The chequered flag

Today is the day that I have been waiting for. A little over ten months ago I walked in off the street knowing absolutely nothing about what being a train driver involved. At every stage along the way I was sure they would tell me that I wasn't good enough to make the grade, and yet they kept asking me back. And now, having completed my final assessment, I am no longer a trainee.

Obviously I'm really pleased to have finally passed out, there is a sense of anticlimax about it. After all these months of work leading up to this point I was expecting to feel more elated, but I guess that this is just the start of my career as a driver. As good as the preparation has been to bring me to this point and as helpful and knowledgeable as the various instructors have been, I still feel that there's so much more that I don't know and will only start to learn once I'm out there having to rely on no-one but myself. However, I would like to publicly thank everyone who has provided me with even the least bit of information, advice or encouragement. At the risk of turning irretrievably mushy, I feel very privileged to work with such a great bunch of people from whom I will no doubt continue to learn.

So, where does it all go from here? Well, in the true tradition of chucking people in at the deep end, I have my first solo turn tomorrow morning. As I've only passed the core route, it will be a fairly bland day of airport services. However, being the first time out on my own it won't be dull. I would imagine that "terrifying" would be a more accurate description. I'll have twenty of these solo turns before I then learn the rest of the routes. Once all that's out the way, I shall be fully into the roster and have a more varied workload.

As for this weblog, I intend to continue to add to it as it would be a real shame just to end it here. I hope that it has been interesting and possibly even amusing on occassion. Above all, I hope that it has inspired other would-be drivers out there that it is possible to achieve your ambition.

Heck, if I could do it, what's stopping you...?