So You Want To Be ... a Diesel Driver

The article entitled 'So You Want To Be ... an Engine Driver' has caused many people to ask if getting on the diesel drivers' roster is any easier. The brief answer to that is no - in fact the procedure is very similar and could take just as long to complete.

Just as in the steam department, the Railway operates the traditional method of progression through the grades, and a budding candidate for the driver's seat will start by joining either the diesel group based at Llangollen yard (which looks after all the 'big' diesels and the shunters) or the diesel multiple unit group which is based at Glyndyfrdwy. There the trainee will be expected to take part in the upkeep and maintenance of the various traction units for a minimum period of 12 months before being considered for any sort of footplate training.

This period is to make sure that the potential trainee has at least a basic knowledge of how the machines work before progressing further. In order to progress in the minimum 12 month period, the new member would probably have had to attend 40 to 50 working meetings, quite a tall order, and one which many people spread out over a much longer time. During this period the new member will participate in routine servicing and repairs and will therefore become very familiar with the less glamorous bits of being on the diesel roster!

Just as with the steam trainee, the member will have to gain his Personal Track Safety certificate, and will also have to pass the Railway's medical exam before application is made to the CME for his or her name to be added to the trainee list.

Traction Trainee

Promotion to Traction Trainee is the next step, this being the equivalent of the Cleaner grade on the steam roster. During this period of training the person may ride in the cab but may not take part in any safety critical work (such as reporting signals or changing points) unless under the direct supervision of a qualified member. At this point the trainee will be expected to start getting into the rule book, and will be expected to gain a thorough knowledge of the line and of the way it is operated. The Trainee may sometimes be riding as the only other person in the cab but this is strictly limited to trains which are single-manned, such as DMUs or some classes of loco passed for one-man working. More 'hands-on' work is expected in this period and trainees will learn where all major components are situated the hard way.

Above: Engine change on the class 108 DMU. (Evan Green-Hughes)

The Traction Trainee must have around 30 turns under his or her belt and a considerable mileage before applying for promotion to secondman - the equivalent of fireman. To achieve this step up the ladder, a formal rules examination must be taken, as with the steam trainees, and also a practical exam on the workings of diesel traction. Competence must be exhibited on ground frames, in coupling and uncoupling stock, in multiple operation of locos or units and on the basics of a 'fitness to run' daily train examination.

Above: Twenty years' wear and tear at Llangollen have taken their toll on these pistons from D2892's engine. (George Jones)

Secondman

Once passed as a secondman the trainee can officially become part of the traincrew and will learn more about the rulebook and about the working of the various forms of traction. He may now work points, observe and report signals, pass the tokens and set controls such as handbrakes, tail and head lamps and destination indicators. He will need to be able to find his way round the different diesels in the fleet - for they vary immensely in detail - and will have to learn how the paperwork systems work which govern train maintenance and record keeping.

Eventually there will come a day when the trainee is allowed to take the controls of a train for the first time. This takes place during either a light engine move or a DMU empty stock move, and is an absolute milestone reached around the three year mark. Train handling skills are gradually built up in such circumstances until the Railway's diesel examiner feels the trainee is fit to drive a service train under the supervision of a qualified driver. By this time the trainee will probably have travelled about 2,000 miles up and down the line and would have driven all the units or locos on the Railway's fleet.

Above: Changing tokens at Glyndyfrdwy. Secondman Derek Parker leans out of the DMU cab window to exchange tokens with signalman Nick Patching. (Keith Langston)

Progression to driver now becomes a matter of gaining enough experience with about another 1,000 miles being driven in conditions which must include night time, winter and wet rail situations. In addition DMU drivers have to learn how to drive on one engine should they later have the misfortune to lose one whilst working a service train. Technical knowledge will be brushed up to a high standard - not least because the diesel driver working an off-peak weekday or a Saturday night community train has only his own resources to fall back on should he get into mechanical trouble whilst out on the line. Knowledge of the line must become absolute as must knowledge of the rule book.

Driver

Eventually the secondman will have the required number of miles under his belt and will apply for his promotion to driver. The written rules paper will have to be passed, as will an exhaustive technical examination. The practical exam takes the form of a whole day out on the line on a service train during which the secondman will act as driver. The examiner usually picks a day which involves unusual working, such as staff-and-ticket or multiple working, and will watch to see how the secondman copes. If all goes well the examiner will recommend to the CME that the person be upgraded and will become a diesel driver - but only on probation for the first 12 months.

The full course has been done in five years, but the line is becoming more complicated and that time must be now taken as a minimum for someone who is attending almost every week. All those who have passed agree that the effort is really worthwhile. For me I first started dreaming of being a driver whilst coming home from school in the early 1960s on DMUs with my nose firmly pressed to the glass behind the cab. I sometimes look back and wonder how many of the little noses pressing on the glass today will be our volunteer drivers of tomorrow.

Original article by Evan Green-Hughes, published in Steam at Llangollen Summer 1998.

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Transferred 29th June 2007 by John Rutter - email webmaster@llangollen-railway.co.uk