Railcams and train times

[joelkfla]

Hi folks. In another thread, I posted a link to a table of free railcams and approximate scheduled times that Amtrak trains should pass them.

The links in the that thread are messed up, so here is a link that will hopefully work.

Please reply if there are any problems with it. Thx.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Thomasville NC has a webcam designed to watch the tracks. Crescent, Carolinian, and Piedmonts would be on these tracks. Thomasville is just south of High Point, NC (HPT) and north of Salisbury, NC (SAL).

https://visitthomasvillenc.com/train-camera

 

[joelkfla]

New free railcam overlooking the "Big 10" curve west of Denver. Nice views of CZ climbing up the curves into the Rockies.


I've added a few other cams to my list, including a St. Louis cam that catches the Texas Eagle and some regional trains. I've also sorted trains that are caught on multiple cams so that the cams are now listed in order, north-to-south or east-to-west.

Here is a link again.

 

[tgstubbs1]

This one has great video clarity. I 'rewound' about 10 hours and caught the Zepher smoking up the hill and I could hear the horn, too.

Somehow it pans and zooms.

 

[zetharion]

This one has great video clarity. I 'rewound' about 10 hours and caught the Zepher smoking up the hill and I could hear the horn, too.

Somehow it pans and zooms.

Yeah, some of the Virtual Railfan cameras have full pan, tilt, and zoom features. I think moderators in those chat have access to the cameras to operate them.

 

[TinCan782]

This one has great video clarity. I 'rewound' about 10 hours and caught the Zepher smoking up the hill and I could hear the horn, too.

Somehow it pans and zooms.

Yeah, some of the Virtual Railfan cameras have full pan, tilt, and zoom features. I think moderators in those chat have access to the cameras to operate them.

Yep, some of the "mods" are able to access the "PTZ" (pan-tilt-zoom) features of the cameras.
The other day on the Arvada cam, they were zoomed in several deer grazing on the hillside between the camera and the track below..

 

[basketmaker]

Love this cam! 25 miles west of home. Great for watching the CZ and Rocky Mountaineer. As well as weather over Denver Metro. There were some fantastic lightning shows last month.

 

[joelkfla]

Love this cam! 25 miles west of home. Great for watching the CZ and Rocky Mountaineer. As well as weather over Denver Metro. There were some fantastic lightning shows last month.

Do you know what time to catch the Rocky Mountaineer on the cam?

 

[basketmaker]

Do you know what time to catch the Rocky Mountaineer on the cam?

Last time I saw it heading west it was running right behind the CZ. If I remember right the CZ was about 2 hours late so it was around 0945. The eastbound was about 1530.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

What does it take for a webcam to get on the list?

 

[joelkfla]

What does it take for a webcam to get on the list?

I'm focused on LD trains, although I have included a couple of cams that are regional. Other than that, my completely arbitrary rules that I made up are:

1. Free for anyone to view,
2. Full motion (not a still every 1 minute, for example),
3. Rewind 12 hours back.

I originally made the list for my own use because I wanted to look at the consists of LD trains, and those were the properties that I found made a cam useful and fun.

Suggestions that fit those parameters are always welcome.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I'm focused on LD trains, although I have included a couple of cams that are regional. Other than that, my completely arbitrary rules that I made up are:

1. Free for anyone to view,
2. Full motion (not a still every 1 minute, for example),
3. Rewind 12 hours back.

I originally made the list for my own use because I wanted to look at the consists of LD trains, and those were the properties that I found made a cam useful and fun.

Suggestions that fit those parameters are always welcome.

There is both a North and South view of Thomasville, NC.

1. It has no cost from what I can tell.
2. It seems to be a full motion camera every time I visit.
3. It does rewind but it might only be for 4 hours but it does have sound

The 10 Piedmont trains would run by here, 2 Carolinian trains run by here and at least the northbound Crescent will be during daylight year round (if only by a few minutes in the deep of winter if on time.). The southbound Crescent will be 1:00 am-ish if on time.

It seems to be an active rail cam 24/7. It might be a nice addition to the list as you do have the camera in Spartenburg, SC but that is a night-time train both directions and only sees the Crescent (which is your interest of course.)

Train Watching | Train & Railroad Live Stream Camera — Thomasville, NC

Both cameras are on the same webpage but you can full-screen one of the other.

 

[joelkfla]

There is both a North and South view of Thomasville, NC.

1. It has no cost from what I can tell.
2. It seems to be a full motion camera every time I visit.
3. It does rewind but it might only be for 4 hours but it does have sound

The 10 Piedmont trains would run by here, 2 Carolinian trains run by here and at least the northbound Crescent will be during daylight year round (if only by a few minutes in the deep of winter if on time.). The southbound Crescent will be 1:00 am-ish if on time.

It seems to be an active rail cam 24/7. It might be a nice addition to the list as you do have the camera in Spartenburg, SC but that is a night-time train both directions and only sees the Crescent (which is your interest of course.)

Train Watching | Train & Railroad Live Stream Camera — Thomasville, NC

Both cameras are on the same webpage but you can full-screen one of the other.

Thanks, but the 4-hour max rewind breaks the deal for me.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Thanks, but the 4-hour max rewind breaks the deal for me.

Fair enough. It is your list.

Is there a reason you want 12 hours? I could see wanting a bit of rewind ability but curious why 1/2 a day is what you are looking for.

You obviously posted a link to share. Thoughts on others modifying for their own needs. I like the historical spreadsheet links for some of the locations. I want to respect your work but I may not need the 12 hour rewind.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Fair enough. It is your list.

Is there a reason you want 12 hours? I could see wanting a bit of rewind ability but curious why 1/2 a day is what you are looking for.

You obviously posted a link to share. Thoughts on others modifying for their own needs. I like the historical spreadsheet links for some of the locations. I want to respect your work but I may not need the 12 hour rewind.

12 hours gives people time to "go back" to the morning & afternoon videos after they get home from work, fix dinner, relax then start watching....

Plus you might hear of an incident that the cam picked up, but you didn't hear about it till over 5 hours after it happened

 

[BGW 1]

Hi folks. In another thread, I posted a link to a table of free railcams and approximate scheduled times that Amtrak trains should pass them.

The links in the that thread are messed up, so here is a link that will hopefully work.

Please reply if there are any problems with it. Thx.

Amtrak Tucson times: Sunset Limited #1/TE #421 19:20 MST arrival / 19:35 MST departure - Sunset Limited #2/TE #422 07:28 MST arrival / 07:43 MST departure. - That 04:28 MST was only for a little while during track work west of TUC and #2 departed LAX early. Also other AZ cam times might need adjusting since refueling at TUC was moved to Santa Teresa, NM Amtrak adjusted station stop times between TUC and ELP for both #1 and #2

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

12 hours gives people time to "go back" to the morning & afternoon videos after they get home from work, fix dinner, relax then start watching....

Plus you might hear of an incident that the cam picked up, but you didn't hear about it till over 5 hours after it happened

I figured that was your reasoning but thought maybe there was something else going on I was not thinking of myself.

 

[joelkfla]

Fair enough. It is your list.

Is there a reason you want 12 hours? I could see wanting a bit of rewind ability but curious why 1/2 a day is what you are looking for.

You obviously posted a link to share. Thoughts on others modifying for their own needs. I like the historical spreadsheet links for some of the locations. I want to respect your work but I may not need the 12 hour rewind.

@AmtrakBlue got it right. If I log onto AU and see something that interests me, usually it didn't happen within the past 4 hours. Also, 12 hours seems to be the standard on YouTube, including free VR, and I want to be consistent. I actually started listing free VR cams on LD lines, but I've found that there have been more operators adding cams with comparable quality.

I don't mind you making a copy for your own use, but I don't know whether Google allows publicly shared files to be copied to another Google account. I might have to email a copy of the original Excel file. Also I don't know whether the free web-based Office could successfully open it, as I use the subscription version which has more features.

 

[joelkfla]

Amtrak Tucson times: Sunset Limited #1/TE #421 19:20 MST arrival / 19:35 MST departure - Sunset Limited #2/TE #422 07:28 MST arrival / 07:43 MST departure. - That 04:28 MST was only for a little while during track work west of TUC and #2 departed LAX early. Also other AZ cam times might need adjusting since refueling at TUC was moved to Santa Teresa, NM Amtrak adjusted station stop times between TUC and ELP for both #1 and #2

Thanks. I will check those when I get a chance.

 

[joelkfla]

Amtrak Tucson times: Sunset Limited #1/TE #421 19:20 MST arrival / 19:35 MST departure - Sunset Limited #2/TE #422 07:28 MST arrival / 07:43 MST departure. - That 04:28 MST was only for a little while during track work west of TUC and #2 departed LAX early. Also other AZ cam times might need adjusting since refueling at TUC was moved to Santa Teresa, NM Amtrak adjusted station stop times between TUC and ELP for both #1 and #2

OK, I fixed times in AZ for Train #2; #1 was correct. Thx.

I'm trying to figure out a way to automate schedule updates (hence the slight changes in the layout). GTFS is a bear. I need to improve my Excel external data skills.

 

[joelkfla]

The Arvada CO - Big 10 Curve cam is not available. It's not included on either of the Virtual Railfan YouTube camera lists, free or paid. I assume it's gone.

 

[TinCan782]

The Arvada CO - Big 10 Curve cam is not available. It's not included on either of the Virtual Railfan YouTube camera lists, free or paid. I assume it's gone.

The Arvada camera is currently functioning and available to VRF members on the Virtual Railfan website: Arvada, CO – Virtual Railfan, Inc.

 

[joelkfla]

The Arvada camera is currently functioning and available to VRF members on the Virtual Railfan website: Arvada, CO – Virtual Railfan, Inc.

Thanks. So it's no longer a free cam. SInce VR made a big deal about it being available on YouTube, and it being privately owned, I'd thought it wasn't going to need a "sponsor".

 

[JeanA]

@AmtrakBlue got it right. If I log onto AU and see something that interests me, usually it didn't happen within the past 4 hours. Also, 12 hours seems to be the standard on YouTube, including free VR, and I want to be consistent. I actually started listing free VR cams on LD lines, but I've found that there have been more operators adding cams with comparable quality.

I don't mind you making a copy for your own use, but I don't know whether Google allows publicly shared files to be copied to another Google account. I might have to email a copy of the original Excel file. Also I don't know whether the free web-based Office could successfully open it, as I use the subscription version which has more features.

I copied it to LibreOffice (fork of OpenOffice) and works fine.

 

[JeanA]

Hi folks. In another thread, I posted a link to a table of free railcams and approximate scheduled times that Amtrak trains should pass them.

The links in the that thread are messed up, so here is a link that will hopefully work.

Please reply if there are any problems with it. Thx.

This is great - thanks for sharing!