Always wanted to be a train driver and always wondered this. How exactly do drivers route learn.. I know they go through initial training which is based in classrooms but then go out into the real world and do it. Do they do it in a simulator first then use the real locomotives? Or other way round. And what's the process exactly. One day at a time? As in each day they do the route bit by bit or does it happen like that? Does the trainer sit in secondman seat giving them information about speed limitations etc or do they just observe or ask them questions or even set tasks? Just curious how exactly it all comes together. As heard its like a jigsaw puzzle with theory in practice etc. What happens if a trainee makes a mistake? Does it go against them? Are they constantly assessed about route knowledge.
In the US, in order to qualify over territory you must ride with the train crews over and over and over until you have memorized mile posts, signals, grade crossings, speed limits, switches, etc. Once you know the territory you run the train under the supervision of a road foreman until they are satisfied with your route knowledge. You then have to regularly run that route or risk losing your territory qualification and have to re-certify. The same goes for becoming certified in new territory; you must go through the same process (on your own time at that!). I've ridden Metro-North trains before where trainees are riding in the front car with employee timetables and rule books calling out landmarks and route identifiers; it's an arduous task but it's really not much different than memorizing a road you drive over daily.
this game and the knowledge I had to gain to be able to drive trains in this game, which isnt in many cases even close to what real drivers have to endure, it all made me respect train drivers / engineers many levels above my previous attitude towards them... mad respect towards them, no matter if they drive sth some ppl here despectfully call "one stick EMUs" or complex machines like US freight behemoths
A somewhat timely article from Trains Magazine: https://www.trains.com/trn/railroads/history/from-the-cab-learning-the-route/ "So how does a train’s engineer know when to slow down or speed up? Like the old joke, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” followed up by the punch line, “Practice, practice, practice.” First, a student engineer has to undergo months of classroom and hands-on training. Once technically certified, the fun really begins — physical characteristics qualifications. Before Amtrak was empowered to hire its own operating crews, freight railroads furnished engineers and conductors by contract. The limits over which they could run a train was very locally oriented. I could run freight and passenger trains. My seniority was good from Richmond, Va., to Portsmouth, Va., Raleigh, N.C., or Florence, S.C. I knew the authorized speeds like the back of my hand, and felt comfortable at the controls of the Silver Meteor, the Orange Blossom Special piggyback run, coal trains, locals, or yard jobs."
