I miss this template...

I wish I could take this old template to my new blog, but I don't know how... 

Please come visit me at my new blog!

Timberline Lodge and lots of wind - it makes for an exciting combination!  :-)  My daughter taking pictures of the flag, me taking pictures of both...

Come visit me at *My New Blog*!

Hi all!

I just cannot stay away from blogger.   In the past few months I have tried out two other blog services, but this is the one to use.  However, I am not just blogging about trains any more, but about being a bus driver for TriMet again, something I am really enjoying.  I have so many stories to write about; I have met so many nice people and have laughed so much that it MUST be written about.

I will do so on my new blog, where you will also find all my posts from this blog.  The name of my new blog (at least until I find a better one!) is:
  

Getting older is all about deciding what you will do when you grow up...

I hope you will come visit me - and give me ideas about what to write about next.  :-) 

Streetcar in Oslo, Norway, on a winter day...

Link to detailed map of downtown Portland public transit

Click here for a detailed map of downtown Portland from TriMet's web site.

Our new Free Rail Zone

It will be very interesting to see how difficult it will be for bus drivers to inform passengers of the new rule downtown: as of January 3, 2009, there will be no more free bus rides downtown unless you are an Honored Citizen with a special two year "downtown only" bus pass.   

Free Rail Zone

In January, Fareless Square becomes the "Free Rail Zone"

As of January 3, 2010, Fareless Square will become a free zone for rail only. That means you can still ride MAX and Portland Streetcar for free in downtown Portland and the Lloyd District, but not buses. To help communicate this important change, we're changing the name of the zone to "Free Rail Zone."

The Free Rail Zone will have the same boundaries as Fareless Square: Most of downtown Portland (within the boundaries of the Willamette River, NW Irving Street, and I-405) and MAX stations from the Rose Quarter to the Lloyd District.

This winter, we'll be adding new Free Rail Zone emblems on customer information displays at rail stations within the zone boundary.

To help our Honored Citizen riders who live in downtown Portland, TriMet is offering a new downtown-only bus pass.

New downtown Honored Citizen Bus Pass

I like this - I think this is an excellent idea - it will help many people who live downtown who are on fixed incomes; this group has had some real concerns about getting around in the former Fareless Square with the new "Free Rail Zone" starting on January 3, 2010.  

Honored Citizen Downtown Portland Bus Pass

Unlimited free rides on buses downtown

The Honored Citizen Downtown Portland Bus Pass provides unlimited rides on buses within the boundaries of the Willamette River, I-405 and NW Irving Street. It is available only to Honored Citizen riders who live within this area.

• The pass also serves as proof of Honored Citizen status for trips outside of downtown that require a fare.
• It is valid for up to two years from the date of purchase. For riders with a temporary disability, the pass is valid for the duration of the disability.
• A $10 administrative fee is required. There is a $5 fee to replace lost or stolen cards.

Who is eligible?

Beginning December 3, 2009, the pass will be available to Honored Citizen riders who live downtown within the boundaries on the map at right.
Honored Citizen Downtown Portland Bus Pass Boundaries

How to get your pass

We will begin accepting applications December 3.

1. Download the application form (95KB PDF) or pick one up at the TriMet Ticket Office at Pioneer Courthouse Square (701 SW 6th Ave., Portland OR 97204). The office is located on the west side of the Square below the waterfall. Look for the blue "Visitor Information" signs. Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
2. Come to the TriMet Ticket Office to have your photo taken and pay the $10 administrative fee. Note: You'll need to bring proof of Honored Citizen status (photo ID showing date of birth, Honored Citizen card or Medicare card) and proof of residence address (photo ID or utility statement).

Why did TriMet create this new pass?

Starting January 3, 2010, Fareless Square will become the "Free Rail Zone." The free zone's boundaries will remain the same, and rides on MAX and Portland Streetcar will continue to be free. Buses, however, will no longer be free.
We created the Honored Citizen Downtown Portland Bus Pass to help ensure that senior citizens and people with disabilities can continue to use transit to access essential services downtown, including medical care, social services and shopping.

For more information

To learn more about the downtown bus pass, contact us at accessible@trimet.org or 503-962-2455.

I want to do something like this to my train...

Very, very cool!  :-)

This just makes me smile - I would love to see this guy perform in person...   this is happy entertainment!  

(How will I get the train to balance on the wheels on just one side??? - 'some guy' any ideas???)

More about our training, part 2

While answering the comment from "muffin man" on my previous post, I started describing our light rail training.  I wrote about it in the fall of 2007 when I went through it, so navigate back to those posts to read my thoughts from that time.

Instead of putting my thoughts today in a comment, I decided to make a new post about it - it goes along with debunking the impression held by heavy rail personnel that they "know more" because their training is "much longer" - like years instead of our weeks.

We have five weeks of intense classroom training, followed by two weeks of 'in revenue' training with experienced operators who are "line trainers".  Some people mistake our 7 week training to become a light rail operator as "short", and therefore "insufficient".  Therefore we supposedly do not learn "as much" as somebody who has a much longer training period at a company like BNSF. Such comments show their ignorance about our training - and their arrogance.

The first five weeks of our training is the most hectic five weeks I have ever spent in school.  Class is 8 hours a day, then 3 to 5 hours EVERY night of study, often preceded by additional time spent after class with class mates and instructors who are more than willing to spend extra time with students if needed.  Some students form study groups that meet before class every day.   There is an insane amount of information to absorb in a very short time.  Yet, we do it.

When we are done with training, we know the basics of light rail operation.  We know how to safely get the train from A to B to C to D - and eventually to the end of the line.  With time we learn how the signal at D affects the signal at H - it might seem like a long distance away, but the relationship between signals and which trains are calling it up, is fascinating.  It takes years to learn all the fine details of our system because it is so complicated.  To start with we operate the trains from signal to signal - and that works just fine.  As we talk "rail talk" with other rail operators, supervisors, controllers, training supervisors and mechanics, we slowly form a more cohesive picture of how the system hangs together, and we learn more and more.

My light rail instructor, who is one of the most passionate people I have met in regard to our system, is still learning about the sophistication of our system.   He is one of our best, and he knows more than most at rail about our system.   Our learning literally never ends - it can't.   Our system is too complicated for any of us to stop learning about it.  If you think you know it all at light rail, it is probably better for you to quit.

I am slowly putting it all together - and having a lot of fun every time I put one more piece of the puzzle in the right place.  Last night - and a week ago - I learned about how the system works when I am sitting at the Willow Creek TC in the westbound track, waiting to take my train eastbound back to the yard, only one platform away eastbound from Willow Creek.  There was a train at Elmonica westbound, there was an eastbound train coming up on my right at Willow Creek and far behind me a fourth train was sitting at Orenco eastbound, waiting for permission to call it's signal.  We were all following instructions from Control.

I could not get my signal to leave the westbound track until the first mentioned eastbound train came up next to me at Willow Creek - had that train waited at Orenco, I would have been OK to cross over to the eastbound tracks sooner.   Orenco is TWO platforms west of Willow Creek. 

All these little quirks in our system are safety features to make sure trains do not come too close to each other.  I still need to learn more about the situation I was in last night - which, by the way, is a "normal" late night situation when several trains are headed back to the yard in a short period of time.  However, no matter how much more I want to learn about this situation, we were all safe, we were all doing what we were supposed to do: we were safely operating our trains. 

After I moved my train to the eastbound track, the other trains were able to call up their signals; one by one they all moved to their next destinations. 

Our sophisticated technological system worked the way it was designed to work: keep trains apart.  We do not want to make ONE four car consist out of TWO two car consists.  :-)  It would be very bad for our public image.  It would be a bad accident.  Our TriMet managers do not like accidents.  Neither do any of my other co-workers. 

Referring again to my light rail instructor: I recall him telling us that our system is like a large living organism functioning in set ways, breathing, acting, reacting, doing what it is designed to do: moving trains safely from one part of our metropolitan area to another. 

Yes, indeed, we do have a "short" seven week initial training session, but we can never stop learning.  Not long ago, I was in the cab with a 12 year light rail veteran and I was amazed at how much he knew that I did not know - yet, we both know how to safely move the trains around the system.

Our continued learning is not just the informal learning I have described above.  We have classes we are required to go to; daily we receive written and verbal instructions (verbal instructions must be repeated back to Control word by word so they know we understand them; at the end of the line, we get a written copy of that instruction as well) about changes to our system that can last from a few minutes to several days, sometimes longer.  Verbal communications with our Controllers is an ongoing constant presence in our lives while we work.  That cab radio crackles and informs me about what I and the trains near me are supposed to do/know all day long.

So if anybody dares tell me again that we are a "kindergarten" system, I will invite them to apply at TriMet, put in whatever time is needed as a bus driver, and them come over and see how "easy" it is to be a light rail operator.

It's not that hard, yet, it is certainly not easy.  It is an interesting job because it is so complicated and challenging. 

An old tram restored and celebrated in Oslo, Norway.

Our training, part 1: Light rail: "kindergarten" compared to "real" trains???

A few weeks ago a man who wrote that he was a former conductor for BNSF; he told me that he thinks that our light rail system is "kindergarten" stuff.

Oh, really???

If so, this is advanced, advanced kindergarten.  In many respects our system is a lot more advanced than the system the freight trains use.  Our safety features are so much more sophisticated than the safety features of heavy rail that I think I can safely say that THEY are often operating their heavy trains on pre-kindergarten tracks...

Yes, running a mile long freight train is a complicated operation.  Going over hills with one of those long trains takes amazing precision on the part of the engineer.  Knowing when to brake, how fast to go both up and down at the same time when the train crests a hill or a mountain, is impressive work.  Knowing how to move that long vehicle from one part of the country to another, is a remarkable achievement, one that is repeated hundreds of times all over the country every single day.   

Yet, as impressed as I am with heavy rail, Mr. Conductor, I am tired of the attitude of many "real" train conductors and engineers toward light rail.  It might have to do with you guys realizing that we have an amazingly sophisticated system that cannot be copied by heavy rail because it would be too expensive.  Or it might simply be that you just think you "know it all" like your comment implied...  After all, YOU are on the "real" trains, while we are not.  Hm...   I don't buy it. 

Too bad you did not want to go the normal route to become a light rail operator for TriMet; unfortunately, it always starts with a year or two or three (or more) as a bus driver, followed by light rail training which includes passing tests that I am SURE you would pass with flying colors since you know SO much already...   (sarcasm intended)

   

So, in order to help you prepare to work at TriMet light rail, here is a short list of things you must know; these items are in no particular order of importance.  If you can answer all these questions with the knowledge you gained as a conductor for BNSF, you are doing really well.  :-)

Welcome to TriMet's light rail system! 

What does red over yellow mean?  What am I talking about?

How do you pump off the brakes on a Type 1?  How about a Type 2?  What is the difference between a Type 1 and a Type 3 in regard to pumping of the brakes?

How do you do a dead car push?  How about a dead car tow? 

What is an MDH?  How do you use it?

What is a lunar?

Where do you see a lunar?

How can you block a train coming up from the airport when you are at 82nd Avenue eastbound?   Where would that southbound airport train be stuck? Why? 

What is the island circuit?  How can you use it?  What are dwarf signals?

How often do we do manual blocks?  When? Where?  Why?

How many cross passages are there in the tunnel?  How far apart?

What is the first thing you do if you have an accident?

What is ABS?  How about MB?

What is an ABS block?

Where should you find the east ladder at Elmonica - unless somebody moved it???  :-) 

How to prevent spin slide?  What is spin slide? 

How do you lower the pantograph?  Without electricity on the train?

Where and why might you see red over red over red over green?  What can you do when you get this signal? 

You probably know this one: what is a facing move?  What is a trailing move?

What might happen if you don't know the difference and you get the two moves mixed up - and take your train down that path anyway?

What is ATS?   How do you use it?

What does green over green mean when you are sitting at Sunset westbound with an 83 in your route code on your way to Hillsboro?

Tell me the proper names of all the parts of a switch.

Are there different kinds of switches on our system?  Why or why not?  Name it or them. 

You are approaching Hatfield Government Center, but you see this signal: red over white vertical over white diagonal.   What do you have in your route code?

The last stop for my train tonight was Willow Creek.  How do I get back to the Elmonica yard - behind me - without going all the way to Hillsboro?

Why are the rails downtown different than the rails outside of downtown?

What is the speed limit downtown?  Around curves downtown?

What's a pre-empt?  What's a combination signal?

How long do you have to get through a combination signal before it will trip you?  What does it mean that you "tripped" a signal?

Where is W 2?  Why is W 2 important?

What does it mean to SOP an intersection?  Can you SOP anywhere?  Why or why not?

Does signal 76 time out?  If so, after how long?   Where is signal 76?

Where is signal 90?  Or A 96?  Why are both important?  If your ignore A 96, what could happen? 

What is so special about the Doubletree siding?  How do you get from the Doubletree siding to Gresham?

What is the great importance of berthing markers?

What does "key by" mean?  How can you use the "reset" button?  What must you do before touching either of those buttons? 

How many intermediate signal are there from Sunset TC to Beaverton TC westbound?  What does a red signal at the last one mean?

You are approaching a signal, but see nothing.  It is dark. What might you do?

How can you tell if a circuit is occupied?

What are the meanings of the words "Padlocked, Locked, Unlocked"?

Tell me the proper definition of a dwarf signal.

Where do you find "the throat"?

The door on your Type 1 is not closing.  Go cut it out.

The door on your other car, a Type 3, is not closing.  Cut it out, too.

The bridgeplate on a Type 2 is not retracting.  How do you manually retract it?  Can you leave it in service or do you have to cut it out?  What must you remember to do?

Control tells you that you are to use Restricted Speed.  How fast is that?

What are C and L and R and a blank button inside your cab used for? 

What is a Sweep Train?  Why is it important - or why is it not so important?

Do we ever just coast?  Why?

You show an inverter fault.  What do you do?

You show an AUX fail.  What might that be and how do you handle it?

There is only one place on our alignment where you must look for TWO signals to "drop" before you move your train.  Why and where is this?  What does it mean for a signal to "drop"?  

You see a green on one side of "your" tracks and a white vertical on the other side of "your" tracks.  Where might you be?  Is this a safe combined signal for you to move on?  Why not?  Or why is it safe? 

What is a repeater?  We have two along the Banfield.  Why?

How do you know when you have connected to the V-tag at platforms?

And what IS a V-tag? 

How much voltage is in the overhead catanary wire?  Why the heavy weights on some of the catanary poles? 

What is B1?  P5?  MOW?

You get to a platform and see a sign that says: CALL.  What do you do?

What's a "chicklet"?  Yep, it's light rail slang for something, but you will have to learn it...    

What's a train order?  How does a train order become a special instruction?

You see a sign that is yellow and red - what MUST you do?

You see a TriMet worker move one arm back and forth in front of him or her in a slow fluid horizontal motion, pointing to the ground next to him or her as the arm goes down on a slight angle.  What must you do?

The same person has just shown you a different signal: arm stretched out, hand in a fist, and the fisted hand moving up and down from the wrist.  What does this signal mean?  How do you let him or her know you saw the signal?

How often do we use hand signals?  What's the most common hand signal we use out on the alignment?  Show it to me.   

How do you take a train out of the shop?  What is the speed through the wash track?

Where is the apron?  How long are you allowed to stop your train on the apron?

Here is a two part question: 

1. You are at the yard limit at Elmonica yard, coming in from the eastbound track.  What yard signal did you just pass (but did not use because your train is coming from the "wrong" direction to use this signal)? 

2. Now you need to take your train to the wash track.   How?  Good luck.  :-)

A passenger tells you the bridgeplates on your trailing car are not working.  Your trailing car is a Type 1.  What must you do?

What's a Blue Flag?  Where do you find it?  What do you do when you find it?

Do our trains have bumpers?  Where?  

How do you uncouple on the main line?

How do you couple two cars on the main line?

How do you park your train at the end of the day on Storage 4 CD when there is already a train at 4 AB?  Could you pass a train parked in 3 EF on your way to 4 CD?

The storage tracks are not lettered, nor are they numbered very well (at Elmonica where I work).  How do you know which track is which? 

Your train has a Dynamic Brake Fault.  How do you know? How do you fix it?

Where is the breaker panel in a Type 1?

The Type 4's are in some ways easier to operate because the motoring drum handle is different than on the other three types of train cars we have.  What is this difference?  How does it work to your advantage - or disadvantage? 

What is TDL?  Why is TDL important?

The other day I called Control asking for permission to use the manual release lever.  What was I doing?

What happens to your braking system at 3 mph?

How long could a train operate on battery power?  Do we really have batteries like that on our trains?

Where is the C truck on one of our train cars?

We sometimes need to tell Control how we are coupled.  How do you know you are coupled A to A?  Can you be coupled A to B?  C to C?  B to B?

What is SM2?   Where do you find it on the train?

MRU - what is it and where do you find it?

Can you legally operate the train from one of the coupled cabs?

You are in a hurry to get home at the end of the day.  Forget those cold passengers!  You will just bypass those platforms.  NO?  Never?  Or...? 

*********************************************

This is just a partial list.  If a kindergarten kid can do all that, well, then I guess we should be thankful that our school system has finally gotten it's act together...  

This is a grinder.  I took this picture as a passenger in a cab a few months ago.  This grinder was sitting at the pocket track at Hillsboro Fairgrounds, or Fair Plex, a shorter and "funner" name...   

Comments on my blog...

I LOVE to get comments on my blog.  I like hearing your opinions, and gladly publish them.

However, I will not publish anything that has profanity in it, not even if the profanity has been abbreviated; I do not use profanity ("darn" is as strong as it gets), so I do not publish it on my blog.

I have not yet found a way to edit comments - if there is a way, I would love to do it. 

Please send lots of comments, but without the profanity... 

Thank you...  :-) 

Finally becoming "friends" with the Type 4's...

An old photo of a Type 4 during burn in a year ago. 

To my great frustration, I discovered that I would have Type 4's yesterday, Friday.  Arrgghh...   (Eh, that is yesterday, which is still today, because I have not slept yet, but today is also Saturday, so tomorrow is really already today; Friday is Saturday - but not really.  Tomorrow is already here, but my head says it is yesterday, eh, no, today, but really tomorrow, yet today can be either one, or both Friday or Saturday - all because I have not slept yet...)

Well, it turned out that the set (of Type 4's, that is) that I got, was a "good" set - I had NO problems, and I even got the announcements to work.  Yeah! 

After I put my windbreaker under my butt to fill in the back part of the seat (I hate the feeling of sitting on a downward slope toward the backrest), I got comfy and found that I was actually, for the first time, enjoying myself while operating a Type 4 consist.   The 4's are very quiet; they run down the alignment smoothly and quickly, looking elegant while doing so.  The mechanics are doing a great job getting the bugs out of them - my hat off to the guys and gals who are dealing with these new trains in the shop. 

I still hear bells and whistles all too often, but I am getting used to them.  :-)  I just hit OK and continue on my way - unless, of course, the little screen thingy tells me about something more important than the washer fluid being low.  Oh, really???  Well, I must call Control about THAT!  NOT. 

It is irritating that the little screen thingy also told me that I needed to turn the heat off, or on automatic, because it was getting too hot in the cab.  Hm...  I estimate the temp was around 55 degrees Fahrenheit - oh, yes, for sure - too hot...  ugh...  So I ignored that little warning, too, because my feet were getting cold every time I obeyed the screen thingy. 

Rebellious?  Me?  No.   Just using my brain to think.  And my feet to feel.  The cold.  Brr....

Oh, and no snow so far.  Probably just a false alarm.   Stepping off my train at PDX on my last trip, I thought I had finally arrived at our local winter heaven; the platform was covered with a think layer of something I quickly realized was not snow, but snow melt.  White and pretty, and LOTS of it. Now I am hoping we get some snow so all that stuff is not just a waste of good money... 

I bet I can go to work Saturday without any problems, with or without snow.  Or is that today that I am going to work again?  Didn't I already work today?  Which day is it, anyway?  Friday?  Yes.  No.  Saturday?  Yes.  Eh - no.  Calendar says Saturday comes after Friday - but only after I get some shut eye. 

It is time for me to get some shut eye... 

Self portrait - I am tired :-(