The classroom stuff is intense and boring. The fun begins during traction and during your handing hours. But the most important thing is your driving and route knowledge. You'll be suprised how rules are seen as the most important part of train driving during the classroom stuff but once your with your instructor and getting prepared for your final part the most important thing is the driving and route knowledge.
Obviously not saying rules ain't important but what's the point in your rules behind 100% but your route knowledge is lacking or your driving ain't great
I don't know anyone who's failed their rules, but I know of people who have failed their final assessment due to poor driving or lack of route knowledge.
Rules are important yeah I agree but as a driver you'd have a list of everything you need to know incase things go wrong. Rules is more or less a memory test but as a driver we would be guided on what to do and we would have a copy with us with the restrictions and speeds etc.
These are both very concerning messages coming from a qualified driver.
I know people who have failed on their rules, and I know that you know the same people too.
The reason your DI won't go over rules so much with you is because you have done them in the classroom and already had your rules assessments.
For the same reason your classroom teachers won't go over route knowledge so much, because that's the job of your DI and your route assessment comes later.
As someone at a depot where most of us sign around 1,000 miles of route and multiple types of traction - I can assure you that rules are equally as important as route knowledge.
If you overspeed by 5mph the chances are nothing will happen. If you apply incorrect rules when passing signals at danger you're going to be in much more bother.
I carry maps for all of my routes and selected pages from our traction handbooks in my bag, along with the rulebook apps on my iPad, work phone and personal phone - along with the PDF version saved offline as a backup.
I know many people in our previous TOC would consider this a sign of weakness, but I don't. Almost everyone at my depot does this to some extent.
In the last few weeks I've had to isolate the air supply to my coupler, isolate air suspension, inhibit an engine and fire system, make a lengthy wrong direction move, unfamiliar shunts, and emergency special working.
I knew how to do all that stuff - but is there any harm in double checking?
However - when you're on the move or need to do something quickly you don't always have time to check, you've just got to know this stuff.
I'm sure as we gain experience once qualified we all make our own judgement on what parts of the rulebook we need to know inside out and the bits that we won't need to use often or ever.
However, to tell new drivers not to worry about rules is terrible advice.
