So you want to be a Train Driver

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After a career spanning 34 years with Qantas and rising from Cadet Engineer to General Manager Component Maintenance, the author took a redundancy package at age 54 and thought he was set to enjoy retirement. Two months later, he was bored out of his brain. This book initially gives a brief history of the author’s early years and his career at Qantas, and then goes on in detail to describe his efforts, frustrations and finally elation at establishing a new career he had always wanted from childhood - to be a train driver. Included are many brief stories of events, both humorous and serious, that occurred along the way. Also there is an addendum which the more technically minded readers will enjoy. It briefly covers the basics of how a diesel-electric locomotive powers and brakes and a description of how it is controlled; the different types of braking systems used on freight trains; basic trackside equipment, signage and signals and the interpretation of same; train drivers’ formal and slang terminology; the systems of safe working used by railways; and how train drivers prepare their locomotives and train for service.