.....Or so I was told. Its now been a little over a year since I took on the organising of local operations rosters for ARHS ACT and to be quite frank, it hasn't been the poison chalice it was initially made out to be. In fact, its been quite bearable for the most part, however thats not to say it hasn't presented some challenges. Ringing half a dozen people trying to find a crew a day before a run is not pleasant, nor is trying to rearrange a roster after Driver A has found himself suspended. Such instances are thankfully rare, so by far the most difficult part is trying to keep everyone happy. You see, being a volunteer organisation, people have got involved because they've an interest in trains or railways and see an opportunity. So they go through the training (Another story in itself) and get themselves qualified......and then come to me.
For a train to Bungendore, I need a crew of three- Driver, Fireman\Observer, Guard. So thats three to get from a pool of around 30. Admittedly, not all of those 30 are going to be available on the day and some are only qualified for one of the three roles on offer, so after taking all that in to account, you're generally left with 4 or 5 people lining up for roster. This is where the real fun begins (I stress that this is scenario I've made up):
Person A is only qualified as a driver and has driven the past 2 trains.
Person B is qualified for all three positions, is a mentor\assessor and has worked as a guard on his last 3 rosters, giving training and instruction to trainees on 2 of them.
Person C is only qualified as an observer, works for the railways and is rarely available.
Person D is qualified as a Guard but wants to be and has undergone ground instruction as an observer but hasn't done any other roster in 4 months
Person E is a qualified guard and is one of the hardest working, most reliable members of the operations team, however, he has made himself available only if there is no one else.
So, what to do? Whilst you always try for the most balanced solution, it must always be remembered that you can't keep everyone happy all the time. In this particular example, I'd probably end up with the following crew:
Driver: Person B
Observer: Person C
Guard: Person D
My reasoning: Person B has been giving a lot back to the organisation through his training efforts, hence he deserves a break and a drive (Carrot instead of more stick). Person C, although not available for operations most of the time, is a good, reliable worker in other areas of the organisation. Person D is qualified as a guard and hence, there is someone else available meaning Person E can have the day off.
Now out of all that chances are there’s is going to be at least one person unhappy with the roster (In this case, most likely to be Person D, as he is not being advanced when he sees that there’s an opportunity), hence my comment above.
So there you have it. The mysteries of the roster revealed.....not really, but it gives you idea of what really goes on with heritage train crewing.....no....sorry.....it doesn't really do that either!
For a train to Bungendore, I need a crew of three- Driver, Fireman\Observer, Guard. So thats three to get from a pool of around 30. Admittedly, not all of those 30 are going to be available on the day and some are only qualified for one of the three roles on offer, so after taking all that in to account, you're generally left with 4 or 5 people lining up for roster. This is where the real fun begins (I stress that this is scenario I've made up):
Person A is only qualified as a driver and has driven the past 2 trains.
Person B is qualified for all three positions, is a mentor\assessor and has worked as a guard on his last 3 rosters, giving training and instruction to trainees on 2 of them.
Person C is only qualified as an observer, works for the railways and is rarely available.
Person D is qualified as a Guard but wants to be and has undergone ground instruction as an observer but hasn't done any other roster in 4 months
Person E is a qualified guard and is one of the hardest working, most reliable members of the operations team, however, he has made himself available only if there is no one else.
So, what to do? Whilst you always try for the most balanced solution, it must always be remembered that you can't keep everyone happy all the time. In this particular example, I'd probably end up with the following crew:
Driver: Person B
Observer: Person C
Guard: Person D
My reasoning: Person B has been giving a lot back to the organisation through his training efforts, hence he deserves a break and a drive (Carrot instead of more stick). Person C, although not available for operations most of the time, is a good, reliable worker in other areas of the organisation. Person D is qualified as a guard and hence, there is someone else available meaning Person E can have the day off.
Now out of all that chances are there’s is going to be at least one person unhappy with the roster (In this case, most likely to be Person D, as he is not being advanced when he sees that there’s an opportunity), hence my comment above.
So there you have it. The mysteries of the roster revealed.....not really, but it gives you idea of what really goes on with heritage train crewing.....no....sorry.....it doesn't really do that either!
