For almost 40 years Oleksandr Chernov, a sixth-grade mechanic, has been working at the repair site of railway transport department of Kamet Steel. Now, his son, who is his namesake, is working with him.
His work is somewhat similar to that of an experienced surgeon. The only difference is that his patients are locomotives, whose iron organisms also get sick and break down, and then its operators take them to a repair "hospital".
Oleksandr Chernov Sr, or San Sanych, as his colleagues call him with warmth and respect, is almost never wrong in his technical "diagnoses". His team always pinpoints the cause of a malfunction in a locomotive that came to the depot. Then the unit is disassembled, inspected, defected, and components and parts are skilfully restored in the workshop. And now, the steel giant has fully recovered and is ready to support the hot work of metallurgists and coke chemists by rail transportation.
Our hero learned the railway profession in his youth at a vocational school (now Kamianske higher vocational school) and started to work at the plant as an assistant locomotive operator. After his military service, he returned at the repair site and, as they say, stuck with it. The first day at work was a new step in learning, but at the workplace. Was it difficult? Yes, it was - it's a completely different kind of work. "But it turned out that all you need is to want to, be attentive, dig into every detail, and you will succeed," says San Sanych and smiles.
That's exactly what Oleksandr Chernov tells his younger colleagues now. A sixth-grade mechanic having responsibilities as a foreman at the site, he respects young people who sincerely want to learn the intricacies of the repair process and generously shares his vast experience and knowledge as a wise mentor.
"Oleksandr Oleksandrovych works at the site where repairs of TR-2 and TR-3 class are carried out, that is the most labour-intensive restoration of diesel locomotives with diesel repair. Thanks to his skills, he is able to find a non-standard approach to the most difficult task, and his experience and responsibility are the key to the timely and safe completion of the assigned work," says Mykola Tkach, Head of Locomotive Service of the Railway Department.
One of his most successful students is his son Oleksandr, who followed in his father's footsteps. Oleksandr Chernov Jr. is a foreman for locomotive repair at the same site. It is likely that a new labour dynasty of railway repairmen is born at Kamet Steel.
