How to be a train driver?

How does a train driver drive a train?

• I heard it's actually very easy, just a lever that you move backwards and forwards to speed up and slow down the train. I saw to levers in a train once, don't know why there's 2.

• Answer:

  I know it sounds simple, but driving a train is pretty complicated. Passenger trains, because they are small and light, are easier to handle, but it's still demanding because you have so many lives depending on you. Freight trains are tougher to handle, especially on tracks that are hilly. The problem with them is this: your average rail car can only withstand so much pulling force (about 130 tons) before it will break apart, and most freight trains weigh much more than this. So, you need to handle the train carefully, applying power and braking forces to the train gently and evenly, or the train will either jump the tracks or break the train cars in half. For this reason, a train engineer can only drive a train on tracks that he/she has memorized, and has to be constantly planning ahead to make sure that the train will be under control at all times. Add to this the fact that you have to pay attention to your traffic signals at all times, and communicate with dispatchers and other trains, and it can be quite a handful. Forget about having to memorize how the engine works, and what to do if something fails en route. So, the whole thing about "1 lever to go, 3 levers to stop, one lever for the horn, and a bell button" is really only scratching the surface. There are no foot pedals, except for some engines that have a floor button for the alerter or an extra horn button.