What a wonderful day . Both cams are down . RON
Every time i go to the museum cam lately it is down . I usually only go to it if there is a problem with the hotel cam. I can`t stand the jerk action for more than a couple of minutes at a time . RON
The camera switching between color and B&W has nothing to do with time of day. It is controlled by the brightness of the image. But that brightness may not be what we see visually, but more associated with infrared or near infrared.
It is possible that there is one or more streetlights, security lights, and building (interior) lights that are bright in the frequencies that the camera is sensitive to that can cause the camera to see more or less brightness depending on which ones are on or off. In addition, the clarity of the night (smoke/fog, low clouds, etc.) or even smudges on the window that diffuse the light, can affect what the camera detects.
There is also some "hysteresis" in the sensitivity (the switch point for color-to-B&W is lower than the switch point for B&W-to-color) so that it doesn't toggle continuously at some level. After the derailment in December and the MOW people had that night lighting system set up, the camera had switched to B&W, but a train went past with some bright white cars and the camera switched back to color and stayed that way for at least several hours (I quit watching shortly after 2 AM, so I don't know if it switched back after that)
I have several different brands/models of surveillance cameras in my house and some of them present controls for several automatic features, such as the color/B&W switch, auto-focus, and auto-brightness, and I can turn those features off and set specific values for them if I want. I don't know if the Rail-Cam can be controlled that way or not, nor if the person in-charge of its operation would even know how to access those controls or has the where-with-all to go hunting for them (I accidentally stumbled upon the existence of these controls while using a really old/obsolete program to troubleshoot a new program that was not working right with a new camera) so it may take a lot more effort to figure out than the person is being paid to do. (Sure, "we" would like it, but "we" ain't payin' fer it!)
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
I was watching two trains going through - one westbound the other eastbound at midday UTC (07.00 ET).
The picture changed from a warmish orange to black and white. It was dawn it seems in Roanoke, I like the coloured pics during the hours of darkness as the signal colours are evident.
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)
Still color at 1:52 am. I wonder why the different times ? RON
Rail cam still on color at 10:33 ET.
Quentin
Thanks Semper. A great amount of data to help one understand what is required, and happening across the system to get our incoming signal.
SV,
Thanks for posting that. I hadn't thought of looking up the difference between the links, but I have had much better results using the one I posted earlier in the thread. The download speed on that one is more like450kbps and gives smoother motion and better resolution.
Norm
It may be foolish of me to post this, given the redundant postings about the Rail Cam being jerky in operation, but on the off chance someone might learn something here, I'm a gonna dood it anyway.
There are at least 2 "addresses" to get to the Roanoke Rail Cam (there might be more, but I only know of these two), one is via the Trains dot com website (the computer that you are getting data from in order to read this here very missive) and the other is a slightly more direct way to reach it.
Note that regardless of which method you use, the data has to go through at least 5 to 20 computers between the one the camera is connected to and your computer where you view it. The actual number of computers varies over time as computers get too busy to handle the workload or get shut down or come back on-line. Several computers might be involved just to get YOUR computer connected to the Internet and likewise the computer the camera is connected to has it own path to the Internet. And remember, the internet is not just a single wire, but a whole bunch of computers all interconnected via multiple wires (or radios or fibre-optic cables, etc.) and the data may take multiples of those paths (one packet of bits down one path and another packet down another one) to get from the source (the camera) to the destination where it all gets reassembled to be presented to your eye.
When you use the link provided by the Trains website the data gets transcrambled several ways; it is reduced in size to 622 by 348 pixels and the rate of sending data is reduced to approximately one full image every second... this translates to you receiving about 20,000 bits of data every second to produce the image.
When you use the other link, the image is 800 by 450 pixels and comes at a much faster data rate. I am not sure of what it is but is is close to 5 to 10 full images per second (5 to 10 times faster than the Trains connection. That translates to you receiving about 538,000 bits of data every second to produce the 5 to 10 images per second.
The more direct link sends 27 times more data per second than the Trains link!
So... WHO CARES?! Why would Trains deliberately "ruin" the pleasure of full motion video and reduce the resolution of the image?
THERE ARE REASONS!
The poor lil' ol' computer that is handling the camera has to handle every command that is thrown its way to send images to those of us that like to see Roanoke choo-choo trains. Frankly, It cannot handle that! So... that is one reason there are those other computers in the link from it to the internet... each of those are receiving data from the camera computer and then acting in its stead to send data to some finite number of users demanding to see it. If those computers are sending less data per user they can handle more users without it looking like the camera has died!
What about the other end of the wire? Did you know that some ISPs (Internet Service Providers, the company that you are paying to let you access the Internet), limits the total number of bits of data YOU are allowed to receive per month (or possibly week or day)? Some used to just disconnect anybody that reached their limit of data! Today they are more likely to simply reduce the rate at which you can received data if you exceed the limit you are allowed. You might be paying for "high speed" but there is a limit as to how much data you are allowed to receive at that rate, then the rate is reduced to some lower rate. Does the Internet seem to be slow at the end of your billing month? it ain't necessarily because the Internet got busier!
You can demand your right to wring every bit/byte/frame out of the internet you can get, but the internet is quite overloaded with spam e-mails that other people are demanding it carry.
Please note that if you connect to any website that is constantly sending data to your computer (like the railcam does) and then walk away, or fall asleep, or go have a long evening dinner/date with your significant other, you are just using up Internet bandwidth for no reason and possibly causing YOURSELF the "slow internet syndrome" frustration at the end of your billing month.
I am wondering what will happen when the steam loco is due and more and more people try to access the railcam to see it. Will the computers involved get so overloaded that nobody gets to?
It is possible that the Trains link was deliberately reduced in size and rate so that more people will be able to see the steam loco without the computers involved getting overloaded.
B & O 614 is scheduled to leave hagerstown on its way to roanoke . The trip to roanoke is expected to take 12-14 hrs due to heavy rail traffic . RON
Just saw a long train of empty tofc and container cars pulled by a single UP unit. RON
just checked back.... i guess i answered my own question
im seeing a similiar train coming back through the opposite direction only this time loaded with containers now from right to left... 3 NS leading the way...
switch7frg When they are sweeping the ice , does that generate a large charge of static electricity ??
When they are sweeping the ice , does that generate a large charge of static electricity ??
Cannonball and Quentin,
I didn't want you to think I had forgotten about your questions, so I will take advantage of this break in the action to answer them. As to the static electricity issue, the same insulated boots we wear to keep our feet warm isolates us from any static electricity issues.
As to moving around on the ice without falling, when you grow up in Canada you start to learn about that after you learn how to walk, and by the time you are old enough to go to school, dealing with ice is second nature. Usually once a winter one of the TV stations will run one of those "cutesy" news stories about new immigrant children from Asian and African countries learning about playing Hockey and Curling. It is always fun to watch. Kids under about ten or so can learn to do it pretty quickly, but once you are old enough to understand the science of breaking bones, it becomes much harder for them to learn. I guess this is not surprising!
To get back to your question Quentin, it is hard to answer because I've done it for so long. It is sort of like using your heel and toes to both press straight down on the ice to create friction, and pushing forward at the same time. It is a constantly changing formula, but in the end it is much the same as walking on loose soil on a slope.
The next game starts in 45 minutes so I am going to have a bit more lunch.
Bruce
P.S. I happened to check the camera last night and I too had the "jerkiness" issue. So it was not a localized phenomena.
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
It is supposed to be on display at the museum on february 12 .It is slowly making it`s way to roanoke now . It is being moved by several different railroads as time and schedules permit . It was moved from harristown , pa. to hagerstown , md. last night . You can follow the progress on VMT`s facebook page . RON
ive checked this rail cam out quite a few times over the last couple of weeks and have only caught movement from left to right
is that the direction of most of the trains?
http://128.173.197.94:443/RRCmov
Works for me.
Okay, now the camera is fine. I think it was just pixelation that seems to happen in the mornings. I think I recall seeing that before, which cleared up after the sun rose a bit more, so it should be fine now. I wonder why they changed the URL. The camera is still prone to blackouts, but at least you can see decent video most of the time this way. I'd still take this, even with the blackouts, over that crappy other type of video. Maybe we could ask the TRAINS staff to change that URL back (maybe they did it by accident). As I think of something, is it necessary to be logged into this site to view the live feed, or the VMT cam?
BTW, has anyone ever found out when that steam loco is supposed to come through?
Working perfectly for me . RON
kolechovski, What URL are you watching? I am watching at http://128.173.197.94:443/RRCmov.
As stated above posts the URL http://128.173.197.94:443/RRCtrainsDOTcom IS a Very Poor picture.
Joe
Chicopee,MA
Ewwwww! Look at the webcam! WTF, man? Dude, like, seriously, WTF!? That is incredibly ugly, jerky, and low resolutionny. Why did they do that!? Ugh...I'd take the old cam over this, even with the periods of downtime it had.
I can still notice the Slight Tap On Petal people just as well, though. And it ain't just the small vehicles...big trucks just slow down a number of times as well (a couple didn't even appear to slow down). I'm surprised there ain't a cop taking full advantage of the situation (and even the camera). They could even forward some of the profits to help the camera operation stay maintained.
EDIT-I tried that URL trick a guy above me ntioned. It does restore the real-time motion, but, alas, the quality is permanently downgraded.
Saw a train around 9:00 pm with 1 standard unit up front followed by 2 slugs . Busy night . RON
B & O 614 is on its way to roanoke . Unfortunately , not under its own power . RON
Eastbound just came by..... With a Caboose......... Picture is in Black and White, of course....
"Knock down that Blue Flag and line us out of here, I think I can find Run 8 on this thing."
Hey, Harve - Fancy meeting you here!
For the record, at 1940 the cam is B&W and "stop motion."
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...
OK, Found the Problem..................... There seems to be TWO urls for the Web Cam. Both use the same numerical sequence up thru "RRC" RRCMov is still smooth as normal. The other one, which I haven't seen before, is RRCtrainsDOTcom.......
I Forgot to ask - Is anyone else getting the "Jerky" stuff that I'm seeing here??.....
Yep, B&W now, but it is as smooth as ever for me... I guess sometimes an automobile passing directly under the camera will appear a bit jerky, but for the most part it is updating at a very high rate... not like the VMT cam that updates every 2 to 20 seconds (if it happens to actually update at all!).
Lights indicate a WB train coming on tracks 2 or 3 to the northmost track to the west.
I just looked in now &15pm EST, and it's back to Black and White and still jerky... Empty Coal drag heading west.........
Each time this afternoon I've turned to the hotel cam I've seen a train. The last peek, was in the last half our {from the west cam under the bridge}, there was two trains....and on the far track was the red caboose, but I just got a glimpse if it....as the train on the near track was covering it....
It's Thursday, 530pm, and we're still in Brilliant Living Color!!..... BUT, the picture is Jerky, like the Museum Cam............
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