Overmod The mobile version of the Kalmbach software does not allow me to reply to PMs, I am told that I "am not authorized to view this conversation". You get around this by selecting 'view full site' which gives you a teeny tiny but functional place to view and respond. The problem then becomes that you can't respond to posts with long URLs or pictures in them, because the lateral position of the 'reply' button moves so far to the right you can't select it even with the device in 'landscape'... workaround there is to scroll up or down to a post with an accessible reply button and proceed from there. Having taken good notes on paper. I find it incredibly useful to have a wireless keyboard linked to a mobile device for replies; in fact, I found a supplier of iPhone-compatible wired keyboards that actually make it possible for normal humans to cut and paste text in iOS.
The mobile version of the Kalmbach software does not allow me to reply to PMs, I am told that I "am not authorized to view this conversation".
You get around this by selecting 'view full site' which gives you a teeny tiny but functional place to view and respond. The problem then becomes that you can't respond to posts with long URLs or pictures in them, because the lateral position of the 'reply' button moves so far to the right you can't select it even with the device in 'landscape'... workaround there is to scroll up or down to a post with an accessible reply button and proceed from there. Having taken good notes on paper.
I find it incredibly useful to have a wireless keyboard linked to a mobile device for replies; in fact, I found a supplier of iPhone-compatible wired keyboards that actually make it possible for normal humans to cut and paste text in iOS.
I just reload the page using the "view desktop site" feature, as Chrome calls it. I've actually gotten pretty good at typing using the tiny screen keyboard, but a larger plug-in one would be quite useful.
I have never owned a Apple product of any sort, and have no desire to.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
SD70DudeI use Firefox on my PC and have no trouble with PMs.
Only some versions have the 'issue'. (I don't remember if it's 61 or 62 that starts breaking on Mac). I do notice that Quantum 68.0.1 64-bit now has a text-entry window that appears to take input.
Overmod BaltACD Check 'SETTINGS' in your profile - you may have 'Conversations' turned off. You wouldn't show the ability to send or receive PMs at all if that were so. This is a known bug in certain browsers (Firefox perhaps the most notorious). Even though the function works correctly, the browser display 'forgets' to display the text entry point and cursor in the little reply window and it's impossible to answer. I am reduced to running the Opera browser on an obsolescent Macintosh to work around this infuriating problem. I believe there are other browsers that don't have this problem; Google Chrome may be one but I prefer to have as little to do with it as possible. Note that in most cases your computer will happily run multiple browsers and you can use one just to keep the PM window open for any messages that come in or need to go out.
BaltACD Check 'SETTINGS' in your profile - you may have 'Conversations' turned off.
You wouldn't show the ability to send or receive PMs at all if that were so.
This is a known bug in certain browsers (Firefox perhaps the most notorious). Even though the function works correctly, the browser display 'forgets' to display the text entry point and cursor in the little reply window and it's impossible to answer. I am reduced to running the Opera browser on an obsolescent Macintosh to work around this infuriating problem. I believe there are other browsers that don't have this problem; Google Chrome may be one but I prefer to have as little to do with it as possible.
Note that in most cases your computer will happily run multiple browsers and you can use one just to keep the PM window open for any messages that come in or need to go out.
I use Firefox on my PC and have no trouble with PMs.
BaltACDCheck 'SETTINGS' in your profile - you may have 'Conversations' turned off.
243129cotton belt, for some reason this site is not allowing me to respond to PM's. I can read them but cannot respond.
Check 'SETTINGS' in your profile - you may have 'Conversations' turned off.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
cotton belt, for some reason this site is not allowing me to respond to PM's. I can read them but cannot respond.
Flintlock76Check all the threads and you'll see there's always a lot more views than replies.
Flintlock76 I guess some folks are just shy about commenting. Anyway, you should find all those views gratifying. Shows people are interested.
And sometimes the threads that have gone unread have done so because I have virtually no interest in the subject matter. The threads on the upgrading of the Transcon, f'rinstance. There's nothing wrong with the threads, they just don't interest me. It's clear that the folks who are posting on them are interested and involved in the topic.
I suspect there are others in the same boat.
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...
Flintlock76 Check all the threads and you'll see there's always a lot more views than replies. I guess some folks are just shy about commenting. Anyway, you should find all those views gratifying. Shows people are interested.
Check all the threads and you'll see there's always a lot more views than replies.
I guess some folks are just shy about commenting. Anyway, you should find all those views gratifying. Shows people are interested.
I do.
80 'looks' and no comments since 11:00 A.M.
Perhaps this can clarify and answer some of the questions that have been asked.
http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey/archive/2015/08/11/the-making-of-engineers-and-conductors.aspx
Euclid....getting Amtrak to alter its philosophy would be like getting efficiency in government.
Overmod Euclid About 7 or 8 posts up from yours here, I explained what I would do if I wanted to bring about this change. This is the post on August 3rd at 10:25am. (We will also take note of what JPS1 replied at 12:35, and a couple of his and others' prior observations on Friday). There are two examples in railroad history that reinforce some of the points you're making. One, of course, is Lorenzo Coffin and his tireless campaign for air brakes. The other is C.F.Adams writing his book about railroad wrecks. These are still useful guides for assessing methods that work vs. methods that either won't or that contain what is essentially wasted effort. In both cases, however, they represent implemented methods of 'building buzz' or at least awareness in the general, voting, population that will eventually translate into 'informed self-interest' (if not doing a right thing is too much to expect). As noted, I don't expect public reaction against Amtrak to swell into an increasing drumbeat for reform there. There's sure to be plenty of indignation around the time of high-profile wrecks, and a great deal of enhanced sheep-like calls for thinly-disguised revenge or compensation of some kind -- we certainly saw the conspiracy acting both overtly and behind the scenes with Bostian. The question is how you get this continuously focused on the right kinds of need for change that will bring just the right pressure on Amtrak to alter its philosophy (not just the way its training is provided or implemented) and that is where the example of Mr. Coffin applies so dramatically. It is interesting to see how long, and how often, he was dismissed as a crank, until the right things combined in the right ways ... and note well precisely why he started being listened to; that kind of 'sacrifice' might well be needed here. Although far more effort at consensus-building and directed consciousness-raising will be needed, precisely at a time when the 'message' goes so dramatically against currently-valued messages about things like acting responsibly or celebrating conformity of attitude rather than diversity of result. The public is likely to think in terms of a few additional rules, or easily enforceable law to make the guilty fall in line, rather than creating the right long-term change that makes the organization amend the fundamental problems with its training. How you work through this is decidedly non-trivial, but critically important...
Euclid About 7 or 8 posts up from yours here, I explained what I would do if I wanted to bring about this change.
This is the post on August 3rd at 10:25am. (We will also take note of what JPS1 replied at 12:35, and a couple of his and others' prior observations on Friday).
There are two examples in railroad history that reinforce some of the points you're making. One, of course, is Lorenzo Coffin and his tireless campaign for air brakes. The other is C.F.Adams writing his book about railroad wrecks. These are still useful guides for assessing methods that work vs. methods that either won't or that contain what is essentially wasted effort. In both cases, however, they represent implemented methods of 'building buzz' or at least awareness in the general, voting, population that will eventually translate into 'informed self-interest' (if not doing a right thing is too much to expect).
As noted, I don't expect public reaction against Amtrak to swell into an increasing drumbeat for reform there. There's sure to be plenty of indignation around the time of high-profile wrecks, and a great deal of enhanced sheep-like calls for thinly-disguised revenge or compensation of some kind -- we certainly saw the conspiracy acting both overtly and behind the scenes with Bostian. The question is how you get this continuously focused on the right kinds of need for change that will bring just the right pressure on Amtrak to alter its philosophy (not just the way its training is provided or implemented) and that is where the example of Mr. Coffin applies so dramatically. It is interesting to see how long, and how often, he was dismissed as a crank, until the right things combined in the right ways ... and note well precisely why he started being listened to; that kind of 'sacrifice' might well be needed here.
Although far more effort at consensus-building and directed consciousness-raising will be needed, precisely at a time when the 'message' goes so dramatically against currently-valued messages about things like acting responsibly or celebrating conformity of attitude rather than diversity of result. The public is likely to think in terms of a few additional rules, or easily enforceable law to make the guilty fall in line, rather than creating the right long-term change that makes the organization amend the fundamental problems with its training. How you work through this is decidedly non-trivial, but critically important...
EuclidAbout 7 or 8 posts up from yours here, I explained what I would do if I wanted to bring about this change.
OP: Send a copy of your letter to Amtrak's Legal Dept. That too may not get any action or even a response, but it may make it 'discoverable' in any legal action based on an allegation that Amtrak is at fault in one of those areas ("You are required to produce copies of any documents relating to Amtrak's training and compliance with operating rules . . . "). That may take years - many good things do - but there are some examples of the havoc that wreaks when the facts finally come out (ask the Catholic Church about the priest abuse cases when they came to light . . . ).
- PDN.
CMStPnP Oh this is one of those threads where I really want to comment but I know if I do comment I'll get lambasted by at least two people so I am going to refrain on this thread.
Oh this is one of those threads where I really want to comment but I know if I do comment I'll get lambasted by at least two people so I am going to refrain on this thread.
Johnny
One common theme in postings by the OP about Amtrak incidents is that Amtrak's hiring and training practices are bad, and that the supervisory people are unqualified. I would like to know what he thinks is bad about them and what changes he would make.
(I'm kind of wondering about the unqualifed supervision, but that's almost a universal feeling among those who do the actual work in any industry. Yes, there are a lot that either know what's what or can learn, but there's a lot that never quite grasp how things work.)
I don't know if the OP is right or wrong, for I don't know what Amtrak's policies are. I know we hire people that don't seem to be cut out for railroad work and training is woefully inadequate. Some make it, some don't and sometimes it's surprising on who turns out to be a good rail.
Jeff
JOHN PRIVARA Euclid They are the problem, not the ones to fix the problem. Not entirely. The actual problem is duplicity. Amtrak cannot make a profit, period. Yet, it's required to make a profit. Whenever you got conflicting "true" realities, the ONLY solution is to create #cowpoop#. #cowpoop# is what allows people, organizations, and societies to happily exist in simultaneously conflicting realities. Eventually, though, one of the realities wins (usually the real reality). But, depending on the quality of the #cowpoop# it can take generations for the other reality(s) to collapse. And, the collapse of a reality supported by #cowpoop# causes much MUCH MUCH anger (as we all witnessed with the SP trying to explain the reality of passenger trains in the 1950’s). Duplicity is just another name for #cowpoop#, as is self-delusion.
Euclid They are the problem, not the ones to fix the problem.
I never looked at it that way.
DeggestyI wonder how many people in Congress are aware that Amtrak even exists, much less have any idea of the problems that have been presented on this thread.
I think it's lots. And I think that many, perhaps most, of the things Anderson has done are specifically intended to make people complain to Congress to fix things ... or to wipe Congresspeople's eye with the practical effects of their cute little mandate from 2015 about getting to :profitability."
Whether or not a grassroots effort to compel Amtrak to stop Mickey-Mousing gains momentum, it will take additional very carefully directed effort to swing attention onto the correct aspects of safe operation -- in part because too much emphasis now will, happily or unhappily depending on 'where participants sit' influencing 'where they stand,' become embroiled in those other agendas.
Overmod Euclid The general public demanding action through Congress. And who's going to do the consciousness-raising and the community organizing to actually bring this to first a bill and then a successful vote? Directed action to key members of Congress is likely far, far more successful to work. But you are going to have to put special emphasis on problems with precisely the sort of larger-picture social prioritization that led to some of the Amtrak hiring issues in the first place -- before you start getting onto prioritizing correct mentor-centric and longer-term training procedure establishment. The knee-jerk response will be to mandate more and stricter interlocking rules as if those would solve the issues Joe raises. They don't know any better, yet. And they're unlikely to listen to anyone who can tell them -- let alone anyone who starts out of the gate hectoring them, no matter how objectively correct it might be to do so.
Euclid The general public demanding action through Congress.
And who's going to do the consciousness-raising and the community organizing to actually bring this to first a bill and then a successful vote?
Directed action to key members of Congress is likely far, far more successful to work. But you are going to have to put special emphasis on problems with precisely the sort of larger-picture social prioritization that led to some of the Amtrak hiring issues in the first place -- before you start getting onto prioritizing correct mentor-centric and longer-term training procedure establishment. The knee-jerk response will be to mandate more and stricter interlocking rules as if those would solve the issues Joe raises. They don't know any better, yet. And they're unlikely to listen to anyone who can tell them -- let alone anyone who starts out of the gate hectoring them, no matter how objectively correct it might be to do so.
Overmod,
About 7 or 8 posts up from yours here, I explained what I would do if I wanted to bring about this change. But it would not be easy. It may not justify the effort. In my opinion, it would be impossible to get change by contacting Amtrak. Even through the public and Federal politics, it may be as difficult as running for president. Maybe change will be driven more by the next Amtrak catasrophic accident than by personal efforts. Maybe there are not enough people interested in riding Amtrak to care whether or not it is safe. Maybe Elon Musk will make it safe by automating passenger trains.
A number of good points have been made here. What role/responsibility, if any, does the NTSB have with this?
Euclid Overmod Euclid They are the problem, not the ones to fix the problem. If that is so, may I gently inquire who you think would be? The general public demanding action through Congress.
Overmod Euclid They are the problem, not the ones to fix the problem. If that is so, may I gently inquire who you think would be?
If that is so, may I gently inquire who you think would be?
The general public demanding action through Congress.
Your orbit is now outside Marianne Williamson
EuclidThe general public demanding action through Congress.
There is absolutely no point in sending a letter to Amtrak. They are the problem, not the ones to fix the problem.
JPS1The executive suites of large organizations like Amtrak are bombarded daily with letters, phone calls, etc. No matter how eloquently and precisely it is stated, the probability of a letter being read by the CEO or a member of the executive team is very low. Most of them land on an administrative assistant's desk. CEOs have to attend to many stakeholders, i.e. customers, employees, creditors, regulators, etc. In the case of Amtrak, the CEO also has to kiss up to 535 Congress members as well as numerous state and local politicians. He probably works 60 to 75 hours a week. He does not have time to respond to every message that reaches the executive suite. The most effective way to have your voice heard in a large organization is through a group leader that has a personal relationship with the executive team, e.g. union, regulator, legislative, advocacy, etc.
243129's style almost insures that any level of the organization where the letter lands, if they get beyond the first paragraph will line it up for a form reply at most and circular filing most likely.
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