rfpjohn Zardoz: Intellegent management could happen! I've known a few (very), good RFE's and TM's. I like to think there might be a few more on the horizon. Please don't crush my dreams!
Zardoz:
Intellegent management could happen! I've known a few (very), good RFE's and TM's. I like to think there might be a few more on the horizon. Please don't crush my dreams!
There's a couple good ones out here. Unfortunately, there are also many not-so-good ones. And the worst part is seeing the good ones passed over because they can keep their little piece of the railroad running, while the not-so-good ones are promoted to positions where they can do less damage. Or so it seems. I don't know.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
zugmannAnd the worst part is seeing the good ones passed over because they can keep their little piece of the railroad running, while the not-so-good ones are promoted to positions where they can do less damage. Or so it seems.
Ah, yes. The percussive sublimation and the lateral arabesque.
Briefly, Percussive Sublimation is kicking someone upstairs, in spite of their level of competence. The Lateral Arabesque is moving someone into a position that sounds like a promotion, but isn't...
A fellow I carpooled with some years ago had a boss who gave lousy employees rave reviews, and good employees bad reviews, on the theory that someone would hire away the bad ones...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
One of my former employers used to give bad employees the following recommendation when asked.
"He's one he\_\_ of an employee. I'm glad YOU got him."
Oh. And the good ones, he paid well and kept them.
Norm
zugmann rfpjohn Zardoz: Intellegent management could happen! I've known a few (very), good RFE's and TM's. I like to think there might be a few more on the horizon. Please don't crush my dreams! There's a couple good ones out here. Unfortunately, there are also many not-so-good ones. And the worst part is seeing the good ones passed over because they can keep their little piece of the railroad running, while the not-so-good ones are promoted to positions where they can do less damage. Or so it seems. I don't know.
Glass may be half full, not half empty. Give 'em the benefit of the doubt and realize that problems are really opportunities in disguise. The best thing that ever happened to me (well in my career at least) is that I got my start with a badly managed company. They needed alot of help and fortunately I was there at the right time!
Ulrich zugmann rfpjohn Zardoz: Intellegent management could happen! I've known a few (very), good RFE's and TM's. I like to think there might be a few more on the horizon. Please don't crush my dreams! There's a couple good ones out here. Unfortunately, there are also many not-so-good ones. And the worst part is seeing the good ones passed over because they can keep their little piece of the railroad running, while the not-so-good ones are promoted to positions where they can do less damage. Or so it seems. I don't know. Glass may be half full, not half empty. Give 'em the benefit of the doubt and realize that problems are really opportunities in disguise. The best thing that ever happened to me (well in my career at least) is that I got my start with a badly managed company. They needed alot of help and fortunately I was there at the right time!
Problem is when you get with a badly managed company that THINKS it is well managed and discounts any suggestions that are proffered.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD Ulrich zugmann rfpjohn Zardoz: Intellegent management could happen! I've known a few (very), good RFE's and TM's. I like to think there might be a few more on the horizon. Please don't crush my dreams! There's a couple good ones out here. Unfortunately, there are also many not-so-good ones. And the worst part is seeing the good ones passed over because they can keep their little piece of the railroad running, while the not-so-good ones are promoted to positions where they can do less damage. Or so it seems. I don't know. Glass may be half full, not half empty. Give 'em the benefit of the doubt and realize that problems are really opportunities in disguise. The best thing that ever happened to me (well in my career at least) is that I got my start with a badly managed company. They needed alot of help and fortunately I was there at the right time! Problem is when you get with a badly managed company that THINKS it is well managed and discounts any suggestions that are proffered.
You have to remember the "Peter Principle"... "Employees are promoted to the level of incompetency and then they stop being promoted; but they are never demoted back to where they were good at their job."
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
I had a high school history teacher who gave some good advice. He said that people were too quick to criticize others for being *quitters*. He said if you thought you might have some interest in something, try it, and give it your best effort. If you found you didn't like it, be honest with yourself and others, and quit. Better to give it an honest try and find you didn't like something than spend the rest of your life regretting not trying it at all. Maybe that's the origin of the T-shirts that say "Been there, done that"? Or the reason I've tried raw oysters- once.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I agree with Murphy. It isn't quitting to realize you don't want to be in the same line of work for the next 5-25-35 years. It's having the courage to step forward into a new direction. It doesn't mean the work you do now was a waste, it just means you are going to move on in a different, new direction. Some folks don't get the opportunity, but if you do, seize it.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Semper Vaporo mentioned the "Peter Principle" in his post above. Not only is his summary pretty much 'on point', but there's an entire book by that name from the late 1960's, which includes the Percussive Sublimation and Lateral Arabesque mentioned by Larry/ tree68 a few posts above that. It was written as a tongue-in-cheek management text (I think), but many people have found that there's a lot of real-world truth to it. Between that and Robert Townsend's Up the Organization! (same time frame, less humorous but still an enjoyable read), there are 2 good books that explains why things go wrong, and what can be done to fix them.
- Paul North.
Zug, I have been thinking about your situation, and was going to suggest that you might enjoy writing, but when re-reading your initial post, I saw that you discounted writing. I've always enjoyed reading your comments here, and I appreciate your sense of humor. Consider submitting a couple of stories to Kalmbach and see what happens.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Paul of Covington...Consider submitting a couple of stories to Kalmbach and see what happens.
I don't know. I only worked in modern railroading, and that is as exciting as watching paint grow. Esp. yard work which is what I mainly did until this little magical carpet ride of an adventure I was ever so graciously forced into. "Hey, tonight we did something exciting! We put those tank cars on 7 instead of 8! Wild times...."
How about from your time as a DS, then ? Not much has been published from the modern era - most goes back to the days of telegraph, order boards, 19 and 31 forms, etc. It would be interesting to have something from the CTC era, when track occupancy time is such a limited and critical resource. From my perspective, it need not be funny or exciting - just descriptive and infomrative would be plenty good enough !
The problem in discribing dispatching in todays' world is that it is mostly a cerebral function. Viewing train ID's on the display medium, knowing the carriers priority for the various trains, knowing the run times between control points and knowing what traffic to receive from adjoining territories or foreign carriers. Factor in MofW & Signals and their testing and repair needs, throw in a curfew that can pass traffic and you have a normal day. Throw in a priority 9000 foot train that has to have a complete inspection because of a defect detector malfunction, a track circuit on between control points, a crossover on the territory that won't Normal (or reverse) and map out your operating plan - line the signals and watch the plan run (or stop) and after the plan is set in motion another 'problem' crops up that means the plan must be modified. Repeat as necessary until your relief shows up. Don't forget there are trees down, motor vehicles on the track, unruly passengers to be removed, engine failures, EOT failures that slow trains to 30 MPH, and 2001 other things that make every shift of dispatching a space (an time) odyssey.
Hey! Our train was only 8000" and I thought 65 minutes was pretty good!
zugmann Paul of Covington ...Consider submitting a couple of stories to Kalmbach and see what happens. I don't know. I only worked in modern railroading, and that is as exciting as watching paint grow. Esp. yard work which is what I mainly did until this little magical carpet ride of an adventure I was ever so graciously forced into. "Hey, tonight we did something exciting! We put those tank cars on 7 instead of 8! Wild times...."
Paul of Covington ...Consider submitting a couple of stories to Kalmbach and see what happens.
While it may seem the "romance" and "excitement" have gone, I don't think so. To be sure, it's changed but there are still times out there. I wrote about a couple of my experiences and I think our friends here found them interesting. ("Just Another day on the railroad" posts.) Other rails on here have also related stories that I think have been well received.
Sure you don't have the Limited trying to make up lost time while an opposing freight with the conductor in the caboose sleeping it off, leaving a brakeman who can't figure time or train orders in charge, going into a short time meet. (I like the old railroad fiction stories, like those in Railroad Magazine.) You still can go over the summit in Omaha, set air and not see the EOT change. No biggie, sometimes you have temporary comm loss. Increase the set to about 12 psi and still no change. You check comm and find you have comm. Uh-oh, there is a blockage in the train line. We're going down a short but steep grade without brakes all the way through the train. (What brakes I had were starting to take effect and I had clear signals so I rode it out to a stop. If either condition wasn't present, then I would've dumped the EOT.) Or the time on this same grade, after I cleared it, a train stopped behind us told the dispatcher a set of light power just went by without anyone on it. And it wasn't a RCL, either. We were fortunately far enough ahead, but we could hear the dispatcher announce over and over "emergency" and to watch out for runaway power. (The dispatcher lined the power into a yard track with a coal train waiting to be delivered to a local power plant. Of course it tore up some equipment, but probably a lot less than it could've otherwise and also kept it from going across public crossings.)
So, yeah I guess, modern railroading is about as exciting as watching grass dry, or was it paint grow?
Jeff
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