Trains.com

ROANOKE RAIL CAM

179833 views
1396 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Friday, May 7, 2010 2:59 PM

.....We'll keep checking on the site frequently, who knows....It might be in the area for some work and will move back again....

Quentin

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Cordes Jct Ariz.
  • 1,305 posts
Posted by switch7frg on Friday, May 7, 2010 4:03 PM

Whistling  Sigh  Quentin;   WOW! what a hoot @ 1:23 I saw 3 autos come down the street. They must have ignition problems as they were jerky movements. At 12 seconds, all 3 cars stopped. Were they reading play list 1 , waiting for 18% or  what?  ~~~ Maybe the Cam needs to be wound up again. Tues. I saw two engines coupled  , front one pulling  and rear one pushing.  The screen went black.   Lots of action there. LOL Laugh  Cannonball

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Friday, May 7, 2010 6:34 PM

I agree with the issue of the camera going to black & white at night . It would be so much better if it stayed color . Sure sorry i missed the steam loco .    RON

J610
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Friday, May 7, 2010 7:21 PM

switch7frg
23 I saw 3 autos come down the street. They must have ignition problems as they were jerky movements. At 12 seconds, all 3 cars stopped. Were they reading play list 1 , waiting for 18% or  what?  ~~~ Maybe the Cam needs to be wound up again. Tues. I saw two engines coupled  , front one pulling  and rear one pushing.  The screen went black.   Lots of action there. LOL Laugh  Cannonball

 

Wow, Cannonball.....You really are seeing a variety of action.....I'll have to check more often. 

Edit:  Just checked it out at 8:31 EDT, and everything is running smooth including some cars winding down out of the parking garage.  Also, the cam is still in color....Looks like a pretty evening there....Western sky is still a bit light.

......And just now....8:33 EDT, a west bound passing....Mixed freight.

......And now at 8:37 EDT, an ambulance, west, on the street across the tracks to near that parking lot by the parking garage....Police flashing lights and ambulance flashing lights....Cannonball....Your correct, all kind of stuff.

Edit:  Another west bound at 9:35 and it took it 11 minutes to pass.....Believe it was an open hopper coal train.  Could not tell if it was loaded, as the cam was on black and white and I couldn't tell.  I thought sure it would have pushers on the back.  It did not.  Estimate it was traveling about 25 mph.  Seemed exceptionally long...!  Very.....!

 

Quentin

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The English Riviera, South Devon, England
  • 475 posts
Posted by Great Western on Saturday, May 8, 2010 6:07 AM

 There is indeed a great deal of activity to see on the Railcam.  Trains of many types, locos of quite a few roads, lots of road vehicles including emergency vehicles as well, not to mention the numerous Coca-Cola trucks and the varied types of NS road vehicles - some of which I see running on the rails.  There are other activities that I have seen which include road races, open air markets and other town events.  Lots going on: after all this is a large place not a 'one horse' town. Laugh

I was fortunate also to see N&W 611 being pushed along the tracks yesterday.   I came in from my back yard garden railroad for a break and coffee.  Luckily the web cam was on my pc screen and I just arrived in time to see it.  It was 5pm. UTC here (12 noon EDT).

I am interested in learning what many of the trains are.  Coal hoppers, containers and spine cars are obvious but I am curious about the contents of covered hoppers.  Grain, cement, sand, soda ash?

Equally intriguing is the destinations of the trains.  I realize some  (westbound) are likely to be headed for the large yards but I guess some may well by-pass the yards and carry on to another places in the United States..  East bound there seems to be choices of two or three directions for the trains to travel.

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)

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, May 8, 2010 10:17 AM

Great Western
I was fortunate also to see N&W 611 being pushed along the tracks yesterday

 

Now that's the first I've heard anyone identify which engine {steam}, it was that passed yesterday....The famous NS 611...Wow, that was a great catch.

That engine and it's many passenger cars visited here in Muncie, In. {under it's own power}, many times back in the 80's.  They would stay here for several hours and drew many, many visitors, and people just wanting to get a look....I have photographed it quite a few times here.  It was still capable of good running speed as it pulled out and to continue on it's journey.....Too bad it's not in running order anymore.

Quentin

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The English Riviera, South Devon, England
  • 475 posts
Posted by Great Western on Sunday, May 9, 2010 1:56 PM

 I was too interested to note the time but suffice to say that between 13.15 and 13.30 EDT (as far as I can tell) N&W 611 was hauled backwards to her home at the VMT at Roanoke.  Two diesels hauled her, the leading one being a Southern Railway loco in the former green with white stripe road colors. The second loco was identifiable as NS 4000.

I guess quite a number of folks were there to see it judging by those, some of whom had waited a fair while, that were visible on the Railcam.

I hope that the event over the week-end was well attended, at least the weather seemed good.

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)

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Cordes Jct Ariz.
  • 1,305 posts
Posted by switch7frg on Sunday, May 9, 2010 10:01 PM

Sign - Oops  Laugh Positivly fine railcam Roanoke home page lettering on the header.   I think the black screen  off sets the tiny blue connecting  sign . Wondering if the camera has run down ,or the folks went home. Been trying at intervals since3:30pm.  MST , now 8:00 MST No ( buffering percent numbers. ) Jim

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Monday, May 10, 2010 12:15 AM

Same problem here . Nothing since around 3:00 pm. Hopefully it is temporary .         RON

J610
  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 762 posts
Posted by kolechovski on Monday, May 10, 2010 9:02 AM

Thanks for IDing that loco.  Too bad nobody was able to grab any snaps of it from the cam, which is among the suggestions I made.  Among the many mixed trains, I noticed several of them had at least a few cars of ballast.  I wonder if that stuff gets used in the area, or if its going to tracks somewhere else.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The English Riviera, South Devon, England
  • 475 posts
Posted by Great Western on Monday, May 10, 2010 9:31 AM

 I couldn't find the cam this morning (04..00 WinkEDT - 09.00UTC) but it seems to be fine now. (10.30EDT - 15.30 UTC)

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)

  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 762 posts
Posted by kolechovski on Monday, May 10, 2010 9:53 AM

I just saw a red caboose go by a little bit ago again.  I believe it to be the same one I've been seeing.  Does that caboose run on one train only, or is it used for multiple local jobs?

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Monday, May 10, 2010 3:21 PM

I am pretty sure it is used on different locals . Seems to be a lot more traffic these past few days .   RON

J610
  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:06 PM

Is the camera still down or is it my computer ?            RON

J610
  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Cordes Jct Ariz.
  • 1,305 posts
Posted by switch7frg on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:15 PM

Sign - Dots  Whistling  RON;  as of 8:00 to 8:10 MST.  the little blue ( bluffing ) sign  kept on bluffing. The cam ran down and everyone went home.LOL .    

                                                  Cannonball

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 10:21 PM

switch7frg
   Cannonball

 

I checked it out about 8:20 EDT and it was up and running.

Quentin

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Friday, May 14, 2010 6:51 PM

Must have just been routine camera maintainence . I haven`t noticed anything new or different .     RON

J610
  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 762 posts
Posted by kolechovski on Monday, May 17, 2010 10:18 AM

The camera was fine earlier this morning, but now it's suddenly completely down.  Is it just me, or can someone else confirm the refusal of the software to conenct to the media?

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Monday, May 17, 2010 10:30 AM

I just looked there. It stays on for a few seconds, then goes offline.

Norm


  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Monday, May 17, 2010 10:42 AM

.......11:41 EDT am.....Seems ok.  light rain there this morning.  Kept it on for several minutes, and it seemed to be ok.

Edit:

4:02 EDT pm....Can not pull it up.

Quentin

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Monday, May 17, 2010 11:06 AM

Its in and out for me ,too. It may be weather related . They are having some storms and high winds .        RON

J610
  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The English Riviera, South Devon, England
  • 475 posts
Posted by Great Western on Monday, May 17, 2010 1:17 PM

 No issues today (Monday) but over the last few days I have found the camera sometimes not available.

I pointed out that watching the cam in browser is hopeless.  Firefox, Opera and Comodo (same as the new Google Chrome) always selects Windows Media Player.  WMP frequently freezes and buffers making watching a real pain.  I therefore use VLC Media Player (no browser as it is bookmarked as a favorite) and it works fine for me.  Occasional issues, due to other pro grammes running a but nowhere like WMP

Often when watching I wish that I could put the clock back and see the steam locos and passenger cars that once ran through Roanoke. Wink

 

 

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)

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Cordes Jct Ariz.
  • 1,305 posts
Posted by switch7frg on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 10:52 AM

Whistling  Quentin;  ~~~ at  mst. 845am black screen,blurb at bottom says ~~ whipping on system .   With all the " buffering "  maybe it will be fed a Bufferin asprin .  HEH  HEH Sign - Oops

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The English Riviera, South Devon, England
  • 475 posts
Posted by Great Western on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 12:26 PM

 Scroll below the picture and you will see a notice which says that they are having outages due to the high demand for the Cam.  They are working on upgrades.

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)

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:10 PM

 I would also suspect technical problems due to rain and wind.

Norm


  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 3:21 PM

switch7frg
With all the " buffering "  maybe it will be fed a Bufferin asprin .  HEH  HEH Sign - Oops

Yes.....It's messing up big time....Just clicked on it and got a live pic of a general freight moving west....and then in 20 sec. or so, the pic. froze.

And I did scroll down {as another poster mentioned}, and found they are telling us the system is overwhelmed with "customers", and they are trying to repair and get it up and running again....

 

Quentin

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 3:58 PM

 Two aspirins, and call it in the morning.Smile

Norm


  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 5:23 PM

I guess it`s like all things electronic , there are going to be problems . But we are lucky to have this cam in this location and they usually get the problems resolved quickly. So no more complaining from me .          RON

J610
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Muncie, Indiana...Orig. from Pennsylvania
  • 13,456 posts
Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 6:17 PM

Yes, it's one of the nicest.

Quentin

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: morganton north carolina
  • 515 posts
Posted by j610 on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 11:04 AM

 Still down . Must be a major repair or upgrade .   RON

J610

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy