Sim driving

[Lanc688]

We've probably met at Fairford then! Very cool. I'm assuming you're RAF to still be on those beasts? Presumably the E3? Or are you one of the lucky ones operating a private one?

Haha I know what you mean! You've just started training with a TOC haven't you?

I was at Fairford this year, but with the Lanc, not the E3 (clearly you're right there). I am pals with the KingAir display pilot, so you may know him !

Regarding TOC....no just passed the medical, which was the final hurdle really. Notice handed in today and should start Feb.

Lanc

 

[6Gman]

Yep.

Best job I have ever had, I reaaly enjoy getting up for work at 0300 in the middle of winter!

Ah, but at least you don't book on at 0400 to take a Class 8 freight from Crewe to Lostock Hall and then sit there until the first bus of the day to Preston turns up for you to come home!

Not my dad's favourite turn!

 

[AlexS]

Don't know how you work on preserved railway as well mate. I used to be involved in a heritage railway before becoming a driver but gave it up due to a conflict of interest and not wanting to drive trains for a hobby as well as a job!

If you are truly in it to preserve something rather just your own enjoyment you can keep it going.

I manage to juggle being a full time train dispatcher on the 'big railway' and a volunteer guard, signalman, S&T and station master/maintainer on a heritage railway. I love both worlds and they are both different enough to allow me to be happy doing both. The big railway is now much more focused on customer service, as it should be - but both sets of roles allow me a bit of a chance to play with trains as well which is nice .

I have my long weekend this weekend and will be spending 2 of my 3 rest days (keeping in with ROGs for hours/days worked as well ya see, have to be careful!) firstly as a signalman learning my 4th absolute block signalbox and the next day as a guard working some Santa Special trains - wouldn't trade it for anything.

I know a lot of people who go in for the busman's holiday type thing - these tend to be the more technical types going for the 'real' or 'old fashioned' way of doing their day job. Or people who go in for something completely different - we have a mainline driver training as a booking clerk at the moment for example.

Or had I not had to miss the turn last week, I was meant to be training a mainline driver of some 20 plus years experience as a guard.

We also have a PWay Engineer who is a driver.

I would however caution very strongly about using an assumption of knowledge to show competence in a role, particularly involving computer simulators. Commercially available ones are not that good at real life situations. And certainly while working on my preserved line, the signalling side is extremely realistic (there's no reason for it not to be as it's the same as many of the mechanical installations on the national network), the platform etc side is less so - no amount of seeing steam trains out and talking to families on a day out can quite prepare you for having a platform full of rush hour commuters at a busy mainline station, with 7 or 8 large (up to 10 carriages in my case) trains an hour through your platforms when it all goes horribly wrong and they all need an answer now!

 

[sarahj]

When I last had a go on the real training sims at Selhurst for a 377, what you get are platforms full of people, mind the same people over and over again, seagulls pooping on your window and a cow that goes moo when you hit it. A fun few hours on a new years eve, much better than learning rules.

The train sim I used on my home computer was Microsoft. I had Brighton main line and westcoast way. However, once your out doing the real thing, even only as a conductor you soon notice the major differences, even with speed limits, that you soon find your not bothering to use them anymore.

And remember, when your on train sim at home, your listening to music, eating a sandwich, perhaps texting on your phone, maybe even having a ciggie. Your also not getting beeped and buzzed at, no passenger is trying to flush the loo with a passcom, the cab radio is not beeping with CSR boundry changes, the pis girl is not yapping away and your not having to SG the signalbox, deciding how soon is too soon!!!
SJ

 

[TDK]

I think most are right on this thread, I have driven trains and £3m train simulators, the simulators are nothing like the real thing as you do not have any motion or real weather conditions etc. The professional simulators I have driven are pretty accurate as in they have an identical cab layout as the real thing however a PC based sim is nothing at all like the professional sim. I really do think it will help you metioning anything about the PC based game you play. I took a class 67 into Marylebone in the WSMR days for a young enthusiast trying to tell me I have done it wrong as I coasted for too long from Gerrards Cross as he needs to take power on his BVE thingy (whatever that may be), he also said he thought I was speeding over Neasden Junction as it should have been 20mph, in fact it used to be 40mph, I asked him how he was measuring my speed and he said both GPS and a stopwatch, from that day on I lost a lot of my respect for enthusiasts so I just looked at him and though "what a plonker". I am not comparing you with this spotter but you can see what most railway staff (drivers) would think if you mentioned you knew something about driving if you had used a PC based game!

 

[Beveridges]

Its just as well that performance on Sims has nothing to do with how well you can do the job for real, I used to have countless derailments, collisions, SPAD's (etc) on Train Sim when I played it 10 years ago. Fortunately I've yet to have one for real on Depot.