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You mean like time between runs? Generally 15 to 20 minutes--assuming the train comes in to the terminal on time. The official "lunch" break is 30, although some jobs are set up with additional break time tacked on, so it can be longer.
I remember one day working on the N line when a passenger was being particularly difficult, screwing around with the doors at each station. Finally I got a chance to speak to him, and this is what I said: "I get paid time and a half for every minute this train is late into the terminal. So if you think I'm gonna stop you from playing with those doors, you got the wrong conductor!" He took a seat and I didn't have any more trouble from him.
Had my first Brakes In Emergency incident yesterday. We were on our way to Stillwell, north of 8th Avenue, when the problem indicator came up on the TOD and the train came to a sudden stop. Turns out that it was a BIE. So the train operator had to get out and look around the train for 15 minutes only to find that some isiot kids had set up a number of objects, including rubber buckets and other objects, on the tracks in order to trip up the trains. In another case, they took 3rd rail protection boards and used them with the buckets to make a sort of bridge across the tracks.
WTF ever happened to joybuzzers and whoopie cushions? Now kids' idea of a joke is obstructing trains and pushing shopping carts off ledges onto people's heads?!
^ Trust me, that's only the tip of the iceberg, where our lovely passengers are concerned. I could tell some more stories (but I'm not going to here, because let's face it: there's no reason to give 'em any additional ideas they may not have had!)
Had my first Brakes In Emergency incident yesterday. We were on our way to Stillwell, north of 8th Avenue, when the problem indicator came up on the TOD and the train came to a sudden stop. Turns out that it was a BIE. So the train operator had to get out and look around the train for 15 minutes only to find that some isiot kids had set up a number of objects, including rubber buckets and other objects, on the tracks in order to trip up the trains. In another case, they took 3rd rail protection boards and used them with the buckets to make a sort of bridge across the tracks.
WTF ever happened to joybuzzers and whoopie cushions? Now kids' idea of a joke is obstructing trains and pushing shopping carts off ledges onto people's heads?!
Hey Artzilla,
I just started schoolcar on Monday. How is it so far? Are you enjoying it? Are they sending you all over the system?
I just started schoolcar on Monday. How is it so far? Are you enjoying it? Are they sending you all over the system?
So far so good, but there are some things that come up in the field that they might forget to tell you about in schoolcar.
For example..when you get to terminal procedures..ask your TSS why exactly you have to dezone in one cab and zone up in the other cab of a new-tech (R160) train before you leave the train and leave the MDC in terminal. Ask him what happens if you don't, and just open the doors from the side you came in on and leave the train. Because that has happened a few times in my experience so far that the previous conductor does not dezone properly and zone up in the cab the next conductor comes in on, and BELIEVE me, it causes a problem, especially when you have to leave the station in less than two minutes and find that you can't freaking dezone either cab. You have to go through an additional little door procedure.
Another thing you will learn about in the field because they don't really touch on it in schoolcar is a relay. A relay is when a train comes into the terminal and the train crew has to empty all the passengers off, bring the train into the tunnel, have the train operator switch positions and then bring the train back out onto the departing track for the next crew. Sometimes the conductor rides along on a relay.
It's a big world out here, lol. During jobs, I am also getting a lot of people coming up to the conductor's window asking me if a separate train is running, when I am on a completely different line that doesn't even run similarly to mine. "Dude, I am still trying to learn THIS line!"
Yes, you will get a chance to post and work all over the place, but I am lucky that they try to give me lines out of terminals that are closer to where I live. In Queens, though, there are a lot of options.
It's a big world out here, lol. During jobs, I am also getting a lot of people coming up to the conductor's window asking me if a separate train is running, when I am on a completely different line that doesn't even run similarly to mine. "Dude, I am still trying to learn THIS line!"
Yes, you will get a chance to post and work all over the place, but I am lucky that they try to give me lines out of terminals that are closer to where I live. In Queens, though, there are a lot of options.
First paragraph: that's nothing. Wait until they ask questions about IRT lines! (It's not only MTA that expects us to know the whole system; passengers also take it for granted that we do).
Second paragraph: when I was a brand-new conductor, I was only getting job assignments two days a week. The other three I was "on the board," an arrangement I disliked most heartily. And so I began calling the Crew Office each morning (between 10:00 and 10:30 turned out to be the ideal time) asking if there were any open jobs. Eventually, one guy up there started referring to me as "that conductor who's willing to work." And that's when I discovered another facet to the Crew Office:
Not only can they make you miserable, they can be your best friend. I started getting job assignments close to home on a regular basis.
Your attention ladies and gentlemen: the exam for MTA Conductor is open for filing, September 3-23. Applications can be obtained at the Department for Citywide Administrative Services, 2 Lafayette Street. Take the advice of this current tower operator (and former conductor)--it blows the private sector away! Everyone should rush to get their application forms ASAP.
would like to take the exam MTA conductor.Give me some advice
The next conductor exam should be in mid 2014 the earliest .
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MTA conductor
