Railways and Social Hobbies

[thetom22]

Is it possible to work as say a driver, guard, signaller, etc. and still have the odd occasion to go to your volunteer club, martial arts dojo, acting group etc. at least once/twice a week?

 

[bramling]

Is it possible to work as say a driver, guard, signaller, etc. and still have the odd occasion to go to your volunteer club, martial arts dojo, acting group etc. at least once/twice a week?

Yes very much so, however due to working shifts as part of a roster some flexibility would be needed as to days and times. One way round this is to do changeovers with colleagues, although of course this is never guaranteed. The bigger the depot/roster the more changeover opportunities exist.

 

[Economist]

I'm a member of a couple of clubs/societies, one of which I joined after starting shifts on the railway. I'm not a huge fan of swaps unless they are essential to me (or someone else for that matter) meeting a specific commitment. One thing I would say is that if you join any new clubs, make it very clear that your availability is to an extent, limited by shifts. That's what I did, the new club I joined was perfectly fine with it.

 

[thetom22]

I'm a member of a couple of clubs/societies, one of which I joined after starting shifts on the railway. I'm not a huge fan of swaps unless they are essential to me (or someone else for that matter) meeting a specific commitment. One thing I would say is that if you join any new clubs, make it very clear that your availability is to an extent, limited by shifts. That's what I did, the new club I joined was perfectly fine with it.

I see makes sense. What kind of clubs are you apart of if you don't mind me asking? I currently do martial arts and volunteer for a charity organisation, both of which I've done for years

 

[TractiveEffort]

Unless you can swap shifts, which won’t be easy in every role, you’ll have a pretty disjointed social life, my days on always seem to coincide with something I want to do...... beer festival, sporting event, see a certain band, etc etc, so you can end up using A/L for things that you wouldn’t in a 9-5 job.

 

[Cavan]

Shift work does not lend itself to regular attendance at anything. You can never guarantee to be off on certain days or times unless you book leave. As an aside it can be quite common for leave to be rejected due to others being off. Anyone who want to work on the railways needs to really think about the shift work. I know plenty of people who have missed events and children's things. Yes railway jobs can give lots of days off but it may not be when you want!

 

[Economist]

The main "group event" club I'm involved in is a public speaking society, the other ones I can just turn up to when I want really. Hobbies which are flexible timewise can be fairly handy, I've noticed a slight trend with train driving and flying light aircraft, since at most flying clubs you can turn up to fly whenever there's a slot it's quite handy.

One thing I will mention about sports is risk of injury, I know someone who gave up rugby when they started on the railway because the risk of injury was, in their view, too high for the job. However I do know of at least one who's involved in martial arts who drives trains.

 

[RJ]

The truth is it will be difficult to commit to anything that happens on a weekly basis if you're a shift worker on a roster. The option to swap might exist, but is not guaranteed and it's not a given that you'll be able to get on a permanent early link.

 

[387star]

I play piano and I can book a lesson at any time

 

[ER158715]

With a bit of planning, its not too bad I'm a driver and coach goalkeepers with 2 different football clubs. Both clubs know that I work shifts but its not a problem. It can be a great release from the driving job!

 

[Overspeed110]

The main "group event" club I'm involved in is a public speaking society, the other ones I can just turn up to when I want really. Hobbies which are flexible timewise can be fairly handy, I've noticed a slight trend with train driving and flying light aircraft, since at most flying clubs you can turn up to fly whenever there's a slot it's quite handy.

One thing I will mention about sports is risk of injury, I know someone who gave up rugby when they started on the railway because the risk of injury was, in their view, too high for the job. However I do know of at least one who's involved in martial arts who drives trains.

Ive known drivers take part in all sorts of "risky" activities, (myself included) motocross, skydiving, downhill mtb racing, rugby, climbing, car racing etc etc. If you're into something there's no way I'd stop it just because you might injure yourself. I know someone who when walking slipped off a normal kerb and messed their ankle up so bad they were off work for 8 months.

 

[Economist]

Some TOCs are from what I hear very strict with "total time off work" as they see it except where it is legally protected, I've heard of a few people lose their jobs over sickness. If the OP starts at a TOC which doesn't mind injuries so much, then I imagine more options are open for them.

 

[TheEdge]

Ive known drivers take part in all sorts of "risky" activities, (myself included) motocross, skydiving, downhill mtb racing, rugby, climbing, car racing etc etc. If you're into something there's no way I'd stop it just because you might injure yourself. I know someone who when walking slipped off a normal kerb and messed their ankle up so bad they were off work for 8 months.

I drive trains and I do airsoft. I've never thought about giving it up for anything like that.

 

[dk1]

Even going back to the 90s I remember certain drivers being told to curtail their participation in sports such as rugby. To be fair several had really appalling attendance records due to injuries incurred in their hobbies.

 

[axlecounter]

Unless getting off-work injuries becomes illegal, there’s nothing to stop you doing what you like.

 

[MostlyHarmless]

To be honest if I were getting lots of injuries from a hobby I was participating in then I'd probably give it up as it would indicate that I wasn't very good at it!