Appreciation post: the old timer who taught me how to read a relay ladder

Back when I started out 8 years ago in Detroit, an older mechanic named Frank took me under his wing. He spent a whole afternoon showing me how to trace a stuck relay on a Mowery freight car. He said 'son, if you can read this diagram you can fix anything with wires.' It stuck with me because he was patient and didn't make me feel dumb for asking questions. I still use that same method on every hydraulic controller I work on. Have any of you had a mentor who really shaped how you approach the job?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkerb7516d ago

Frank was probably just stuck with you all afternoon because the boss told him to. Half that stuff he taught you is probably outdated anyway. Those old timers love to act like their way is the only way and they gatekeep information like it's some kind of secret society.

the_joel16d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, you know what @parkerb75, I actually used to be that guy who thought old timers were just hoarding secrets. But honestly? You changed my mind a bit here. It makes more sense now that Frank's "mentoring" was probably just a box-checking exercise for the boss, not him actually trying to help. And yeah, some of the stuff he showed me was definitely outdated (like that whole Excel macro thing that doesn't even work on modern systems), so maybe I was giving him too much credit.