Last week I passed my entrance exam to be a Light Rail operator. As mundane as it sounds (perhaps approporiate for this particular board) I’m very excited because of the technical nature of the job. For those unfamiliar, there is much more to it than just ‘go’ and ‘stop’. The training is very rigorous and about half of the applicants end up flunking out. However, I am very confident I will do well because a big part of the training revolves around following specific directions and studying, both of which I am very familiar with.
When I told my friend, she told me, “I hope you don’t turn into one of those train hobbyist weirdos that are obsessed with trains” The fact is, I really wasn’t particularly interested in trains until I got a job at the VTA and had the opportunity to possibly drive one.
Points to ponder, although the subject’s not tender to my heart. But if you want to make it a platform for pun-upmanship, fire away (but get some training first).
Doesn’t it just steam you when you start a perfectly sensible thread and then someone comes along and derails it? Makes you want to kick 'em in the caboose.
Morbid question: do they talk about fatalities at all? I only ask because my co-worker’s husband has been on a couple of “death trains” in the past couple of months. But maybe that’s the baby bullet and not light rail, since he’s going up to S. San Francisco.
Do you have the option of wearing those cool striped overalls and cap? That would rock.
I recommend you prepare for your job by watching the 1964 Burt Lancaster movie The Train. It has nothing whatseover to do with light rail, but it’s a great movie. And, in an idle moment you can imagine you’re hauling priceless art out of Paris while the Nazis look over your shoulder.
