An old instructor I knew liked his trainees to get to the point where they could operate the controls with one hand.
This was on units with a seperate throttle and brake handle.
The idea being that unlike a car where you have to constantly make adjustments, mainly with the steering wheel, with a train you don’t. But you do need to make sure you don’t “get behind” events.
If you let go of the wheel a car will drift off the road quite quickly, even on a straight road.
On a train you are controlling a vehicle that doesn’t react quickly to things such as the need to slow down or accelerate. So micro-management of the controls every few seconds is not required. Adjusting the throttle for example will take some time to be noticed.
However, If you get a little behind things on a train you can rapidly run out of time/space to correct. For example, if approaching a station and you answer a call for aid but miss your braking point. There will quickly come a point where even an emergency application won’t get you stopped by the platform. Or failing to notice your speed is too high late on the approach in slippy weather could result in the same.
Approaching a speed restriction. If you brake too late you could overspeed or trip a TPWS grid. So an early intervention is needed. And this is where excellent route knowledge is required
So the skill in driving a train isn’t constant control of every tiny aspect. But using your knowledge and pre-empting events, setting things up beforehand, then monitoring what is happening and whether the parameters (speed, rate of retardation etc) are pointing towards the desired outcome or whether adjustment is required. Again, these adjustments have to be pre-empted and made early enough to work.
In this way it can be compared to piloting an aircraft. I know such comparisons often bring out impassioned arguments about whether drivers and pilots can be compared. That is not my point.
What I am saying is that on an aircraft the pilots are constantly preparing for the next thing. Pre-storing the next radio channel for example. In times of high workload such as landing their job is to stabilise the aircraft at a suitable speed, in the correct configuration. They need the approach lined up, glide angle correct, flaps set, gear down, thrust set etc well before the aircraft touches the runway. They do checklists early to ensure nothing gets missed.
Seeing a pilot complete all this in a flurry of activity a few seconds before touchdown would NOT be impressive.
Instead a professional would calmly set everything up in good time and then adjust as needed.
Train drivers must do similar.
So approaching a certain station I might shut off early knowing the uphill gradient will dissipate my momentum (thus making a slide less likely when the brake is applied than going straight from power to brake). It will also prevent me powering through a neutral section just as I need my hand to cancel an AWS magnet.
I will then apply the brake to a known quantity in a certain vicinity based on the weather, railhead and exact speed I’m doing at that time. I will then leave it until I reach a speed on approach I am happy with and adjust accordingly.
By doing so I have spare mental capacity and a spare hand for additional things that occur like a call for aid sounding, cancelling a temporary AWS magnet or even sighting track workers and having to sound the horn.
I could do everything much later and with a flurry of activity but then something like reaching for the horn could cause me to keep power on slightly later, perhaps inducing a slide when I find my approach speed too high and brake without dissipating momentum first. Or I could miss an AWS magnet, or even miss my braking point.
Essentially driving a train is about planning ahead and getting things sorted before you reduce your margins for error too far.
That is why the old instructor liked his trainees to be capable of working the train one handed. It forced them to prioritise their decisions and approach everything methodically and early.
While it may not look to a layman that a driver is in control of a train it is not necessary to constantly have hands on the controls if you are correctly monitoring the parameters of your train and all is well.
In fact, I would suggest that the drivers that appear to be doing the least are more likely in more control of their train than those making constant adjustments.
This is backed up by managers not liking to see things in downloads such as a large number of repeated applications/releases of the brake. In older days this could result in a loss of air but it is still frowned upon. A good driver will set the brake and leave it making minor adjustments as needed.
I often think of stopping at a station as being like playing a hole at golf. I have my ‘drive’ (a long brake application made early to get speed well down). Then I release the brake and play my approach shot getting the speed down to what I want in the platform. Finally a few ‘putts’ to stop exactly.
Sorry for the long post but I hope this gives a bit more insight for any interested non-drivers.
(That ones for the benefit of the usual gutter press.)
