kolechovskiNow I can't load maps on this thing, but it would seem like those isolated tracks would be more used by MOW, or as storage tracks, or something like that. In fact, I haven't seen anything use them yet.
Yes, i've seen a few trains running east {I believe}, that is, right to left on the track nearest to the camera. And I too believe the night view with the color available is really neat, and you can see a train passing in the dim light....
Quentin
Are you also seeign a couple light turning on and off on the far buildings? I think there are 2 of them. I don't know if it's a problem with a light sensor, or if maybe some camera movement is making me imagine it. Thanks for the info about the tracks. I also notice from reading other posts here, that I'm not the only one who has seen flocks of cabeese on the trains on this cam. I'm wondering if there are semi-regular appearances made by them? Especially since this seems to be a very active area, that maybe work trains might be somewhat abundant, which could be one of the demands for cabeese?
Edit-I have verified that 2 lights are switching on and off after a little while. I also notice even more now how nice the place looks with the row on streetlights on the far side. I also liked the sight of the CocaCola truck that passed through at the bottom a while ago. Now I'm thirsty...the cam owners oughtta get a royalty from CocaCola for that...
Well it is 05.40 EDT (10.40 BST here) and I just watched a very long coal train heading west. The morning (I rarely see evenings) pics are very good, colored and fairly distinct.
There must be a Coke depot nearby as I have seen many trucks turn off Shenandoah Ave into North Jefferson Street.
It seems that MOW and maintenance guys use white pick ups - anyway that's my belief.
Yesterday I did see a red caboose at the end of a consist. But the train was being propelled westwards. As far as I recall it was a covered hopper consist. I did see, as part of my Google wandering cars marked with the name Roanoke Cement so maybe that is what many of these cars are used for.
Many thanks for the input guys.
Alan, Oliver & North Fork Railroad
https://www.buckfast.org.uk/
If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 - 1898)
Is there an ATCS monitor site that shows this area? That could give us an advanced notice of trains approaching the camera.
kolechovskiAre you also seeign a couple light turning on and off on the far buildings? I think there are 2 of them
I believe I've seen blinking lights over in that direction. I'll take a closer look during the next evening viewing....
The street next to the camera sure seems to be a busy commercial path with so many semi's and different kinds of delivery trucks, including UPS.
I have not taken a good look at this area yet via satellite to see just what is nearby, etc....
Right now I notice a cut of covered hoppers to the right in the distance. And two engines just passed by....{east}.
Modelcar BigJim Yes there were. The two tracks that you now see closest to Shen. Ave. are tracks 3 & 4. Tracks 1 & 2 would have been where the parking lot is now and were taken out over 38 yrs. ago. .....Next to tracks "1 & 2", was there a passenger station on this side {camera side}, in the past......?
BigJim Yes there were. The two tracks that you now see closest to Shen. Ave. are tracks 3 & 4. Tracks 1 & 2 would have been where the parking lot is now and were taken out over 38 yrs. ago.
Yes there were. The two tracks that you now see closest to Shen. Ave. are tracks 3 & 4. Tracks 1 & 2 would have been where the parking lot is now and were taken out over 38 yrs. ago.
.....Next to tracks "1 & 2", was there a passenger station on this side {camera side}, in the past......?
Let's see if this works. A view from the other side of the tracks. This view would be looking at the RailCam. The overhead concourse is now gone. It was shortened in order to allow double stack trains to pass through town.
The Roanoke Rail Walk is located on this side of the tracks. It goes from the downtown Market area to the Va. Mus. of Trans. Along with a number of RR artifacts, there is a set of crossing gates and a crossbuck that will operate, however, I have never been down to see how to make them work (I'm always on the working side of the fence). I have also heard a set of diesel horns close by too.
The cabs that you see are on several yard jobs, affording the crew members a safe place to ride during shove moves.
.
A great pic Big Jim, thanks.
That pic supports what I thought from research in that an erstwhile passenger station in that location is now the O. Winston Link Museum.
It seems that the Virginia Museum of Transportation, a little further west from the web cam was also a station. Great to have someone on the spot, so as to speak, Jim. After all I am an ocean away.
Great Western A great pic Big Jim, thanks. That pic supports what I thought from research in that an erstwhile passenger station in that location is now the O. Winston Link Museum. It seems that the Virginia Museum of Transportation, a little further west from the web cam was also a station. Great to have someone on the spot, so as to speak, Jim. After all I am an ocean away.
Yes the station now houses the O.Winston Link Museum. A don't miss place to go while in town. The VMT was the old N&W Freight Station and Shenandoah Div. offices
BigJim A view from the other side of the tracks. This view would be looking at the RailCam. The overhead concourse is now gone. It was shortened in order to allow double stack trains to pass through town.
That photograph certainly confirms my thoughts of that area once serving passenger traffic. Certainly another era....
That's really a great B&W photo of a period of time....I'm guessing it's in the late 1930's.
Thanks for sharing that photo. From that early photo, I believe the overpass the rail cam is mounted on is not reality yet....
That picture is late 40's or early 50's. The pedestrian walkway that the camera is mounted atop isn't even a thought at that time.
A couple of posters have mentioned that the web cam streaming hangs/freezes when viewing. I noticed this was a frequent occurence when using a browser which automatically choose Windows Media Player. I would add that the speed required was quite sufficient.
I installed the VLC Media Player (which often handles things that Windows MP won't). This is far superior and whilst there are some very minor issues and the pic will hang for just a second or two it is far superior and more pleasurable to watch than WMPlayer.
......I have noticed it just several times. Yesterday as I watched a coal train move west, it stopped several times, and when streaming, was a bit jerky, but has happened to me just several times.
Guess I really don't know what media player mine is coming in on......
Never saw a train
I hate Rust
cudaken Never saw a train
Switch back to it occasionally, and you will......
Today I saw an unusual train heading west at about 2:00 pm. A lot of what looked like mobile homes on flatcars , several gray ns boxcars , white trucks and a white bus on flatcars , and quite a few flatcars with all kinds of equipment. I assume it was a maintainance or construction train . RON .
j610Today I saw an unusual train heading west at about 2:00 pm. A lot of what looked like mobile homes on flatcars , several gray ns boxcars , white trucks and a white bus on flatcars , and quite a few flatcars with all kinds of equipment. I assume it was a maintainance or construction train . RON .
Camp train. Used for traveling MOW gangs.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Just saw the Ringling Bros. Circus train go thru town. That is one long train. Had to be close to 100 cars.
I saw, and posted about it on another Forum, that unusual train that j610 saw. The earth moving equipment suggested an MOW train and thank you to Zugmann for confirming that.
A pity I missed the circus train but it was past bedtime here when the train went through.
Sure wish I could have also caught the circus train . But that is one train that you are unlikely catch unless you have the circus schedule . I am really enjoying this new camera location . RON
A lot of traffic these past few days . Great webcam , maybe they will eventually upgrade to sound . RON
Agreed on the great web cam Ron, but I doubt if sound would be a good option: far too much road traffic noise.
I, for one, would most likely mute it.
Great Western Agreed on the great web cam Ron, but I doubt if sound would be a good option: far too much road traffic noise. I, for one, would most likely mute it.
Along with the more prevalent road traffic noise, there is not going to be a whole lot to be heard other than wheels squealing and some dynamic brake whine as heavy trains move eastbound. Keep in mind that this is a mostly slow speed area, it is flat and westbound trains won't be picking up the throttle until about a good quarter mile more westward.
I am satisfied that they moved the camera to where it is today. Save the money needed to only provide a bunch of "NOISE".
.....I agree, there probably would not be much "railroad" sounds with the slow speeds there.....Item: The street in the Netherland cam is between the RR and the cam....Sound of the street is prominent, but you sure can hear the warning bells for the RR gates as a train passes. No train {whistles / horns}....
You are right . The camera is a lot further away from the tracks than the one in the netherlands .Didn`t think before opening my mouth . Still a very enjoyable rail cam . RON
.....Just a comment: The audio pickup on the system in the Netherlands seems to be rather sensitive. You can hear people talking as they go by riding on bikes....and I've even heard birds chirping.
Before you start worrying about sound, note that there are still a few video issues that need to be taken care of. The camera often starts lagging between 8 and 11 AM. I don't know if it's due to some kind of bandwidth limitation on their end (too many railfans logging onto the camera or join bandwidth usage by other people in teh area), or if it's on my end (too many people logging on and using bandwidth around here). In addition, I still think that the switchover to white at night is quite ugly, and it seems to be a "feature" of some kind that nobody wants. Perhaps they thought it might help the trains stand out better at night, but I think it was unanimous on here that the night white effect is undesired. Upgrading these issues would be the first thing to do before even thinking about adding any more bandwidth-consuming stuff like sound.
If money is an issue, perhaps they could ask for a donation from Coca Cola for all the free advertising it's getting from the cam. There are quite a few of those trucks running around. It's also kinda nice seeing how many different designs they have on them. There are quite a few.
God excrement! I just saw a steam locomotive at high noon on the webcam, May 7! It was too dark from the opposing sun to read the lettering, but it crept through the cam on the closest track, with several railfans following it along, including 1 guy in a golf cart! It also had 2 NS diesels trailing it in AB formation, with the second being a high-nosed unit 3224. Anybody got stills or saved snapshots of that? That would certainly be the kind of stuff to post here! And does anybody know what the plans are for this thing?
This reminds me of another feature we need-the ability to save snapshots. While the Rochelle method of motion-detection wouldn't work for this, at least have a special webpage with an imbedded media player, including a button to take instant snapshots included. With all the great things we see on teh cam, a pic-saving feature is something I think we really need for that. Who agrees?
-ADDITION-the NS diesel locos passed back through 20 minutes later and sat at the far signal bridge.
At 12:30, with a train coming up behind it, the locos crept forward to the opposite side of the signal bridge. At this moment (12:35), that train has backed up out fo view again, but the 2 locos remain in the same spot.
12:40-the locos are gone, and I didn't see where to.
12:45-the locos are going up the far track, out to the top right of the camera.
Just saw a high nose SD40 coupled to a Dash 9, followed shortly (on the same track) by two GP38s shoving a caboose ahead of them.
kolechovskiGod excrement! I just saw a steam locomotive at high noon on the webcam, May 7! It was too dark from the opposing sun to read the lettering, but it crept through the cam on the closest track, with several railfans following it along, including 1 guy in a golf cart! It also had 2 NS diesels trailing it in AB formation
.....Just to be clear....Were the Diesels doing the power, or was the steamer on it's own power....?
Item: I am not "worring" about the sound"....I'm just commenting how much audio enhances the program, cam / audio.
I'm happy the cam is where it is.....and that it produces a large format size picture...even full screen if one desires. Size, and streaming video is so much more enjoying to watch than Rochelle.
It was the diesels pushing the steam loco. I know, a bit sad, but still a nice site. Thanks to my inability to take snapshots, I don't have anything to show the rest of you. I'm hoping somebody, somewhere, got a copy of the good stuff.
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