Hi to everyone

[adrianspeeder]

Whoa man, might wanna try decaf...

Just nod and smile, nod and smile.

Adrianspeeder

[dldance]

In my field of consulting - I keep running into people that think anyone can teach. "If you just give me the materials, I can teach the class."

I will agree that some of these can teach the materials - but what do they do when the difficult questions come up? Some questions in supposidly introduction level classes have me digging deep into my 30+ years of manufacturing experience to answer.

The other thing I have learned is to listen to the class members. They have valuable experience that I don't have and I have learned as much as I have taught.

dd

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

20 years of experience as a first-rate mechanic helps but it doesn't guarantee that you're going to know what you're doing when you open your own garage. A similar situation applies in going from labor to management. I've gone through that transition myself and it isn't easy.

Be easy on the manufacturer's rep. Unless you shared your shop techniques with somebody in management beyond your own shop, nobody is going to know just what you've come up with.

[Anonymous]

DPD1: No, actually, those company reps were from Long Island, NY.

[DPD1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by amtrak-tom

So true, Glenn! I've been there, done that, too! Seems the employees with the actual skills and "know how"" hardly ever get promoted from within. I was passed over for a position when at that time I had 12 years of experience only to have the job given to someone he hadn't one single minute of experience.

We once had a manufacturer's rep from an HBD (Hot Box Detector) company visit us out in the field. We went to an HBD site during the morning hours after it had rained. Well, the HBD scanners are internally heated year round, info that a company rep should have known.

Anyways, as we were getting out of our vehicles, the guy looked over to the tracks to see the HBD scanners and he asked "why are all the scanners smoking out there??"

My reply was "we call that steam out here, it's just the scanner heaters warming the cold rain".

"Oh" was his reply. [:p]

Obviously that company is based in a warm weather climate. :-)

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Directional RR Radio Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[jchnhtfd]

You are so right, Glen! I could tell you a bunch of stories in the civil engineering trade all along the same lines... and I'll bet mudchicken has one or two, too. Although I did finally get the degrees and the license, I started out holding the business end of a shovel, and I say a darn good thing, too.

And I have some really funny stories about high-powered mechanical engineers vs. good hands on mechanics, too!

There's a place for both... but both need to know what that place is, and they need to be proud of being there, and need to respect the other guys.

[jeaton]

Glen

Interesting story. That adds to some things I have read and heard about the ability of Amtrak's mechanical people to find ways to get the job done.

It is always disappointing to encounter someone who should know a job, but doesn't. I don't think that situation necessarily correlates to the extent of formal education. Maybe attitude toward a job is more important. Whenever I had to "teach" or explain something to someone, I always made a point to be sure I knew what I was talking about. Even at that, I found it a good idea to to be aware of the possibility that my audience might be way ahead of me or already have a better way. If I had been that rep from Bombardier, I would have been very embarrassed.

Of course, it is a little different on the forum. I might make a pretty ignorant statement or argument, but then this is just for fun, and there isn't very much at stake.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the WARNING!
By the way Welcome back.
BNSFrailfan.

[Anonymous]

So true, Glenn! I've been there, done that, too! Seems the employees with the actual skills and "know how"" hardly ever get promoted from within. I was passed over for a position when at that time I had 12 years of experience only to have the job given to someone he hadn't one single minute of experience.

We once had a manufacturer's rep from an HBD (Hot Box Detector) company visit us out in the field. We went to an HBD site during the morning hours after it had rained. Well, the HBD scanners are internally heated year round, info that a company rep should have known.

Anyways, as we were getting out of our vehicles, the guy looked over to the tracks to see the HBD scanners and he asked "why are all the scanners smoking out there??"

My reply was "we call that steam out here, it's just the scanner heaters warming the cold rain".

"Oh" was his reply. [:p]

[gfjwilmde]

Haven't been in the forum for quite a while. Hope everyone is well.

Recently, there was a man from Bombardier in our shop to instruct us on the proper disassembly and reassembly of the trucks that are under Amtrak's HHP's and the high speed trains' locomotives. The trucks have the similiar frame and the same brake equipment, but differ when it comes to the gear ratio in the gearcases. What my coworkers and I knew, what he didn't know is...we've already figured out how to take the trucks' equipment apart and rebuild them even before this guy showed up. We were just going through the motions when he was trying to explain how to do it. We've even made our own special tools to do the work more effeciently. Something this guy didn't know we had, nor anyone in Bombardier thought to make. I remember this same man, when I was being trained to work on the high speed trainsets. He didn't know much about the railroad nor the equipment he was suppose to be training us on, then. Now, going on five years since this equipment has been in service, he still doesn't know. He may have some engineering degree from some Canadian university, but that doesn't make him knowledgable in our line of work. It really irks the hell out of me when there are people out there that has very little knowledge about what it is that is your profession. Yet, give them a college degree and they think they are smarter than you and able to tell you how to do your job better than you can do it yourself. Funny thing though...they don't have much more ability than you. I find it deeply troubling, that management in alot of these sort of companies don't see their workers as competent individuals, able to be productive and beneficial to the company's prosparity without alot of direct supervision. It's just another example of the true reason why Amtrak will always be in trouble.



GLENN
A R E A L RAILROADER!!!!!
A R E A L AMTRAKER!!!!
A T R U E L Y DISGUSTED AND DISGRUNTLED AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!