivers also fuel and tank at some places, which is a filthy job.
Depot Driving is a lot more working outdoors, and a lot more walking, you probably do 5 to 8 miles of walking per night, and countless times you have to climb up or down units.
Mainline driving requires a lot less physical effort but requires more thinking as your driving most of the time. The Mainline training is a lot longer as theres a lot more rules (related to all the things that could go wrong) and of cause a lot of miles of routes to learn.
On Depot Driving you get instructed what to do by a team leader but on mainline you follow what is written down on a piece of paper called a diagram.
Another large difference is mainline driving is not line of sight driving due to the speed. You have to frequently brake for things before you can see them (signals, stations, reductions in linespeed, etc). Depot Driving is 5mph so is line of sight driving until you get conflicting moves, which you will get all night, then it all comes down to radio communication & deciding how you are going to work around the conflicting moves.
The shifts are different as Depot Driving is mostly night shifts while mainline is normally very early starts or afternoon turns with late finishes.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both roles and some depot drivers would rather stay where they are, while some move to mainline.