HA! I thought about your dad when I got the offer!!! :D
I think I remember Captain B. Williams shared that passion with your Dad.?
Tell Grandpa Pees a lot "Hi" and Choo...Choo...!!!;)

CRM is tie to everything- I know a Ret. Capt from CAL who teaches CRM and does presentations in Hospitals, Schools, Police Depts etc... She says is a nice gig :D

Yeah, make sure you tie train operations with texting... :rolleyes:

That made me think of the German Coast Guard video... Maybe you can incorporate language barriers into your CRM class? :D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cPszoim2Cw

Thanks for that laugh!!!
As far as texting, well you've heard of sterile cockpit too, right? Unfortunately, there are idiots who don't follow rules. Same as people who go around the crossings; lights blinking, gates down, etc..

you know I think I recall seeing a CRM video about the "fish throwers" in Pikes Place market in Seattle (if you're familiar with it - its quite a show!) just a non-aviation CRM video that could be a good resource if you found it. for what its worth...

I went with CSX (Freight) back in 2003. I did the Conductor school, and was looking to to "upgrade" to the Engineer seat in about a year. They asked me to go into the management side after a year as a Conductor which for my age would have been a pretty good move. Overall I liked the job, and I worked with some interesting people (10th grade dropouts to retired Doctors). It was very dangerous on the freight side. During my time there we had about five people killed and several hurt bad. Moving from conductor to engineer was going to be much safer. As I said, I liked it but in the end I was approached about a chief pilot job in corporate aviation, and decided to go back to flying. I would think that being an Engineer with Amtrak would be awesome! Good luck to you.

CRM Program Manager
 

Short Bus,
PM me if you need any more info. I'm the CRM program manager at FSI. Years ago the Texas transportantion Institute (down at A&M) did extensive CRM studies and proposal with BNSF, headquartered here in Fort Worth. They developed curriculum, the syllabus, powerpoints, etc.

Ultimately, training CRM in rail ops was considered "too expensive" so it never made much headway. I've got all the reports (and probably the powerpoints and scenarios they developed) around here somewhere. If nothing else, I could give you contact info and the website.

FSI provides CRM training to refinery operators (working a panel, talking on the radio, watching gauges...much like what a pilot does.) The training has been very well received. These seem to be the only guys spending the money on non-mandated training.

Translating it to medicine has had limited effect. Each doctor is essentially a "contractor" to a hospital so unless the hospital is paying for it, my experience is that the doc is not writing the check.

Remember the old adage, "what's the difference between a pilot and a doctor?"

A pilot thinks he's God, a doctor knows he's God.

Let me know if I can help.

S.F.