Google Earth

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
MiniMax

MiniMax

Train Attendant
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
82
Why doesn't Google Earth mount a camera on Amtrak long distance trains? You can travel (virtually) nearly every road and highway in the world. Why not train routes?
 
Probably not much of a navigation need for rail travel.
 
I think it would be great in terms of making people more aware of the fact that Amtrak exists and the places that Amtrak goes.

Also, being able to go on a virtual walk throughout an Amtrak LD train would be an interesting experience for those who haven't been on such a train yet and get them excited about giving Amtrak a try.
 
cirdan said:
I think it would be great in terms of making people more aware of the fact that Amtrak exists and the places that Amtrak goes.

Also, being able to go on a virtual walk throughout an Amtrak LD train would be an interesting experience for those who haven't been on such a train yet and get them excited about giving Amtrak a try.
Click to expand...
There is a virtual tour of an Amtrak train, right here on our website.

LINK
 
On the Swiss train, they actually mount the camera on a flat car. Don't know if Amtrak would go for that. And provide power and access to the Google Employess to keep the memory and power up.

Anyway, I think that this is all a Street View thing, not a Google Earth thing...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MrFSS said:
cirdan said:
I think it would be great in terms of making people more aware of the fact that Amtrak exists and the places that Amtrak goes.

Also, being able to go on a virtual walk throughout an Amtrak LD train would be an interesting experience for those who haven't been on such a train yet and get them excited about giving Amtrak a try.
Click to expand...
There is a virtual tour of an Amtrak train, right here on our website.

LINK
Click to expand...
I knew I'd seen that somewhere. I didn't realize it was here.

Kudos to whoever created that.
 
I imagine that getting clearance from the host railroads is a bigger problem than from Amtrak.

I recently saw that they added "street views" of some ferry routes.
 
Texan Eagle said:
Google has recorded the entire journey of Trans Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostok. You can "virtually" travel the entire route in real-time. Be warned, it is a wee bit long.. runs about seven days :unsure:

http://www.google.com/intl/ru/landing/transsib/en.html
Click to expand...
That reminds me of something NHK in Japan did when they first introduced Satellite TV back in the 90's. They had two channels, and didn't have anything to broadcast, so they had periods of time where they just broadcast drives across the USA of scenes from a car window while playing classical music.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You could do something like that really easily with something like a GoPro camera.

Sadly, I think the "no electronics in the cab" rule would probably preclude an engineer from doing this.
 
Strapping cameras to an engine or some variation of that would be nice, but it wouldn't have the same functionality as Google's Streetview, which allows you to zoom in the entire route (or road), pinpoint a precise spot, and have a 360-degree view of the surroundings.

A video-taped journey of Amtrak's LD routes would either take days to watch or would have to be hurried-up to the point that it would be a useless blur.
 
RyanS said:
sechs said:
I imagine that getting clearance from the host railroads is a bigger problem than from Amtrak.
Click to expand...
Why would the host railroads have to consent to Amtrak pulling a car with a camera on it?
Click to expand...
Because the tracks are private property. I can just see the likes of BNSF, CN, UP, etc. objecting to having their infrastructure photographed without consent on the basis that doing so trespasses or divulges "trade secrets" or some other nonsense.

Where private streets are clearly marked, they are not included on Google Street View unless their owners consent to having them included. One of the first controversies pertaining to private streets Google got involved in was in the Twin Cities suburb of North Oaks, where all the streets in the city are technically private but not necessarily marked as such. The streets were photographed and placed on Street View, but Google was forced to remove all the imagery after the city threatened to cite the company for trespassing. Search for North Oaks, MN on Google Maps today and you'll notice that Street View is conspicuously absent from the entire city.
 
Yeah, no.

I don't have to get permission from BNSF to take pictures out o the window from their tracks, nor do I need their permission to publish said pictures.

Amtrak doesn't have to get permission from them to haul private cars.

If said private car had a bunch of cameras on it, there's no special need to ask.

The issue with Street View is that Google didn't have permission to be there when the pictures were taken. Amtrak does.
 
Your private use of such pictures is a far cry from Google publishing information that could be use to vandalize or destroy thousands of miles of private railroad infrastructure. Or whatever their fears, founded or not, may be.

These are the same guys who complained to Microsoft because their engine cab simulator was too realistic. They were afraid that people would learn how to use the locomotives and just up and hijack them.
 
Your photography you take of your trip is considered "personal photography" whereas Google Streetview is considered "Commercial Photography" The laws are different. However under personal circumstances you would still technically not be allowed to take pictures on board an Amtrak train, but Amtrak has signed the allowance for ticketed passengers to do so, it's published on their website, and even still OBS can tell you to stop.

peter
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top