Day 3

My third day on the job, I was taken out to Rail Operations where I got to see how the carts went through maintenance, repair, and cleaning. I met a man named Mr. Woods who I was to be shadowing for today and he tried to show me as much as he possibly could in the time frame that I had with him. The first thing we did was we walked around the building to meet the different people that worked in collaboration to form DART's Rail Operations. I was then taken out to the train yard where I saw trains hoisted up into the air being worked on. I also saw things like a "train wash", a trueing machine, and a train parts warehouse that held all of the necessary parts needed to repair the trains. Directly after this, Mr. Woods took me to a meeting where he and his colleagues discussed the many different problems that DART experiences daily, and the variety of ways in which those things could be fixed. Once this meeting was over we headed over to lunch for about an hour and then headed back to work. When we got back, Mr. Woods took me to a room that held a big electronic board, which had all of the train lines running on it, and it showed where exactly the trains were and how fast they were moving from station to station. Once we left this room, I was escorted back out to the train yard where I got a chance to board one of the trains that still needed to be repaired. We were very far from the actual mechanic shop and I was allowed to go into the cabin of the train and sit down in the conductor's seat. I was very surprised when I was given the opportunity to start up the train and drive it forwards for about one hundred yards. This was an experience that not many people get and it really gave me an insight on what goes on behind the wall's of DART's headquarters. It helped me to see that there is more to DART than riding trains and buses from one location to another. My eyes were really opened to the many different things that DART has to offer for people of all ages and I look forward to seeing what's in store for me tomorrow.