Where is BEN?

Originally Posted by bluelinec4:

Originally Posted by Farmer_Bill:

" Don't rush it Bill  I am only 56 "

 

I am 57. How does a 56 year old walk into MTA after 40 years at IBM and get a job as a motorman? Tell me what door and I'll be there tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Jim D:

Big, bold move, Congratulations.  BTW the safety vest does wonders for your figure, a major reason for the move?

 

Originally Posted by bluelinec4:

Wow, only 56 and already worked for IBM nearly 40 years - that's certainly impressive even back then starting out eorking for IBM at 17 or so, (presumably fresh out of high school?) No way, Ben,  could that be done today.

BTW, best wishes on your second career.

 

BTW, gunrunnerjohn and bigo426. Ben may be too modest to answer you inquiries but landing a position as a motorman for the MYA is not an easy feat.

 

First you apply for the DCAS exam at http://nyc.gov take the test and pass and follow the rest of its position.

 

Four years ago a MTA train operator published this about his employment as a motorman:

"The minimum starting salary for an MTA Train Operator is $26.99/Hour + shift differentials and benefits.

For the hiring process, you take an open competitive exam.  When I took it , there was 70 questions on it , and I got 69 right and my list number was in the high 300's and I still had to wait over 3 years to get called. The MTA must promote in house first (conductors , etc.) who took the exam as a promotional exam , and once they've exhausted the promotional list , then can activate the open competitive. The MTA just went through a 2 year hiring blitz for motormen , there have been classes of up to 80 motormen going through every couple of months non stop since 2007. They had a shortage of motormen and wanted to get to the level they needed. Altogether we only have around I think 6-7 thousand Train Operators. We're not like NYPD with 30 thousand plus officers where they hire classes of several hundred to 2000 at a time. I've only been employed by MTA for 2+ years and I already have seniority on 15% or so of all train operators. Once hired, you go to 'school car', which is the training program for MTA train operators. Even for someone who was a railroad engineer, it is not the same to operate a subway train. Even T/O's from other cities don't readily know the job because  as of this current summer of 2008we're one of the last places left where the vast majority of trains are operated by hand and not computers. Only on the L line , and soon the 7 is there automated train operation , and even then it's not 24 hours. The cool looking R-160 trains that you see that make the automated anouncements are hand operated although from the platform you can't see the motorman's hands.

As I previously said, once you pass the test , and they get to your list number , you'll be called for processing. You will take a drug test , and fill out a 20 page booklet on your background , as well as undergo FBI fingerprint and background investigations. The MTA is very careful about who they hire to operate their trains. You will be disqualified if : you are a convicted felon, have a dishonorable military discharge, have any orders of protection currently issued against you (and possibly even if you have any from the past not currently active), or have a record of discharge from previous employment due to discipline problems. Sometimes they don't complete the investigations until candidates are almost finished with training , and if they catch you in a lie you'll be pulled out of training and fired immediately.

You will also have a comprehensive medical exam and can be disqualified for , Diabetes, a poor pre-employment EKG, poor vision/hearing and high blood pressure. With some medical issues you could be disqualified outright while for others they will place a hold on you and you'll have to come back after you get a private doctor to say you're ok to work the job. If you are overweight the doctor will take you in a private room to perform various exercises to confirm you are fit enough to climb on and off the front of the train , which you will do a lot on the job.

If you pass the drug screening / background / and medical, you'll be assigned to a class that will be broken up into smaller groups. In my case we were broken into groups of 10-11 people that you train with for the entire time and then finally begin 'school car', which is the training program to actually learn to operate a subway train. Time wise it took me 3 1/2 years to get to the start of that process and two-three months to complete it and start training. I took the test in October 2003, got my results in January '04 ... then waited, waited, and waited some more. I got called for the drig test at the end of March '07 and began 'school car' the first week of June '07. Your first week of school car will basically be an orientation to the MTA. You'll go through five days of things they need you to know but have no bearing on subway train operation directly. Terrorism training, watching videos, learning about the American's with Disabilities Act , being fitted for your uniform , getting your books and tools for the course, going over job benefits and filling out forms, etc. Your first day will probably be at the HQ on Livingston Street. From then on you will report for schooling at the MTA training center , a converted former public school building near Bay 25th street on the D line in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. You will also pick a division to work in , A (the number lines (IRT) - or the B division (letter lines (IND/BMT). Almost everyone picks the division with the most terminals closest to their home for obvious reasons. If you pick A division, you will go through 3 1/2 months of training and for B, it's 5 1/2 months of training. The reasons for the disparity is that in the B division (my division) you have to learn to operate about 10 types of trains but in the A, only two, plus the B division has more lines and yards you have to post.

The next two weeks or so will be classroom instruction. You'll get track qualified, learn about the rail syatem, the signaling system, go to fire school, learn how to evacuate a train, and a lot of book stuff. In about the third or fourth week, depending on your instructors, you'll finally get on a train in the yard and learn the basics to get it ready for service, i.e., how to do your 45 minute inspections of it, and once you know how to charge the air brake system you and your classmates will take turns going up and down the track at less than 10mph to get a feel for the throttle and braking.
You'll spend the next several weeks learning all about the trains and eventually going down the road in a full length train that is not in service practicing stopping the train on the mark at the stations. This is where you will earn your living, knowing how to properly stop the train. Taking propulsion is a piece of cake, stopping the train properly is what the job is all about. We're actually not 'train drivers', we're 'train stoppers'.

To complete 'school car' you will have to pass a mid-term and final exam (multiple choice questions). You must get an 80% to pass each test , and you only get one shot at it. You must pass a signals exam midway through the course , with a score of 100%. If you get one signal question wrong you fail and you're gone. Again , you only get one shot at it. You also must pass 4 practical exams which are hands on exams where a Superintendent will supervise you doing the following (on 4 separate days spread throughout the course) ... #1 - cutting and adding train cars apart/together ... #2 - How to inspect a train for passenger (road) service ... #3 - How to overcome a break pipe rupture or train tripped into emergency ... and #4 - The road practical - an inspection of you making several station stops properly. --- You get two chances for each practical at the Superintendent's discretion. If you fail the first time but come close he or she can let you re-test in the afternoon, but only once. If you fail the re-test you're gone. The training program is thorough. You must also post (work) every line in your division twice, each time under supervision of a qualified train operator for that day as well as post each yard twice where the instructors will grill you and make sure you know what you're doing. Yard jobs are the toughest part of the job. being on the 'road' is much easier.

If you finally make it, you'll be on probation for the first year (which includes time in school car). While on probation you can be terminated by the MTA for any reason they see fit with the exception of anything already protected by federal, state and local laws (the same things which apply to all jobs in the country although for most minor mistakes you'll be sent for retraining.

After you graduate, for about the first 2 - 2 1/2 years you'll be at the mercy of crew assignement. Basically you'll work a different line, start at a different terminal, and have a different report time every day. This is known as the dreaded extra extra list. You'll get your job assignments via an automated phone line or through the job sheets they print every day, 48 hours in advance. You can be assigned to work a line in passenger service, work in a yard, be assigned to switching duty at a terminal (basically you put trains in and out of service as the dispatcher needs). You can also be assigned to the extra board which means you report for work and wait for a job to open up somewhere in the system. If you're on the board 8 hours and don't pick up a job, you go home and get paid for those 8 hours (which is very rare) ... but what happens 90+% of the time is you will sit anywhere up until the 8 hours and if a job opens up (someone calls out sick, gets sent for a random drug test, has an incident, etc.), then you'll be sent to fill in and do it. But you'll be paid the whole time. So let's say you report to Stillwell Ave at 13:00 and sit until a D job opens up in Bedford Park at 16:47. You'll get paid 3:47 board time , let's say the job lasts from 16:47 to 01:38 , you'll make 8:51 for the job , plus deadhead time of about an hour twenty minutes back to Stillwell. So you'll make 8 hours plus over 5 hours OT for the day , but you'll start at Stillwell, ride as a passenger up to Bedford Park , make two trips on the D up and down (maybe do a put-in or layup too) , then finish wherever the job finishes. You'll make about $30/hr straight time , $45/hr for OT , which is good money , but you'll basically do nothing but work , sleep , and work for about the first 3 years on the job. After that it will get progressively easier and better each year until you retire."

Fortunately salaries have improved since then with the 2013 figures being:

Average MTA train operator hourly salary $30-$33
Average MTA train operator annual salary $87k-$94k

 

Originally Posted by bluelinec4:

Originally Posted by bluelinec4: