On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 19:38:33 +0000
Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 11:55:10 -0000 (UTC), Anna Noyd-Dryver
wrote:
wrote:
On Sat, 23 Nov 2019 23:13:31 -0000
"NY" wrote:
"Charles Ellson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Nov 2019 12:34:10 +0000 (UTC), wrote:
It took me 4 days to learn to drive a bus - test on the 5th. And that
involves
having to actually steer the vehicle through narrow streets and around
parked
vehicles, not something train drivers have to worry about. So I reckon 2
or 3
days to learn to push a lever backwards and forwards and get a feel for
braking under different loads (no different to an HGV) and a few more
weeks for
for learning signals, basic trouble shooting and some routes. A month
tops.
What sort of vehicles had you driven before then? Were you already used to
driving anything larger than a standard Ford Cortina size of car?
Articulated HGV so I had a bit of a prior advantage.
Driving an ordinary car felt very weird afterwards - the steering wheel
felt
so high up, when I'd got used to the elbows-resting-on-my-knees position
for
steering the van.
Driving a lorry is like driving a large car for me. Driving a bus is wierd
however because you're about a meter in front of the steering wheels so you
have to leave turning movements later than feels normal.
Unless you're driving a half-cab or an Optare Solo 
Bin lorries and some other specialist vehicles share the 'cab well forward'
position of a bus.
Often built by the same company - Dennis. Another of their design
oddities is cabs very close to the ground, usually on airport vehicles
but also see on some refuse vehicles.
In London they're becoming more common because of a rule Mr Mayor brought in
about visibility of cyclists in the cab. Which is fair enough I suppose.