Because of the upcoming final exam, we have spent the entire week reviewing everything we have studied over the last three months. When we finished reviewing today, we took part of the exam which was open book. This part of the exam consisted of specific questions about instructions and practices found in the System Special Instructions rule book. While we need to know these things, they do not need to be known by memory. For example, it is not necessary to memorize every freight car in North America that has a speed restriction placed on it. The System Special Instructions covers a lot of that information. Without it, it would be hard to expect all Conductors to remember things like the fact that former Penn Central gondolas numbered 598500 to 598999 have a 45 mph speed restriction. The list of speed restricted cars and car types goes on for pages. It is important information, but so specific that no one can be expected to memorize it. Instead, we just need to know where to find it.
Today we did just the first 15 questions on the final. Tomorrow there are 265 more questions to follow, and they cover everything we need to know. The test is multiple choice. Out of the total 280 questions, we can miss 28 questions and still receive a passing grade. If we miss between 29 and 43 questions, they will let us retake the questions we missed once. If we get more than 43 wrong, or if we cannot get better than a 90 percent after retaking questions, additional training will be required. Anyone who requires additional training will be sent to the BNSF Technical Training Center, sometimes called "Choo-Choo U," in Overland Park, KS, which is just outside of Kansas City.
My plan is to pass the exam on the first try. I got all of today's questions correct, and in practice exams we have taken, I have not scored below a 98 percent. That is comfortably within the passing range. If I can do that well again tomorrow, I will be just fine.
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