Becoming a driver

23/04/2018 Life as an Operations Trainer

2018-04-23T21:12:00.000+01:00

So now that I have settled into West Midlands Trains (after a very brief week or so with London Midland - Franchise Change!) I am starting to get to know what it is like to be in this role.
I am responsible primarily for being a train driver trainer and I am also finished with my first course who are all doing fantastically well and filling in the gaps of my weeks by training staff in Personal Track Safety and operating our simulator for assessing new and experienced staff.

We have just changed offices in the Midlands and this has left us busy while we pack everything and move it but that completed for the most part today - so that leaves me with a week to prepare for my last fortnight with my first group.

As it's been a while since I last post I thought I'd upload some pictures of my new company and my adventures out and about!

Birmingham New Street - used to work from here as a guard now I see it from my office window!

Snow reaches Birmingham

Shrewsbury with its mix of colour lights and semaphores

Diagrams in Severn Bridge Junction signal box

Shrewsbury looking from the signal box

A train passes Severn Bridge Junction box

More pictures from Severn Bridge Junction box

The simulator at The Academy - we have a 350 and 172

Picture of our new livery. Not sure I like the missing yellow end but I'll get used to it!!

So - that's it for now! Stay tuned, look forward to giving more information and insights as I do more and more and if you are given a job at West Midlands Trains as a driver in the near future it could well be me that trains you.

06-10-2017 Last post as a driver...

2017-10-06T13:22:00.001+01:00

So since I last messaged, I have been happily plying my trade on South West Trains (now South Western Railways) suburban routes and generally enjoying myself.
However, for personal reasons over the last few months, I have been looking to relocate back to the Midlands and had started looking for roles in that area. I had put in for a few vacancies for a qualified driver but also on the outside chance for an operations trainer role in Birmingham. After a tense few weeks (and a fantastic holiday in Singapore for my 30th!) I come back to find I got that job. So with only a few weeks to go until I start in November I thought I'd update. Now that I am going into a training role I do plan to stay reasonably active on this blog as I will now be able to blog from the other side of the training process and hopefully be of some use to others still looking to be or are going through the process.
Who knows, if you happen to get a drivers job with soon to be West Midlands Trains then I could well be your instructor!

10/04/2017 - I am back!

2017-04-10T23:41:00.000+01:00

So after a long while with the blog being down I am back! I didn't originally plan on coming back online with this blog but after speaking to a few people over the last few weeks I realised that some people actually got some use out of it - so I decided to re-publish it.

In the last few years things have changed for me. I was as you may know at Fratton Depot with South West Trains. Well I am still with the company but I have transferred to another depot as the work
content at Fratton was getting very samey.

So what does that mean for me? Well since November I have been learning new routes and also new types of train. I am no longer stuck with just Desiro class trains bounding up and down the Portsmouth Direct. I am still training at the moment and I'll write a bit more at a more sociable hour but I hope to be back and updating you all with what is happening the in the world.

The biggest news I would imagine is that I am shortly to be employed by another company! No I haven't applied for a new job, but the Government announced recently that the new South Western Franchise will be run by FirstGroup in conjunction with MTR (Hong Kong metro). Whether this means that we will bow to customers now remains to be seen but on paper a lot of improvements are coming our way and in particular a new fleet of trains and the class 442s being refurbish to "as new". It also appears that we will be known as London & South Western Railway and a very early draft of the logo would suggest a red and cream colour scheme but this is VERY early days.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AS5pGt48nnbUJ%3Awww.firstgroupplc.com%2Fabout-firstgroup%2Fuk-rail%2Fsouth-western-information-for-employees.aspx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

A look here is the public site that we were given a link to to give an idea of what is to come.

Anyway that is it for now. I hope that I can find things interesting to write about. I should be learning 707s later in the year although that could all be about to change and also Waterloo is scheduled for a huge rebuild, more about that later.

Good night and welcome back!

04/09/2014 - I forgot to say...

2014-09-04T23:28:00.002+01:00

I took my annuals rules test last week which consists of being tested on the rule book, my traction knowledge and my safety when walking on the track. I am happy to say that I passed and as this is my 2nd year rules, I am now considered an experienced driver!

Just a few more months to go now until I am no longer Post Qualified and become "low" risk!!

Many thanks to everyone who still looks on this blog. I have not had anything really worth writing about. I am considering writing a piece on non-technical skills soon as this seems to be the direction that the railway is going in and although I am not yet convinced, perhaps doing my own research and writing it up to this blog make me see something that perhaps I am missing!

Francis

04/09/2014 - Photo Competition 2014

2014-09-04T23:24:00.000+01:00

Good evening - just about!

Having spent the day at Basingtsoke Operations and Training Centre being taught about Non-technical Skills (not there yet with it, but here's hoping that it will imprint in my mind soon!) I needed some light relief.

It occurred to me earlier today that there cannot be much time left before this years competition closes and after a bit of searching on the companies intranet I realised to my horror that it was tomorrow (5th!)

Panic! Not even taken a photo yet this year. That left just a late afternoon and evening to come up with some award winning photographs to win this year. As regular readers will know, I entered last year and having gone to London to see the photos on display sadly won nothing. Not to say that I am bitter as the quality of what I saw, far outweigh what I could produce! I decided that come this year I would plan ahead and take hundreds of photos so that I could take my time, plan my shots and have a shot at winning this year.

Well having only this afternoon and evening to do them all (with a bit taken off as I had arrange to see Sex Tape at the cinema - not a brilliant film sadly) I had my work cut out.

The afternoon was spent at Fratton and Havant to try and get some good shots and luckily some of colleagues posed for the staff category (which I didn't enter last year) and with some creative shots with my telephoto I came up with some good shots. Good - well the next thing I wanted to do was something that I have had in mind for quite some time. I wanted to play around with some long exposures at Automatic Half barriers. The nearest to where I live being up around the Petersfield and Liss areas.

So into the car and off we go the 15 miles to get there. By now it is 2200 and pitch black and I didn't think to bring a torch so I am struggling to frame photos as there is just no light. At the first AHB at Kings Fernsden I was luck as there was a street lamp however, when I moved up to Sheet AHB there was nothing. Still despite that, I think I got some reasonable shots. I have like I did last year uploaded in the hope that they may please my readers! Feel free to comment...

Down Signal on Up Main - Havant Station

Kings Fernsden Automatic Half Barrier crossing - near Petersfield

Havant Up Main Starting Signal (showing the route towards Petersfield and London Waterloo

Fratton Station Platforms 2/3

Havant Up Main Starting Signal (again showing the route towards Petersfield)

Class 444 leaves Fratton for London Waterloo

The driving control (of a safely stabled!) Desiro train

444043 Leaving Havant for London Waterloo

An Unidentified class 444 crossing over Kings Fernsden AHB

Another unidentified train crossing over Sheet (near Petersfield) AHB

12/05/2014 Famous at last!

2014-05-12T18:23:00.001+01:00

I have been contacted by success at school, a new website that gives school aged children advice on what to do after school. It seems my blog had a wider audience then I realise and I was asked if I would take part in a short interview to tell people about my role and how you go about getting in to it!

This has now been published and appears here. ..http://successatschool.org/advicedetails/203/60-Second-Interview:-Train-Driver

I'm just waiting for a phone call now from Hollywood to do a film based on my life story. ..

10/09/13 4 posts in 1 day

2013-09-10T15:39:00.002+01:00

For those who don't know about this website I have to advertise it a bit as it is truly brilliant...

www.opentraintimes.com

on there they have brilliant timetables etc and best of all signalling maps with real time train locations shown for a large number of locations one of which being London Waterloo... very useful if like me you work for a company that goes into and out of Waterloo...

30,000 visitors

2013-09-10T15:31:00.003+01:00

Just wanted to say thanks again (this site has now had more than 30,000 page visits!! I will endeavour to give you more to read about!!

Francis

10/09/2013 Low Adhesion Time!!

2013-09-10T15:29:00.002+01:00

Right its that time of the year again. The time of year when your journey gets a bit longer and newspapers have a field day with headlines about wrong types of leaves and snow and ice etc etc

As I have just had my low adhesion brief (as a new driver I get it) I felt like trying to explain what the problem is as best as I can...

First thing I really have do is share a youtube video I have found. It is nearly 20 years old and is 20 minutes long but if you are really interested this is very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hxRTB66g2Y

This time of year we see more rain as a start. Heavy rain is better for drivers than light rain believe it or not. This is because heavy rain will often (but not always) gives the rail a good wash and keeps it clean. Light rain however, especially after long drive spells, will leave a film on the rail similar to how roads often get greasy. Think about when you drive, when it is slightly wet you can often wheel spin and that's with a rubber wheel gripping a tarmac road: imagine what it is like with a steel wheel on steel rail!!

The second thing that obviously happens in autumn is that leaves fall and this is where the press get their hilarious stories from. How can leaves falling effect very heavy trains? Good point but the very weight of the train can cause the issue. What happens is as trains pass over leaves on the rail the leaves are crushed (search youtube for coins on railway lines) in the same way that coins are flattened when they are placed on the line.
These crushed leaves create a coating on the rail that is like Teflon and means it becomes extremely slippery almost like black ice on roads. As a driver you don't always see this again like black ice and it can happen without warning. Now the next argument I get is surely as more modern trains come into services that cost hundreds and thousands of pounds surely they have technology that can help with this?
Well yes they do, its called WSP Wheel Slip Protection. What this does (and bear with me I am not an engineer and remember this is for Desiro trains that I drive but it should be similar to all trains) is as you start braking there is a sensor in each axle that monitors the rotational speed of the wheels. If one or more wheels start spinning slower or begin to lock it will automatically remove the brake from that wheel until it starts spinning at the same speed as the others. This will stop the wheels locking and will avoid damage to the wheels as well.
You can hear this system on your own train by listening for air "spitting" sounds from the wheels this is the brake valves opening and closing to release the brakes on individual rails.
Without this system, the wheels would all lock up and and the train would literally slide until such time as the wheels started gripping the track again.
As you can imagine, the trains speedo in the cab gets the speed reading from the wheels, if they lock up the speedo will show a lower speed than the train is actually going even dropping to zero if the wheels lock up which is very disconcerting for the driver!!
With the WSP system we also get sand to help. Think back to last winter with all the ice of the road. To help cars grip the road sand was sprayed to the surface, this gave your car more grip. The same happens on railways. The train will initially try to stop without it but when it gets to bad sand is blown in front of some of the wheels on the train, this improves grip and helps the train to stop.

Finally, the battle against slippery rails and leaf fall is the MPV trains. As of this autumn the MPV's (Multi Purpose Vehicles, picture below) will be driven by South West Trains drivers as part of the SWR (South Western Railway) alliance. These vehicles have multi purposes (obviously!!) and in autumn they have a large water jets attached to them which jet the rails as they pass, they can also lay a special gel called Sandite to the rail which is a sticky liquid that has something like sand in it to help trains grip the rail.
This attempts to keep the rail clean and "sticky" and helps passing trains but despite all this, trains still have to accelerate slower and brake much earlier. This is why your train takes longer. Also this is why some days it will be bad, often after strong winds (more leaves blown from trees) or after a shower of rain. You may also see drives looking stressed as driving becomes somewhat tricky even for the oldest best drivers out there so you can imagine how I feel with 9 months experience!!

So hopefully this enlightens you a bit. I appreciate that it is quite long winded but the video is good and I felt that leaves on the line is a bit of a national joke and when it is actually a very difficult time of year, perhaps a thanks to your driver next time you get off the train may make his or her day!!

this MPV is at Swanwick between Fareham and Southampton Central - a line I drive and a well known line for slippery rails all year much less during Autumn!!

10/9/2013 Update

2013-09-10T14:55:00.002+01:00

Hi all

It's been a while since an update as nothing interesting has really happened!

Since the last update a few things have happened:

SWT and NR alliance is still going strong

Platform 20 at Waterloo is almost ready to be brought back into use

I entered the South Western Railway competition

Almost a year since my final

So here we go, first of all the alliance which I may have mentioned before is still going strong. There are the odd improvement that front line staff are seeing but behind the scenes bigger things are happening and I cannot speak for everyone but I'm sure Emergency Speed Restrictions are being fixed much quicker!

Moving on platform 20: if you visit the website of the esteemed company I work for here http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/Historic-journey-marks-the-first-anniversary-of-the-South-West-Trains-and-Network-Rail-Alliance.aspx you can see the special train a class 444 that was name South Western Railway that visited platform 20. Every driver (except Salisbury) are going to be route learning for the new platform including a dvd and map being issued. I'll ask if I can upload the DVD to this site when I get it. Once we are all trained then we can start using the platform for passenger services. I am led to believe that SWT are hard at work to get the other platforms back in use. I have seen this signal just outside Waterloo showing 20 on a couple of occasions (for the platform) but can't photograph it while driving as you can imagine!
MORE TO COME when I get my go at driving in there!

Photo competition.. before the summer SWR (South Western Railway) began a photo competition with three categories: People, Infrastructure and Rolling Stock. As an avid photographer this seemed like a good opportunity and I duly entered. Next week I have been invited to a hotel in London for a lunch to celebrate the competition so here's hoping I have done well. I won't upload all the pictures but my favourites are these two:

as you can imagine, if I do well you will definitely here about it next week!

A years anniversary: Can you believe that a year ago next week, I was writing to say that my drivers final was starting. As you know I passed then but a rather worrying situation has arrived for next week. Rules Tests!
On the 16th I have a rules test, a route conducting test, and a traction test all have to be carried out. Now you are probably reading this and saying yes... what's the problem? Well it mainly consists of the fact that although I have been happily driving up and down the routes from Portsmouth to London, as you can see from this blog I have had nothing happen to me. Most of the rules are like the highway code, that meaning that you must stop at Red Lights, must not move with the doors open etc etc. There easy and I can answer those questions easily.
But what about the questions or rules that you do not use very often for example for those car drivers who have no children - would you know how tall a child has to be before they can sit without a child seat? I doubt it but what if you picked up a friend with a child? You still have to have a car seat.
It's the same with train drivers, I know speed restrictions, signal types and colours, but what is the form number for Single Line Working (I haven't had to do single line working since I qualified or ever for that matter) so I don't know.
In a nutshell, fair amount of revision to do this week!!

So that is an update post, have a look at the other post for today as it is all about low adhesion!

Francis

08/04/2013 PS...

2013-04-08T23:08:00.001+01:00

On a separate note, I have been contacted by readers of this blog to ask whether I know about South West Trains recruitment for drivers this year and any news about courses.

I need to point out that I am a driver at a depot and don't know SWT's plans for drivers this year, although I am happy to tell you about the recruitment process and what happens for information on your application you need to contact HR details are below.

Sorry I cannot be of more help!

Phone: 0845 408 1322

Fax: 02380 728144

Email: recruitment@swtrains.co.uk

Address:

Recruitment and Selection Centre
South West Trains
Floor 3
Blechyden Terrace
Overline House
Southampton
Hampshire
SO15 1AL

08/04/2013 - an update

2013-04-08T23:01:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Just realised that so many of you are checking this website on a daily basis and I have also been told that trainee at the school are looking at this site as well. This is very flattering. It also means I feel the need to try and keep this updated as well.

Over the last 4 months I have been accumulating time at the controls on my own and just staying out of trouble really. For the first two years after you drive on your own you are what is know as "Post Qualified" it means that you lack experience and it entails that your manager will do more rides and checks on you then a normal driver. None of this bothers me much, as I drive very carefully anyway. At the moment because I am in my first 6 months, I am categorized as a "high risk" driver. Not because I am likely to go wrong and they only just trust me just simply that I have only 4 months (at the moment) experience of driving on my own. In early June once I have done 6 months I will drop (assuming, touch wood, that I have not had an incident!) down to being a medium risk driver. This means that I will still be monitored but not quite as much as I am now, but more than a normal driver. Sounds complicated doesn't it? Just compare it to when you first pass you car test. You can drive but everyone considers you a risk as a new driver and your insurance is sky high. As you drive more you get years no claims bonus and you become less risky. Its the same as train driving except I don't pay an insurance premium.

As I said nothing much has happened recently. This is not helped by the fact that I have had a lot of annual leave to take as well.
As I spent most of last year training I did not want to take any leave so that I could get on. Well this means that since December when I qualified I have had a year and half worth of leave to take which means I have taken it everywhere otherwise you will lose it.

I have just had 11 days off I am back for three including today then I am off again for 6. Back in for three days and then off for 11 again!! It sounds good but frankly as a new driver you want to be out there driving and I get so bored at home!

Anyway this is just an update and I am still alive and going well. No incidents in my driving (touch wood it stays that way!) and no real stories. I imagine there will be some to come and I'll write about them when they do, otherwise thanks for reading!!

Francis

02-01-2013 Happy New Year

2013-01-02T17:00:00.001+00:00

Hello and firstly a Happy New Year.

Although I have nothing specific to tell you about I felt the need for a quick update.

I would like to thank everyone who views this web blog as I have noticed that in the last year I have had over 20,000 page views! Frankly I am absolutely amazed by this! Thanks!

I have been driving solo now for about 3 weeks and I am getting more confident as each day passes. Certain parts of routes I haven't been over since I qualified but I am trying to arrange trips so that I can refresh and keep it all in my memory.

I am really enjoying being a train driver (even double Waterloo's at the moment) there is something very special about driving a train and seeing sunrises and sunsets, watching hundreds of people leave your train when you terminate at London Waterloo or even being able to catch up late running (safely of course).

I have had a chance to do a bit of train racing at Waterloo which I won! (see early blog on train racing) and I have only had one slip up, which was today when I realised whilst chatting away in the mess room at Portsmouth & Southsea that I had 10 minutes to get to the siding, split a train and leave! I haven't run so fast in ages, but I left on time so no harm done and I'll keep a closer eye on time now!

The only other thing is that I have put a small camera in my bag so while I'm out about (and not when contravened by SWT rules on electronic items in cabs) I'll take some snaps between trains!

Thanks again for reading, I'm really pleased that I have over 20,000 pageviews!

18-12-12 Big BIG day

2012-12-18T14:13:00.000+00:00

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

2012-11-29T22:52:00.002+00:00

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...

2012-09-27T15:33:00.000+01:00

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...

2012-09-10T12:43:00.000+01:00

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)

2012-07-02T17:40:00.001+01:00

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

2012-06-01T12:06:00.001+01:00

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...

2012-05-18T08:31:00.000+01:00

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...

2012-05-15T21:34:00.001+01:00

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...

2012-05-06T22:44:00.005+01:00

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

2012-05-05T11:47:00.000+01:00

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

2012-05-02T12:03:00.004+01:00

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...

2012-04-25T15:56:00.002+01:00

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!!