I can`t understand why this website is so slow . Any other site i go to loads almost instantly . Almost every time i go to the trains website it times out before it loads . This was my favorite website , but i am fast losing interest . RON
switch7frg The white car has vanished , and the mystery deepens. Did the cam catch the event??? Jim
The white car has vanished , and the mystery deepens. Did the cam catch the event???
Jim
Yes, that's the first thing I noticed....White car has vanished....plus the nice sunshine.
Quentin
Nice , bright sunny day in roanoke . Just logged on and a train was moving through . RON
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
I've been flipping between this cam and the Museums watching some kind of a race on Norfolk Avenue. I'll give the runners a lot of credit for doing this in the rain. Hope the temperatures are better there than here in Pittsburgh.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Stand behind the white car in the parking lot that is taking root, then raise a sign that says " hello Ray L Fans~~~~~
Cannonball
Nothing at all... well... outside of the two steam locomotives crashing into each other headon.
Oh wait... that was on YouTube.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Been out of town for a few days . Anything new or exciting happen since tuesday ? RON
No problem... I got to watch a lot of trains and it was the type of "chore day" that was perfect for railcam watching. Hope your Wife's family is okay.
I think we "railcam watchers" need to settle on some sort of visual signal to let us know if one of us is in the view of one of the cameras. Probably should NOT be just a hand gesture (even a clean one) as it might not really be visible at any sort of distance. Of course, some wild gyration might bring unwanted attention from others in the area!
Maybe putting one hand on your head while looking toward the camera?
Or, pretent pulling of a whistle cord? (That might get a trucker to blast his horn if done near Shennendoah Ave which might scare you if you are not paying attention to what is on the street behind you!!)
If you are in the perview of the VMT cam, make sure you stand still long enough for the camera to refresh and people can see you were there. Sometimes I have seen people in the distance walking toward the camera and the next update all I can see is the top of their heads as they go off scene at the bottom! Of course a signal that includes motion won't be recognized on the VMT cam at all!
Any other ideas for a "secret signal"????
Any idea for a particular place to make the signal?
Semper: Sorry wife's family emergency cancelled me out. Really wanted to get there. Couldn't find a WiFi hot spot.
Just saw one unit and two slugs running light . Good clear day for watching . RON
Well... you musta been "Under" the camera cuz I didn't see anyone waiving or doin' jumpin-jacks out in front of the cameras...
I have been down in the dungeon doing laundry and had the laptop on-line reading various forums with the Hotel camera open in the corner of the screen. and when I was not actively watching the camera I recorded it. From about 12;30 EDT until about 1:45 I watched only the Hotel cam, but then I added in the VMT cam until about 3:30 and recorded a lot of that time.
Saw lotsa people walk by both cameras (and stop at the guard rail for a few minutes on the VMT cam), but again, nobody paid any attention to where the camera is.
Do you have any idea what time you may have been within the camreas' visual range... I could look again at the recordings I made, but a fast forward through them revealed nobody waiving either.
I'll keep the files a couple of days to give you a chance to respond as to where and when I should be looking.
all you camera watchers. I'll be under the camera between 1 - 3 PM EDT today.
That white car had actually moved to a different position at least once, though it does spend much time there. I'm not sure why. What model camera do you have? I've got a Kodak Z880 that does 10 MP.
BTW, FYI, that line should read "After the lead engines had PASSED my position on the overpass..." Now another way to say it would be "After the lead engines had gone past..." I just try to help people with those if you're interested.
Dusk has been very interesting around the camera (and I'd imagine dawn would be, too). The lighting of the signals, while still being able to see much of the action, combined with all the lighting around from the sky and other lights, provides interesting scenes and pictures. It's just generally beautiful. Some of you might try to get on around then just to check it out and see what you think about those time periods. Now the downside is that both cameras will rapidly have constant focus issues, so any passing trains might be surprisingly difficult to make out well.
EDIT-Looking at teh cams now, a train with ballast going somewhere passed on the far track, there is a couch sitting on the road on the right side of the VMT cam, and some lady had a bad time parallel parking on the main cam, and even trapped someone in a rediculously small space. The variety never stops.
Rich
Those that desire, find a way..... Those that don't, find an excuse.
I'm going to have to wait until Saturday to read that post above, as I am out of time now, but at this moment, a Conrail loco is on a train with a red caboose, perhaps the one I saw earlier with different-colored sections on it, and tow trucks are going by towing very large vehicles for some odd reason. The signals can now be seen, so it is interesting to see when the Conrail train will be given the go-ahead. It's also nice to see the signals changing as the dispatcher does his thing...
The source of world-wide aerial photos that I use is "Google Earth", IF you have a highspeed internet connection (i.e.: anything other than "dial-up") I heartily recommend you install their program. Go to "GoogleEarth.com" and click on the "Download" button that page presents. This will install a program on your PC and a desktop Icon for running the program. Once you run it you will be totally amazed at what you can see and how easy it is to work. Use the scroll wheel in the mouse to zoom in and out and click and drag the mouse to pan around on the surface. If you have any dead-reconing skills at all you hardly need the search function it has, but if not, just click in the text box in the upper end of the left column control area and type the name of a city or just about anything you can think of and it will present a list of possibles if you are not specific enough, click on one of them and it will go there on the photos/map. If you are specific enough, it will take you right there... like type, "Roanoke, VA" and you will be right above the city!
Some of the aerial photos are so sharp you can almost read license plates on cars and trucks. (Other areas are not that good, but many are!)
There are other network services that provide the same functionality, but since I only use Google Earth, I cannot attest to their worth... but I am sure there are people that love them as much as I lke Google Earth.
There is also a feature ("Street View") that you can turn on that will show you actual photographs of the roads and streets that they have driven down with a camera mounted on the top, taking 360degree views as they drive around. Not all streets have been photographed, but many, many have, especially the major cities. Some of the photos have been deliberately blurred (and others not so much blurrred) which inhibits some of the usefulness of Street View, but in general they are pretty nice too. (They blurred the photos because some people sued over privacy issues because they were walking into a porn shop when the car drove by and their spouse recognized them on Google Earth!) Apparenly they run the photos through a photo "anti-enhancement" program that recognized faces and text so as to render the face and words unrecognizable.
I use Google Earth and Street View all the time.
I have a list of over 400 Railroad Roundhouses and Turntables (either sill in use or just a barely discernable footprint on the ground) that I found just by following rail lines all over the world (most in the U.S. but a few in other countries).
I can see my own backyard from the air and can make out my car parked there. Street View also has a couple of nice views of the front of my house.
My local bank branch closed and consolidated with a branch in another city (Yes, they are nincompoops!) which I am not very familiar with. So I used Google Earth to find the bank, then used Street View to see where to make turns to get there so I could make my house payment. Worked REALLY WELL!
Also in Google Earth, people have drawn 3-D images of some of major buildings and uploaded them to Google. If you turn on that feature it will show those buildings in 3-D on the aerial photos so you can see the sides of them. The Wachovia building in Roanoke is one that someone did. You can see that building in the Hotel RailCam view on the upper left (you might see FedEx, UPS and USPS making deliveries to it while watching the Hotel RailCam).
Google Earth keeps updating the photos, but the old ones are still available... they have even found really old aerial photos of some places so you can see the way things were in the 1950's!!!!
I find it totally amazing how easy Google Earth is to operate and the more I play with it, the more things I find it can do. I really do recommend installing it, just be warned, it can consume all of your time, spare or otherwise, looking at God's creation from above and what man has done to it to subdue it (and all that entails!).
To find antennas using Google Earth works well IF the sun was toward the horizon when the photos were taken as that then throws a shadow that is easily seen. But if the sun was overhead the shadow will be short or nearly non-existant and towers are just spots on the ground. I haven't spent much time looking for the towers yet, but may get a chance to look again early next week. The Street View images from Roanoke are rather blurry and the distant towers are not very discernable if at all so I was unable to find them the first time I looked.
Thanks. I was wondering about those antennas...if you can figure out what angle they are from the street (maybe figuring out what angle the webcam itself is at may help), could an overhead map help any? Are the antennas likely to show up on their own, or perhaps have posed a shadow that will show them if are are scrolling in the exact direction they are in? I'd assume them to be within the city, so I'd think it wouldn't take too long to find them with an overhead map (especially if it was sunny). Unfortunately, I don't remember the URLs of the overhead maps (aerial photos), so I can't check myself.
kolechovski I'll see when I can get around to contacting them. For now, I notice on the VMT cam a single antenna in the opening on the left, and 3 structures (perhaps antennas) in the opening on the right. Any idea what these are linked to? I also see that the live feed cam in indeed outside, as the wind is shaking it around a good bit today. i also notice more people looking up around the (live) camera, as if they know it's around there somewhere, but don't know its exact location. Could the locals be getting aware of its gaining popularity?
I'll see when I can get around to contacting them. For now, I notice on the VMT cam a single antenna in the opening on the left, and 3 structures (perhaps antennas) in the opening on the right. Any idea what these are linked to? I also see that the live feed cam in indeed outside, as the wind is shaking it around a good bit today. i also notice more people looking up around the (live) camera, as if they know it's around there somewhere, but don't know its exact location. Could the locals be getting aware of its gaining popularity?
I have been using Google Earth to look for the antennas you mention. I can't find the antenna visible in the distance between the two buildings on the left in the VMT cam scene, nor the thinner one on the right. Just not enough resolution in the StreetView photos to make out the towers to get a feel for how far away they are.
But the two white, thicker structures on the right are some sort of smokestack associated with the Norfolk Southern Shops just east of where Interstate 581 crosses the tracks that are the principle purpose of the two webcams.
At night in the scene of the VMT cam you can see a blue neon-like sign very near these two thicker structures and that is the NS sign on the building associated with the structures. I assume the building is a power house for the shops.
This forum is hardly worth the effort anymore . It took me almost 15 minutes to post this . Very disappointing . RON
kolechovski I kinda figured, though I am a bit surprised that UP is shedding some of its loco fleet. BTW, is anyone else noticing just how sucky the focus is on the VMT cam? I know it usually ain't spectacular anyhow, but it clearly got much worse! It seems to change at times...another camera that preferably should be locked into a close-up focus. Both cams have changing focus. Perhaps someone can shoot off an email recommendation to the VMT about this.
I kinda figured, though I am a bit surprised that UP is shedding some of its loco fleet. BTW, is anyone else noticing just how sucky the focus is on the VMT cam? I know it usually ain't spectacular anyhow, but it clearly got much worse! It seems to change at times...another camera that preferably should be locked into a close-up focus. Both cams have changing focus. Perhaps someone can shoot off an email recommendation to the VMT about this.
Uh, no, you want it locked into distant focus (infinity). The closest thing you would want in-focus on the VMT cam is at least 20 ft. away... close focus would is like 3 to 5 ft. which is where it tends to be focused now.
I have a video surveillance system at my house (cheap homebrew system!) and one camera of the different brands/models I have has a feature where it attempts to auto-focus (too frequently!). I can turn that feature off and set the focus where I want it, so I set it to infinity. Unfortunately, I have to reboot the PC sometimes and sometimes (not always) something resets my selection and I have to do it again.
As for contacting the Museum... Please, don't let us stop you. The more that do so, the more apt they are to pay attention to the request. I am sure they'd appreciate the feedback as to how well it works and what would improve it.
kolechovskiI wonder why they crossed out the name.
That's the quick and dirty method for saying "we don't own it any more."
Later on, someone will probably actually paint over the name, or else repaint the entire locomotive.
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...
I wonder why they crossed out the name. BTW, a couple firetrucks went by a little bit ago. They approached from the far side and turned at the stop sign. I was too late to check the VMT cam to see which road they took after that.
I think there are a couple of U.P. engines in the area with the name crossed out. ("Union Pacific"). U.P. had (or still has) the motto, "We will deliver" and it appears on most engines.
Yeah. At first, they were wandering all over the tracks, and then, just about everywhere. As the left, the drove down to teh close end of teh camera. I never knew the RR to use flashing lights just parked there, so I agree with yoru assessment (and nice joke, BTW). Plus, the trucks both lacked railgear. Update: They are now on teh opposite side of teh street, across teh tracks.
Just now, another red caboose came by on the train being pulled by the Conrail loco. That caboose was not the 55555I one, but another NS one with a different number, and some altered paint on its roof. I could not make out its number, but I got the livecam screenshot of it.
Here comes the rain!
I'll never tire of the variety of this cam. I hope it lasts a long time!
ADDITION-a UP loco just came by, with the UP crossed out on the side. Underneath it, it said, "We will deliver".
I think those are not RR workers. They keep wandering out in the street intersection of Shennandoah and N. Jefferson, blocking traffic andt then wandering back to the trucks. Looked for a minute there that they were trying to open some sort of (small) hatch in the street, like maybe a water dept valve in the street.
It is a bit disparaging to say this but they were walking too fast to be RR MOW or City Streets dept workers.
Ooops. while typing this they all left the scene.
Right now, what's going on on the camera!? What's with the workers and the flashing lights!?
EDIT-I read Semper's post. Thanks for all the good info! I'll try out that program in a little bit and get back to you on it.
Hi, I'm the guy that wrote the speed program. I am still playing with it, (and "playing" is the operative word!) but you are welcome to the latest incarnation of it.
I have sent you a "Conversation" (or Private Message) via this site with instructions on how to get a copy of the program... I decided not to post it all here as I am not sure of the rules about doing so. The program is FREE and I only guarantee that it works for ME... and I assume it should work for you too.
You should get a notification of the message somehow or look to the right side for the word "Conversations" and click on it.
As for the difference in the various feeds.
I am not sure of which is the "rawest" form of the video nor which is the "native" resolution. One version is slightly larger than the other but since I forgot to copy the links before I started this reply I don't remember which is which and I am too lazy to go open a new window to read them.
As to which is "better" that is very subjective. Both are derived from a JPG encoding, so neither of them has zero loss in clarity, but one (the larger) has more pixels than the other, but that doesn't mean it has any more clarity!
The black bars you mention I assume are the ones that come when you have the mouse over the window and show the controls for a while, and then dissappear when the mouse has been still for about 1 second (and not over the controls). The only way to get rid of them is to configure WMV to shrink the image to fit between the bar which will reduce the clarity of the image. It also depends on which version of WMV and Winders itself and your video display card and how they are configured.
They can be annoying, but allow a larger image in the window since they do not permanently take up real-estate in the window when not being actively used.
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