What do you need to know?
A very useful website for you is www.lrta.org
Once you learn to navigate that site, you can learn as much as you want about light rail history and technology, with a UK slant, but with information applicable worldwide.
Again, on the website www.lrta.org, you can learn:
The history and beginnings of the streetcar ("Tram") industry.
The relation of the streetcar/tram industry to modern light rail
What makes light rail light rail as opposed to heavy rail, commuter rail, and streetcar/tram
If you use links on the website, "systems" -USA will get you to the website of your own company. "clubs" will get you to the Mckenny Avenue musuem operation in Dallas and to other Texas railfan organizations, as well as the New york based Electric Railroaders Association. The Mckenny Avenue site has a history of Dallas streetcar operation.
To start you off, the world's first successful conversion of a horse-car streetcar system to electric trolleys was in Richmond, VA, in 1887, as engineered by Frank Julian Sprague. The second was the West End Street Railway's operation from Allston to Downtown Boston via Brookline, in 1888 for test operation and 1889 for the public. A portion of this pioneering line, from Harvard Street to the St. Mary's Street subway incline, on Beacon Street is still in use as the "C" lilne of the Green Line routes in Boston.
Early "light rail" lines, using basically streetcar technology on private rights of way at higher than on-street speeds included Brooklyn's Nortons Point line (abandoned about 1950), still operating: Boston's Ashmont-Mattapan line, Shaker Heights Rapid Transit (Cleveland RTA Blue and Green lines); and Pittsburgh Railways' lines in the South Hills.
The new light rail line revival started in San Diego with the opening of the San Yesidro, line (Meixcan Border) in 1980.
You should get to know the McKenny Avenue museum people and most can answer any of your questions off the top of their heads! And give them my regards.
Pardon me for being so dense. Most such posting are people asking questions, not offering to answer them, so please forgive me for the confusion. You run a terrific system, one of the best anywhere.
Incidently, I once had the opportunity to actually play the Fisk organ at the cocnert hall.
What does light rail pay ?
Do you have to be a bus driver, and then bid for a light rail job (I assume, whjich may be incorrect, that light rail is a "plum", and many bus drivers prefer it to buses.)
Can you get light rail off the street?, or as a DART mechanic, clerk, etc?
What's a typical shift? Runs, breaks, lunch, days off, overtime possibilities, etc.
What's the retirement and retirement medical plan?
The Light rail pays the same as a bus driver, you start out at 12.39 during your eight week training, and then your pay increase to I believe 14 something. It then increases every year. Actually most of the bus drivers dont like the trains, only reason is because they can not get away with to much. Some of the bus drivers hav went to rail, and then ran a red signal, so Dart will give you a choice if you have driven a bus before, either drive the bus, or you are out.
Typical shift is, if you are in high senority then you can work 8 hours and go home till tomorrow, with weekends off, but if you are new to the trains, then you start at the bottom and basically get the crap detail. That menas you would probably go in at 3am, get your train, run for about 4 hours, get off the train or take it back to the Yard, and then return in a few hours to do the afternoon rush hour. I believe there is always overtime availaable, you just have to talk to the station supervisors and see what is coming up. DART does have 401K, but since it is not really a railroad, then no railroad retirement. After you have been with Dart for 6 months, then they will start matching everything that you put towars your 401k. There really is not a clerk job that I am aware of.
I currently work for Dart as a revenue agent, but as soon as June comes around and they start hiring for the rail again, then I am already guarented a job for the rail since I have prior railroad experence.
Every time I see the someone mention DART or BART, I'm always reminded of when I was stationed at NAS Lemoore, about 40 miles south of Fresno, CA.. Frenso at that time was having a name our rapid transit system contest and they automaticaly ruled out "Fresno Area Rapid Transit". I wonder Why
Dan
That's good info on DART. Out here (SF), on BART, we don't have split shifts, but we do have part time train operators. (When you run a transit system, you either have part timers or split shifts - that's how the commute runs.) If you hire off the street, you start out part time, for about a year. Part time is 25 hours a week. You can also work another part time job (but not a full time one).
If you transfer within BART, you become a full time TO right away. Top scale takes 3 years, and is about 29 bucks an hour. BART does not run buses, but getting a TO job is still pretty competitive, within BART.
Whenever I think of Dallas Transit, I think of an old story I heard from my childhood. I grew up in Boston, and we had trackless trolleys, and we bought some from Dallas. Dallas, I believe, had a tackless trolley line that ran from downtown, out Gaston and back on a parallel street.
It seems that the trackless trolley drivers would not go the full distance to the end of the line, but turn back before the end, and have a longer break. The geography of the line allowed the vehicle to make the move totally without power. The side streets had a slight downgrade, so the trackless trolley would leave the wires and roll a block or two, and stop on the return street. Then the driver would put the poles back on the wires and resume his run (after a longer break). This took some planning, as the bus would need to be empty, and the proper cross street would have to be a continuous downhill (in case of traffic stops).
The city got a few complaints about buses and trackless trolleys missing stops, but they only took the bus complaints seriously. The city figured the trackless trolleys had to follow the wires. But one night, the driver took the wrong side street. The street had the requisite downgrade, but the driver did not figure on the telephone and power wires, crossing the street. The flapping poles ripped out a few dozen telephone lines and an occasional (tougher) power wire. That helped put an end to trackless trolleys in Dallas.
Did the Texas and Pacific run under downtown Dallas through a tunnel running one block north of Elm Street, heading east from the Courthouse ?
When was the tunnel (?) last used, and could DART use it some day ?
As for a responce to my last answer.
I am unable to find any info for The T&P haveing a tunnel. I know that currently Dart runs over all the old T&P tracks, or at least owns most in the Dallas Area. There is a tunnel that runs under highway 75.
I am actually thinking of moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. One of my first stops is going to be at D.A.R.T for an application. I currently have 7 yrs. driving with U.T.A. in Salt Lake City.
What is the pay scale for drivers that drive for D.A.R.T.? This way I know what to expect beforehand.
Any replies are appreciated.
I am flying down for the job fair on the 26th of this month. I will then be moving down there during that weekend. I hope to be settled in by the 4th of July. I will be living in Garland. I hope that everything goes well there.
I had an opportunity to do the light rail here in Salt Lake during the Olympics. I turned it down at the last minute. I had been accepted into the program, but decided that it wasn't for me at the time.
Well, good luck with the job fair, I know we not only need operators, but need buses also. Let me know if you get the job. I work at all the garages so we are bound to meet sometime.
How many garages are there in DART?
We have 2 that are in Salt Lake and there is 1 in Ogden and 1 in Provo. So, you get hired on in one of those 3 places. Obviously the biggest is Salt Lake. I have never worked in either Ogden or Provo. That doesn't mean we don't drive routes that go there (mostly express routes), just that we are not assigned there.
Well, we have 3 garages,
East Dallas, or ED has 265 buses.
Northwest or NW has 245 buses
South Oak Cliff or SOC has like 165 buese.
Then we have out light rail which is S&I. No buses over there.
Sounds about the same as our garages here. I think our main one has about 250 or so buses. All the others probably have about 150 or so.
We also have a FLEX TRANS system for the severely disabled people who are not able to right fixed route buses. They go to the people's home and take them where they need to go.
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