Re: learning curve

Without getting into this too deeply, even with a day or two training, an hour or two at the throttle under monitored conditions is not going to make anyone a qualified locomotive engineer, no matter how smart or how natural. What is proposed is an hour or two running the locomotive under restricted conditions with supervision. On big time railroads, this is usually how one get to be an engineer anyway. One starts as a locomotive mover, progresses to hostler, and then starts getting the bottom-end jobs until he gets enough seniority to do the big time ones. The new guy doesn't start with 20,000 HP and 10,000 ton trains.