The Senior DFM insisted every probationer ride the footplate once. 'You cannot cost what you have not seen.' Thirty years on I still think about fuel and crew hours with the sound of that engine in my ears.
My first posting was Ratlam division, and the Senior DFM there had a rule for probationers that I have since made my own: before you sign a single traffic costing statement, you ride the footplate.
So one September morning I climbed into the cab of a WDM-2 on a goods train to Godhra. Nine hours. The driver explained the notch positions and what each one did to fuel consumption. The assistant showed me how a caution order changes a whole section's timing. Somewhere past Dahod I understood, for the first time, what the line 'crew hours' on a costing sheet actually meant.
Thirty years on I still hear that engine when I read a fuel bill. When a division tells me a speed restriction has cost them, I do not need the figure explained. The rule was simple: you cannot cost what you have not seen. Every probationer who has worked for me has ridden the footplate at least once.
Reviewed and approved by the association on 14 Aug 2026