Hi everbody . Just went to the roanoke rail cam site . Boy , is it a joke . Camera is so far away you can not see much of anything . It should be named the roanoke city view cam . It seems to me that a rail cam should be close to the rails . After all , aren`t the trains supposed to be the main focus ? Oh well , just my two cents worth . RON
I've tried that one several times, I wouldn't know how good the view of the trains actually are since I never have actually seen one go past yet.
Aha! Just took a look at the cam and actually caught a train going by (however slowly).
The Roanoke Hotel looks south across the tracks, with the VA Museum of Transportation on the right (out of sight), and the Link Museum and the Roanoke Shops on the left (as you view the cam). Both are worth a visit.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just cut down the trees...
They now have this cam in a new position, and the frame rate is restored. It actually looks nice from this angle, too, and you can see more of the track. In fact, on a train led by NS 9000, the third unit was a Conrail-painted 5407. But I still can't save screenshots in Windows Media Player, so all I could do was watch it go by. Check out the new cam position!
kolechovskiThey now have this cam in a new position, and the frame rate is restored. It actually looks nice from this angle, too, and you can see more of the track
Wow......You are correct....That is really a nice view now....Even looks like a signal at the right. Smooth streaming. Last I checked it was perhaps a month ago. This is really great now....I've just looked at it as a night shot. I too have never seen a train on it, but I'll check more often now. A great improvement.
Quentin
Modelcar said it right: "Wow!"
Being on the daylight west coast, I was just shocked to see it nighttime on the east coast!
Autos moving with their lights on could be seen in the night view.
Fantastic!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Indeed, that's a signal on the right. It doesn't to seem to be especially visible during the bright day hours, but perhaps on cloudy days it might be viewable. Certainly at evening, the lights were well visible.
Looks like they have moved the camera to the top of the pedestrian overpass from Hotel Roanoke to the Market Square area. Looks a lot better. Nice job Lads.
Shenandoah Ave. is in the foregrond. The first signals on right are for North Jefferson St. The next signals to the right are for Henry St.
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Just checked the daytime web cam in Roanoke, and would you believe, I saw my first train coming thru....Right to left, and it looked like a local, one engine and grain cars, a few tanks, etc.....And another one standing in the background in the distance. Time 10:56.
Edit: And another one at 11:11......3 NS engines...headed left to right.
......And more local movements. Seems to be a rather busy place this morning.
.....After looking at the aerial view from satellite this morning as posted earlier, I believe we see via the web cam, the area just to the left, out of view of what was a passenger station....Maybe those cars parked perpendictular to the street are in some remaining space from former passenger station. Believe the satellite site indicated a musuem in that building now...and perhaps some of the passenger station is now offices or some businesses, hence all the cars parked there during working hours. just my assumption. Anyone really know.
One other observation....The track closest to the web cam seems to be off the main like it was there to serve stopped passenger trains.
Edit: Anyone have knowledge of any passenger trains on this line.....? If so, any idea roughly what time of day.....?
DennisHeldI can put it into full screen mode and it's like watching a video.
That full screen view is pretty neat. Just a bit grainy but not bad....
I've watched the railcam now 35 to 40 mintues and have seen 3 trains go through. Right a Railbox Train is going through with probably over 150 to 200 Railbox Boxcars with 5 to 6 Engines pulling it. It's been going through here now 20 to 25 minutes and just ended. What a long Train with just Boxcars. It did have one Grain Car in front of the Boxcars and on the end it had another Grain Car. Maybe the Boxcars have something Flammable in them. Who knows. But boy what a long Boxcar Train.
....With the location of that rail cam now, my opinion....it's one of the best on here. Now if it just had sound like the one we pick up over in the Netherlands.
.....At 10:13 am {EDT}....just witnessed a lengthy {not Amtrak}, passenger train....{priviate cars..?}, passing left to right on the track closest to video cam....Did not see the very beginning of it, so don't know what engines were on the head end. All cars were of dark maroon color and one near the end was a full dome....
Wonder what I was witnessing........? I counted 12 cars, but as I said, I did not see the whole train...
This is a great site.....boy if it just had sound....
Edit:
Just watched a very loooong double stack east bound....5:22 EDT.
....This continues to be interesting....Just witnessed a freight train with tanks and covered hoppers for the most part, and with 2 units on the point for power.....but, with a caboose....!! 8:12 EDT.
DennisHeldI am very impressed!! I can put it into full screen mode and it's like watching a video. Very impressive. Can we do that with Rochelle?
The rochelle needs it trying to see trains on it is hard through all the pixelization and also so small why cant they put it in the media player like Roanoke's I'd watch more often they need to do something with it.
Has anyone had issues with the video repeatedly stopping after every few seconds and rebuffering for a whole bunch of seconds? I'm not sure what's going on now, but I really can't watch it like that.
kolechovskiHas anyone had issues with the video repeatedly stopping after every few seconds and rebuffering for a whole bunch of seconds?
If any, it must have been very brief.....Wonder if your computer Memory capacity might not be able to keep the action fluid.....It has worked quite well for me most of the time I've been watching it....and that's several times a day.
One thing I've noticed lately....It seems to be a black / white pic. at night....
That's likely just due to the lighting.
kolechovski That's likely just due to the lighting.
Not so.....Several days ago one could see the red signal lights and the orange Sodium city lights along the streets....{at night}.
It's after 9 PM, and the webcam finally turned white. This is likely a feature that takes place from a certain moment in the evening to a certain moment in the morning. Maybe it's meant to help display stuff better, but it just looks worse to me. I think it should just stay with the normal color all around. Maybe some of you guys can compare the 2 types of night shots (especially with trains in the picture, so you see how they show up) and give your opinions on this feature.
(BTW, the earlier buffering issue went away-maybe there was just a slow connection or something.)
I am grateful for the originator of this thread reminding me of this web cam. Reading the numerous posts here raises a few questions and answers. I am reminded of the original web cam position which, as someone pointed out was not the best.
Needing some railroad relaxation, when not out in my back yard running large scale trains, I have found this web cam to be fascinating and informative. Not only are there some spectacularly long trains to see there are some interesting road vehicles as well. One noticeable thing is the former heralds, before mergers, to be seen on many freight cars.
My next project will be to ascertain - if possible - where some of these trains originate and where they go to. Coal hoppers and containers are self explanatory but I am curious about the contents of the many covered hoppers that are in the consists.
Looking at Google Maps I see some very large yards to the west and more yards and loco facilities to the east. Am I correct in thinking that the smaller "bowl" shaped yard west of the web cam was original to the Virginia Railway? The whole place is truly a remarkably train centered.
I note from the Google street view some of the interesting railroad places nearby: The Virginia Museum of Transportation, The O.Winston Link Museum and the wonderful display of wheels, switch stands and other railwayana to be found on the sidewalk of Norfolk Avenue SE. There is also a monument showing places radiating from Roanoke which, presumably, are some of the places served by the trains we see passing by. Unfortunately I can't read them.
If I ever get across the pond to the States this place will most certainly be on my itinerary.
I wonder if the car park adjacent to Shenandoah Avenue NW was once part of the railroad infrastructure.? Were tracks there for instance?
It is rare for me to post here as my modeling period is centered on the late steam/early diesel era. Garden Railways and Classic Trains are my usual reads.
Alan, Oliver & North Fork Railroad
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If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 - 1898)
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.
WOW! Big Jim. Thanks for the info: 38 years ago - that's interesting. I guess it was due to mergers.
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......?
Now 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. Are they critical for something, as in accesssing something the other tracks can't?
Also, it's a quarter till 11 PM here, and the white issue still hasn't taken effect this time, so maybe they fixed that. Although the area where the trains run is dark, you can see their silhouttes against the background, and the signal mast to the right, along with the signal bridge in the distance, light up well, so I even continue running it after dark.
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