To you drivers

[markfraser]

Come on fellas explain what it's like driving? I bet it's a great feeling? But also weird i can only go from driving a car, I just find it weird the train moving without steering. I drive plant but the fastest ive gone is about 10mph lol. Couldn't imagine doing 125mph. Also ive looked on the Internet of what it would be like in the cab, (sorry if thats the wrong name apologies).

Ive checked out the simulations on you tube but its not the same. Also which is better to go for, Passenger or freightlines?

 

[SWT Driver]

It was a novelty, now it's BORING... I mean it's like watching paint dry, except that watching paint dry is intrinsically more interesting than driving a train.

 

[markfraser]

Really!!!! Why do you still do it???

 

[SWT Driver]

Where am I going to get a job that pays £40k pa, with 9 CSE's?

Also name another job where you get free & subsidised travel over the entire country, EU?

Fancy a trip to Paris for £76 1st Class, RETURN!

 

[Flywaver]

Ignore SWTDriver. Its a job where you really need to expect the unexpected.
I only found it a little mind numbing when it got repetitive. Ok i am only on one main route now. Stansted - Birmingham long distance,but before i was DOO based at Bishops Stortford and i saw London upto four times a day and stopping every two mins. Or loads of Stansted Expresses which was the other extreme.
Been driving 14 years and i have to say im far happier with a Guard which stopped the loneliness of DOO and also i stop roughly every 20min average upto 90mph and plenty of countryside.
But this is all down to the individual. Plenty of Drivers moan but dont do anything about it and move TOCs. Sometimes the grass is greener....

 

[SWT Driver]

Ah, another RC reject.

I've been doing it 22 years, 23 years in January.

Considering that I've driven almost all of the modern SR rolling stock.

So in my 22.75 year career I've driven EPB, MLV, CIG, BIG, BEP, VEP, REP & TC, CEP, HAP, CAP units.

Classes 08, 09, 33, 47, 73, 158, 159, 170, 442, 444, 450, 455, 458.

So it's a case of been there done that & the only parts of the SWT patch I HAVEN'T driven are:

Poole-Weymouth, Brockenhurst-Lymington, Salisbury-Exeter, Staines-Windsor & ER & Laverstock Loop.

 

[O L Leigh]

When it's all going well it's the easiest job in the world. It can be very repetitive at times and I find that variety is the spice, but you don't always get that. However, it is still quite rare that any two trips are the same because there will always be something going on.

It is a little weird at first but, like driving any vehicle, you soon get used to it. I can still remember my first time out on the mainline and leaning away from every platform edge as the train passed through. Totally irrational and something you get used to. After a while everything becomes routine. Even Eurostar drivers must feel a certain degree of boredom when thrashing through Northern France at 186mph for the umpteenth time.

O L Leigh

 

[AlexS]

I rather enjoy the feeling of power that comes when you open the power handle on a 2000 plus horsepower diesel and hear and feel the rumble of it starting to surge forward.

Doesn't happen often enough for it to get boring, but I couldn't see myself doing it regularly however.

 

[markfraser]

It sounds ace, Ol Leigh? I know i sound like a child in a sweet shop. But i really cant wait. I really hope i get the chance 1 day. Can imagine what you mean about leaning in at the platforms lol. So which do you think is a better job? Freight or passenger? ie Better hours, pay and work?????
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Fancy a trip to Paris for £76 1st Class, RETURN!

Is that an offer??? lol

 

[SomersetChris]

Ah, another RC reject.

We are breeding

Anyway, I have done High speed, freight, local, commuter and charter work. The classes I have signed are 08, 31, 33, 47, 57, 66, 86, 87, 90, 150, 180, 253/4, 313, 317, 365, 378, 508 and DVT.

Everyone has their own favourite type of work and you will often find people changing TOCs because the grass is greener on the other side. What is one persons preference is not the same for the next person. My favourite was variety which is almost impossible to get nowadays.

 

[markfraser]

I think my dream job would be Crewe to Euston Working with virgin and home most nights.

Is there any Virgin drivers out there? Are they a good company to work for????
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The classes I have signed are 08, 31, 33, 47, 57, 66, 86, 87, 90, 150, 180, 253/4, 313, 317, 365, 378, 508 and DVT.

Sorry to be a virgin but i don't know what these mean, I assume they are the type of trains? But is this a big thing in the train drivers world???

 

[mickymini]

Been a driver for over ten years now and it's the best thing I have ever done. Yeah, it's not perfect but where can I earn 46k with no formal qualifications in the real world. it takes a lot of effort to become a driver nowadays but if you can get on a training course you won't regret it.

 

[ungreat]

22 years doing it,like SWT..Ive been around a bit..Waterloo,Hither Green,Leicester,Toton,Kings X and Peterborough..signed a lot of different traction,a lot of routes but yes,I'm happy i guess.Ive done freight,parcels,sleepers,commuters,ballast,etc..even the Royal Train twice.

It gets boring but so do most jobs..but its nice in summer,especially at cambridge when all the girls are around in summer gear!

Go for passenger..you get travel benefits and you know roughly when you are going home..plus if your company goes bust you wont lose your job

 

[dk1]

Been on the railway 25 years in various posts but only last 12 years on footplate. Most days are not too bad but some longer shifts/jobs are extremelly tedious. You have to take the rough with the smooth & luckily i mix between Intercity, DOO & local stopping services. Everything gets repetitive in the end. You do end up looking forward to being spare & watching tv & chatting all day in the messroom. You can even fall lucky when there is engineering work & you get an early day. All in all with the pay & conditions it's the best job i have ever had. Trouble is if you do mess up it can be cost you your career.

 

[ivanhoe]

Been a driver for over ten years now and it's the best thing I have ever done. Yeah, it's not perfect but where can I earn 46k with no formal qualifications in the real world. it takes a lot of effort to become a driver nowadays but if you can get on a training course you won't regret it.

Compared with a National Express Coach Driver, you must have it easy and get paid a lot more

Lucky Buggar

 

[SouthEastern-465]

Ah, another RC reject.

I've been doing it 22 years, 23 years in January.

Considering that I've driven almost all of the modern SR rolling stock.

So in my 22.75 year career I've driven EPB, MLV, CIG, BIG, BEP, VEP, REP & TC, CEP, HAP, CAP units.

Classes 08, 09, 33, 47, 73, 158, 159, 170, 442, 444, 450, 455, 458.

So it's a case of been there done that & the only parts of the SWT patch I HAVEN'T driven are:

Poole-Weymouth, Brockenhurst-Lymington, Salisbury-Exeter, Staines-Windsor & ER & Laverstock Loop.

Your a lucky man getting to drive most Southern Region Stock espicially the Class 415 EPBs what were they like to drive they looked quite loyal?

 

[Trains06]

Wow! It seems driving is really cool! Im wondering what to go for in the future

 

[Aictos]

Well from someone who as a boyhood dream wanted to drive anything on the railway, Pacers excepted of course, I'm now more then contend to let someone else worry about the driving.

Of course the fact that 2 fails might have had something to do with it but that's beside the point, first time round I failed as I didn't have a clue on how to understand the questions, second time round I was more then prepared for them but didn't made the cut.

I'm more then happy to leave it to a might have been, had the old secondman grade etc didn't get abolished then I might have stood a chance.

Still, driving isn't everything is it guys?

 

[37401]

Well from someone who as a boyhood dream wanted to drive anything on the railway, Pacers excepted of course

WHAT! now you tell me, im guessing you dont want your christmas present then


I agree with you, ive wanted to be a driver since I was a wee lad but if I never got the job, id be more than happy to ride in the back, griping tickets along the way although my dream is driving for a FOC like EWS/DBS that way I could also do charter stuff so hopefully drive all sorta of locos on different lines

 

[mickymini]

Compared with a National Express Coach Driver, you must have it easy and get paid a lot more

Lucky Buggar

In a former life I was a PSV driver with a full class 1 licence. Once I joined the railway I kinda missed it but after a few years that feeling went for good. Lucky? yeah I sure am but as many will tell you it only takes a small mistake and it can all be taken away.

 

[driver9000]

I love it to bits, best thing I ever did was join the railway and thankfully I acheived my boyhood ambition to become a driver. I drive local stopping/semi-fast trains and I dont mind that one little bit Im perfectly content ambling through the backwaters stopping to pick up people going about their lives. It does get boring and repetetive but most jobs do, its what you make of it.

Its not an easy job on the railway to get, but its the easiest to lose - all it can take is one mistake. Come on in the waters lovely!

 

[37401]

Its not an easy job on the railway to get, but its the easiest to lose - all it can take is one mistake. Come on in the waters lovely!

yup and some rail enthusiasts assist in the job losing game

 

[markfraser]

SWT Driver;374006]Where am I going to get a job that pays £40k pa, with 9 CSE's?



Go on the game, sell your body lol.

 

[westcoaster]

being a driver has to be every school boys dream along with being a pilot, i enjoyed being a conductor/guard for a couple of years, and when i had the chance to go for driver i relished the challenge and put in the hours practicing, it paid of and today im driving 319's around the loop or to the seaside, but believe me, once your at the training school its heads down , non stop learning for 6 or so months then traction/routes/handling, as has been said before the job becomes easy once quallified compared to training, but never let your guard down thats when it bites you hard, one mistake can end it all, safe driving everyone.

 

[Trains06]

So you prefer being a Driver to a TM?

 

[BOSCH]

I only passed out as a Driver in march this year(friday the 13th to be precise !! )and obviously as a newbie(or boil in the bag as Ive been called)I love it at this moment in time,always wanted to drive an hst when I was a kid and now I have fulfilled this especially as they're still Valentas,lol !

 

[westcoaster]

So you prefer being a Driver to a TM?

me personally yes
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I only passed out as a Driver in march this year(friday the 13th to be precise !! )and obviously as a newbie(or boil in the bag as Ive been called)I love it at this moment in time,always wanted to drive an hst when I was a kid and now I have fulfilled this especially as they're still Valentas,lol !

congrats BOSCH, didn't see any posts to say you were on the up :rollthere is a joke in there somewhere),hope your enjoying it.

 

[Kneedown]

Go for passenger..you get travel benefits and you know roughly when you are going home..plus if your company goes bust you wont lose your job

You won't lose your job if you work for a FRANCHISED passenger company, but you will if you work for one of the fly by night open access lot.

 

[royaloak]

SWT Driver;374006]Where am I going to get a job that pays £40k pa, with 9 CSE's?

Go on the game, sell your body lol.

Have you seen MrSWTs body! Then again, I suppose he could sell it to medical science! only joking mate

 

[SuperVoyager]

what do drivers do if they are at 125 and they need to go to the toilet?