I never though I'd see this

[smileyeagle1021]

And considering this is a UTA sighting, that is saying a lot.

Today I boarded a train... with a driver who was LOST
I boarded at Meadowbrook, as we pulled out of the station the driver announced "next station: Meadowbrook" ... same thing at Millcreek, Central Point, Ballpark, and 900 south... and when pulling into the station he announced the station before it... never corrected himself until Courthouse, then was off again at Old Greek Town. And to really support him being lost... he was trying to make up time so that he was an entire stop ahead of schedule.
So yes.... I can now say that I have been on a train with a driver that was lost... UTA has truly outdone itself.

On a related note, the City Creek project was primarily sponsored by the LDS church... despite this fact, there was a huge sign saying "Happy Holidays"... see children, you should always say Merry Christmas... unless you are a contractor on a church sponsored project

[Polenicus]

he was trying to make up time so that he was an entire stop ahead of schedule.

So, if I understand this correctly, he WAS on schedule... but because he was lost and had his stops incorrect, he thought he was a stop BEHIND schedule, and was pushing to make up the 'lost' time?

Nice! Don't they have signs at each station saying what they are?

[smileyeagle1021]

Nice! Don't they have signs at each station saying what they are?

yes, in 3 places, at each end of the platform on the canopies over the wheelchair ramps, and at the center of the platform on a rather large signpost. I'm pretty sure there is signs on the track too that tell the driver what the next station is.

So... yeah, this is why I never would have expected to see a train driver that didn't know where he was

and in downtown it's even worse... he announced Old Greek Town as Planetarium... which you could have absolutely no signs and know that the stop was not Planetarium... oh you know... because there's no planetarium anywhere nearby (the Planetarium station is right next to the planetarium... so there's no way to get it confused really)

[Kogarashi]

The only "lost" conductor I dealt with was one of those automated stop announcers on the T last March. A friend and I were riding the T into Boston from Alewife, a trip that put us through maybe 8 stops or so before we were to get off. The automated announcements coming over the PA were going in the opposite direction. Luckily the LED screens showed the right stop names, plus they're plastered all over each station. And since Alewife was the end of the line (where we got on), we had no confusion over whether we were going in the right direction. But it was still funny.

[One-Fang]

I had a FOAF that was a bus driver and illiterate. He memorised what street names looked like to know when to turn, etc. Perhaps the train driver is also illiterate, memorised the stops, and got it confused somewhere along the way.

[Imogene]

Today I boarded a train... with a driver who was LOST

A train? As in, on tracks? How do you get lost on a train?
"Go forward, slow down, stop at station, pull out, go forward," etc.?

[wagegoth]

I had a FOAF that was a bus driver and illiterate. He memorised what street names looked like to know when to turn, etc. Perhaps the train driver is also illiterate, memorised the stops, and got it confused somewhere along the way.

How did the FOAF pass the driving test, or is that unnecessary to work for the government in NZ?

[mattm04]

The only "lost" conductor I dealt with was one of those automated stop announcers on the T last March. A friend and I were riding the T into Boston from Alewife, a trip that put us through maybe 8 stops or so before we were to get off. The automated announcements coming over the PA were going in the opposite direction. Luckily the LED screens showed the right stop names, plus they're plastered all over each station. And since Alewife was the end of the line (where we got on), we had no confusion over whether we were going in the right direction. But it was still funny.

Once on the T the automated PA would always announce "Newton Center" as the next stop. The LED signs kept saying Brookline.

The Conductor had to come on after the computer with the correct stop.

[sanchopanza65]

I've had bus divers who got slightly lost before, but I don't even fully understand how a train driver can get lost. Trains tend to run on a fixed path, making getting lost a truly amazing feat indeed.

[Chromatix]

If I read it correctly, the train wasn't on the wrong line, but the driver was reading out the wrong announcements - he'd got out of step somewhere.

I did have that happen with an automated announcer once, but that was when it had probably been confused by a contraflow (replacing the track on a bridge) on part of the line.

[smileyeagle1021]

If I read it correctly, the train wasn't on the wrong line, but the driver was reading out the wrong announcements - he'd got out of step somewhere.

.

exactly... he was also a stop ahead on the schedule... not that I'm complaining about that part... it's kind of nice to have a little bit more than 5 minutes to make it the nearly block across SL Central to catch my connecting bus.

[One-Fang]

How did the FOAF pass the driving test, or is that unnecessary to work for the government in NZ?

The government don't do the buses.

I don't actually know how he did. I presume he was allowed to have someone read him the questions. Provided he provides the right answer, that's okay. Literacy is not required to drive. Stop and Give Way signs etc are shaped and coloured. As long as a questioner could point to one and ask "What's this mean?" and get a right answer, it doesn't matter whether that's because you read S-T-O-P or knew that the octagonal one with a red border means stop.

[Dips]

Maybe he was that one kid who always got assigned to operate the filmstrip projector in school...

[Geek King]

Maybe he was that one kid who always got assigned to operate the filmstrip projector in school...

Hey now. That was ME.


...because I was the only one who could unjam the ancient technology we used at the time.

[Dips]

Hey now. That was ME.


...because I was the only one who could unjam the ancient technology we used at the time.

I apologize. I didn't mean any offense.

At my school they never let kids like you, who knew what they were doing, near the projector. So we were always off by one frame from the soundtrack on the record player. Either one frame ahead or one frame behind. But never on the right frame. Ever.