ROANOKE RAIL CAM

[Semper Vaporo]

Sorry, I don't know anything about it... but somehow I missed it!  I started watching early this morning and noted the traffic cones with the yellow ribbon stretched between then and figured something was up, but then I got called away and could only check in about once an hour.  I saw a few people standing around and then I noticed that the wind had blown over the end cone and later all the cones were laying down and the ribbon was billowing across the near track.  Then later the cones were all standing up again and the spectators were gone.  Never did see the train. 

I did see a passenger train last week and it was very long.  I counted about 15 or 16 cars as it was moving forward and stopped but I didn't see the engines to know how long it really was,

I wonder, are these trains for viewing "Fall Foliage"?

 

[Modelcar]

Semper Vaporo

The painted RR track is the David R. and Susan S. Goode Railwalk.  It is about 3 or 4 blocks long, along the south side of the tracks along Roanoke Avenue, between the O. Winston Link museum in the old passenger depot on the east (behind the Hotel's camera) and the main buildings of the Virginia Museum of Transportation on the west (behind the VMT's camera).

 

 

Thanks....Lots of good stuff.

 

[j610]

Just saw the passenger train headed east at about 10 after 5 . Still trying to find out what it is and where it runs to .   RON

[Norm48327]

I called the Roanoake Hotel this afrernoon and asked if there was anything they could do to get rid of the spider web. The woman I spoke with was quite congenial and said it would get taken care of.

Good folks in Roanoake.

[j610]

Camera is down again tonight . Maybe it won`t be down for long this time .   RON

[Semper Vaporo]

Maybe they removed the spider web and the spider retaliated!

[j610]

Could be . He has had long enough to get comfortable .      RON

[Modelcar]

.....Just took a look at both Roanoke cams....and both up and working just fine at this time.  The lens may have been cleaned on the "hotel" cam, as I thought the pic. was pretty clear. Guess the way to tell will be when the sun is shining in it's direction some time later todayl

The other cam is clear too....A couple of engines with some tanks sitting not too far east from cam with engines facing west.  I can see this "train" from both cams, so that kind of pin points where both cams are.  The "overhead" bridge is also visible in both, and that helps zero in on those locations. 

[jlrc47]

 

     The other day on Railpictures.net, Nicholas D'Amato posted this picture. 

 http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=344603&nseq=110

I believe that is the bridge the web cam is mounted on at the hotel.

I also think it is mounted on the opposite side of the bridge. Never been there so not sure of the location.

The passenger train might be one of the passenger train you guys saw.

      Joe

Chicopee,Ma

[Semper Vaporo]

Nice photo of the area, and yes, the camera is on the opposite side of the walkway at the extreme right of that image, and facing the same way as the view presented in the photo.

Here is a Google Earth image of the area with lines showing my best guess of the field of view of the two cameras.

The Green lines are the edges of the field of view for the hotel camera and  the Blue lines are the VMT camera's field of view.

The large WHITE arrow points at the city pedestrian bridge (the street bridge on the left was removed since the Google Earth image was made).

The Red line is the sight angle between the two cameras.

From the VMT camera you can barely see the bottom 3/4 of the Hotel Roanoke walkway (pictured in the previous post) under the pedestrian bridge.  The two cameras "might" be able to see each other just under the pedestrian bridge except the view is blocked by the support tower for the RR cantelever signal bridge (Westbound signals) just to the east (right in this image) of the pedestrian bridge.

 

[Semper Vaporo]

Just watched an empty unit coal train going west, but when viewed from the VMT cam, the frame rate is so slow it was difficult to tell exactly which direction the train was going when some sections of the train were in view.  The cars looked pretty much all alike and they were moving at a rate that from one frame to the next they appeared to be going east instead of west... but then there would be one slightly (or more) differently colored car that would seem to be leapfrogging in the consist in the other direction.  WEIRD!

[j610]

Camera hasn`t been cleaned . Webs show up big time with the setting sun .   RON

[Norm48327]

Thursday at approximately 3:00 PM it appears the spider web is gone. I didn't think it would be a high priority item for them but it appears they have done it.

 

My thanks to them for providing the camera and for responding to my request.

[Semper Vaporo]

It was there about 40 minutes ago!  It was quite interfering.

But it sure seems like it is gone now... I would like to have seen it happen to see how it was done.

Wonder how soon spidy will build anew? 

 

[j610]

Its still there . Maybe I should go up there and clean it myself .     RON

[Semper Vaporo]

I guess I do see some wisps of something in the upper left corner, but it ain't nuttin like it was... This morning it was a full orb web centered in the view.

I wonder if they'd object to someone with a REALLY long pole going out there and sweeping the window a bit.

If you do go clean it, uh... please... The glass also needs cleaned.

 

[Modelcar]

.....The shadows are reaching across the areas now but the sun is not in the best position to show the webs, but I can see some of it.  I believe it's all there yet.

It might really make a difference, if somehow the lens could be cleaned, and of course remove all the web material around the cam.

Sure wish the VMT cam was streaming....It's so much closer and brings in more detail.  But having to reset every few min. does make it difficult to go back and forth between the two cams to try to see certain things on a passing train.

[j610]

I am with you . I wish the vmt cam was streaming ,also .But even as it is , I like it better . It is much closer and it is well lit at night .     RON

[Semper Vaporo]

I watch both cameras simultaneously at times.  The Hotel cam is delayed compared to the VMT one.  I watch the VMT cam for the end of train, or some very unique car, to pass under the pedestrian bridge between them, as indicated by the shadow of the bridge on the car.  Then start my on-screen stopwatch and switch to the Hotel cam.  I then stop the timer when the same event is at the shadow.  It can be anywhere from 3 or 4 seconds difference to well over 15 seconds.

I still have not managed to get a screen capture, using the VMT cam, of one of the cabeese.  Came close a couple of times, but fumble fingered the keystroke to copy the screen!

 

[RichardLHight]

Good evening gentlemen, I logged onto the RCC last Saturday at PM to see a string of mismatched passenger cars including a couple of dome cars, one which was closest to the camera.  At about 3:20 a large number of people began coming from the left side of the screen and entered the dome car.  When the train began to move, ten cars passed the camera and that was that.

 

I noticed a wisp of what I suspect was spider web that was fluttering near that monument and it sure looked like smoke coming from the top of the monument,

 

Did anyone notice that the new vmt camera has a pause button on it.  It's that small blue oval at the center bottom of the screen.  I bought a small camera tripod from the local Dollar Tree that allows me to take screen shots, id only I knew what to do with them then!

 

I'm sorry that the twinkling light mystery has been solved.  It was fun to speculate on the source. Oh well   

[RichardLHight]

Dang fellows!  I was switching back forth between the new VMT and RRC without seeing anything happening.  A few minuets later at 8:50 ET I went back to the RRC to check on our flickering lights and to my surprise I see a boxcar with two black tank cars with that elusive caboose heading south east from the right to the left on the screen.  If only I had gone back to the new camera location, it could have given me a close up of that little train

[Semper Vaporo]

I forgot, I did get a daytime shot on the 3rd, but I mis-timed the keypress and the caboose was too far away.  I don't remember which way it was headed.

Tonight (this morning) I got a closer shot, but the color is all washed out.  It was on the "rear" as the train was headed East (away from the VMT Webcam, toward the Hotel Webcam).

 

Someday I'll get the timing right and get a clean shot during the daytime! 

 

[RichardLHight]

Are you kidding?  I'm amazed that you were able to catch that red rascal, considering you had less than a second's notice that the caboose was coming into view!  It's been my understanding that cabooses are now used to carry railroad police to protect valuable cargo from roadside thieves.

 

The caboose you've caught at least twice, as well as the other catch that occurred on the RRC were the newer car that carries the current NS horse head logo and white roof.  The one I've seen on the road has been much older with oxidized red paint and the old white NW identification.  Each time I've seen it, it was bringing up the rear of a tank car and three box cars being towed by what I recall was an old weather beaten high nose GP7 carrying the NW logo. 

 

Could it be a ghost train that rides the rails in search of it's past glory?  Something to consider!  I wonder if anyone knows how to contact a PR type at NS that might give us a heads up on that train?    

[Modelcar]

Semper Vaporo

I forgot, I did get a daytime shot on the 3rd, but I mis-timed the keypress and the caboose was too far away.  I don't remember which way it was headed.

Tonight (this morning) I got a closer shot, but the color is all washed out.  It was on the "rear" as the train was headed East (away from the VMT Webcam, toward the Hotel Webcam).

 

Someday I'll get the timing right and get a clean shot during the daytime! 

 

I think both shots are credible....Of course we can see the day shot colors much better.

Item: Last night {Firday}, at about 10:45 i had just clicked over to the "hotel cam" and a WB auto carrier, double stack train was just coming into view, and then the caboose poped into view  WB, on a backing train.  The WB train soon hid it but I did get a look at it for a short time.

 

[kolechovski]

Hey, which of the 2 ridges is that antenna farm on that twinkles at night?  the close one or the far one?  A reminder that screenshots can be taken of the VMT cam with the Printscreen key (no extrernal camera is needed), and then pasting the image taken into MS Paint, or any other picture editor.  The live feed from the hotel can be grabbed by SnippingTool if you have a recent version of Windows.  If not, and it opens in WMP, then the external camera will be needed.

The sun is shining on teh camera now, and it seems spidey's web has been wiped, along with the window.  The window does have a couple smudges, but it would never stay clean for long.  The loco's exhaust will always make that certain.  Still, much better!  As for the delay, don't forget WMP also has "buffering", which contributes to the delay.  I bet much of the lag comes from WMP itself, though the hotel's stream can be a few seconds behind on its own.  Still, very little of an issue, but just remembering that "live" is more like "a few seconds ago".  And keep grabbing those wonderful screenshots!  I'd post some I got if I got the chance.

[Semper Vaporo]

I believe the antennas are on the far ridge (Poor Mountain) as viewed from the Hotel Webcam.  Here is a Google Earth image where I have marked the two webcams (the yellow pushpins in the upper right corner) and about the middle of the antenna farm (the single pushpin in the lower left corner).  A distance of a little over 13 miles.

If you want to see photos of the antennas;

Run Google Earth and enable the new feature, "Panoramio" by enabling the "Photos" Layer (see the checkmark in the bottom list in the menu on the left).  (I have also enabled the "More/Transportation" Layer to see the RR routes [the black lines in the photo area]).

Notice the small blue squares.  Hovering the mouse arrow over some of the ones near the Antennas pushpin will show the call letters of the broadcast company for that antenna.  Click on them and you will see photos taken at that place.  Many of them include the antennas, and a couple are looking back toward Roanoke.  Double click on the square and it will take you to a slideshow type of display of the photos.

 

I knew that Windows Media Player (WMP) has a buffer, but the variance in the delay from one connection to the next is quite confusing.  This morning it was barely 1/2 second, (if that), but yesterday is was more like 20 seconds.  (Don'tcha jus lov the way cornpewters do things the same way every time!... snicker snicker snicker).

 

[blue streak 1]

[quote user="Semper Vaporo"]

I forgot, I did get a daytime shot on the 3rd, but I mis-timed the keypress and the caboose was too far away.  I don't remember which way it was headed.

Tonight (this morning) I got a closer shot, but the color is all washed out.  It was on the "rear" as the train was headed East (away from the VMT Webcam, toward the Hotel Webcam).

 

Someday I'll get the timing right and get a clean shot during the daytime! 

 

[/quote

 If the time stamp is correct the shadows would indicate the first picture has the traing going away to the east?

[j610]

Just saw some strange cars go by . They had EPIC on the side and appeared to be permanently connected in groups of two or three . Does anyone know the story on these ?    RON

[Semper Vaporo]

I know there are at least two cabeese that ply these rails... One is numbered "55555" (I think), is bright red and has the Stallion NS logo on both sides.  The other is a darker, dull red and has no logo (can't read the number).  Also the one without the logo has the rear side windows very near the ends, but the one with the logo has the rear one on one side (north side/hotel side as it has been on the track the times I have seen it) much farther from the end .

Caught the logo one from both cameras today... east bound... from the VMT cam:

And a few seconds later... Eastbound from the Hotel cam: (Note the rear side window position)

 Those few seconds between these shots were spent franticly trying to reset the Snipping Tool!

 

Here is the other caboose, from a couple of weeks ago:

 

 

As for those "EPIC" container cars.  I know which ones you are talking about.  I have seen them several times on the Hotel cam... going both directions.  I have also seen similar cars on the U.P. line where I live.  I have always thought they carry scrap metal of some sort, but I really don't know their use.  I do know the cars are in pairs with a single truck between them.  The outer ends always have two containers stacked and the inner ends of the pair only have one.  I assume this because each truck can support the weight of just 2 containers... The single truck between the cars carrying one container from each car and the outer truck carrying the two stacked containers on the end.

 

[RichardLHight]

 

Semper Vaporo,

 

When I signed on the VTM camera I saw the old red caboose that you caught in your last post at the end of a short mixed freight waiting on the center track.  This train was headed up with what I think was a SD40 with the old green BN livery that appeared to be leased power coupled to a NS SD40

 

Switching to the Hotel cam I was able to see virtually the same pic as you have posted.  This makes at least three red cabooses in service.  One has the modern NS logo, one still carrying the old NW logo, and this one you caught that has no marking except the white band at the base of the body and the white tank under the caboose. 

 

I'm still hoping to see those Epic cars, but so far no luck.