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ROANOKE RAIL CAM

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Posted by Heiter on Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:59 AM

j610

Is it my imagination or has there been a lot less traffic the last few days. Maybe its just the times i have been on the site.       RON

    I doubt it's your imagination but probably due to the track-work being carried-out which may have forced trains to be re-routed.

Heiter.

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Posted by j610 on Friday, June 25, 2010 8:30 PM

Is it my imagination or has there been a lot less traffic the last few days. Maybe its just the times i have been on the site.       RON

J610
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Posted by j610 on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:57 PM

 MOW crews in action again. Not much traffic otherwise.         RON

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 11:43 PM

Remember that they are all trying to move data over the same internet connection (I assume), and one could have some sort of higher priority than the other.  That priority might get set by which one initiates the connection first.  Try starting them in a different order to see if that has any effect.

Also, swap the machine/browser pairing, one PC might be better than the other, even if they were purchased as "identical" PC's... (I have seen multiple PCs purchased on the same P.O. and arrive on the same day, have different mother boards or BIOS versions!)

One might have more or less fragmented harddrive causing difference in the speed of allocating file space.  Might also have different versions/setups for Anti-malware and other background utilities.

One could have been serving some other function or network connection at the time (updating databases, etc.)

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by squeeze on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:56 PM

I just set up another computer on my network (WINXP) and tried watching the cam on Chrome while I had my main computer on watching on IE8. I could not believe the difference between the two. Chrome was 10 seconds faster than IE8. I watched in Chrome, then I could see the same picture on IE8 10 seconds later. A replay in effect. I'm going to try watching with Safari and the others at the same time to see the difference. Anyone else notice the difference? This is getting interesting, I'll try Linux next, anyone view with Linux? Hard to believe there is so much difference among the browsers. I tried the VLC Media player but couldn't get the web site to come up with the "open location from clipboard" in Media tab.

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Posted by j610 on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:01 AM

No,nothing there. Its ok though because I get full screen in IE8.   RON

J610
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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 7:38 AM

j610

IE8 is the only way I can get full screen . My primary browser is mozilla firefox but it will not allow me full screen.   RON

 

 

In the lower right corner of the screen, in the black area just above the task bar, you should find two buttons. The top one toggles between full and partial screen, and the lower one locks the current mode.

I watch on Firefox, and can move back and forth between the two.

Norm


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Posted by squeeze on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:51 AM

I see a caboose quite often on this site. I've watched the Chessie system locally and haven't seen one in 30 years. Now I can see at least one a day here. Too bad you only get 20 minutes or so of color in the late evening, that allows one to get the signals in color. When it goes B&W at nite it's hard to tell the signals. I see that they use the same basic set-up that the PRR used in their signaling. Pretty good shot of the rail line though, with lots of traffic. Kudos to whomever is responsible.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Monday, June 21, 2010 5:55 PM

Looks to me like the old ties are laying beside the track where the new ones were stacked.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Monday, June 21, 2010 4:15 PM

I watched the whole thing, and never did see what they did with the old ties. Anyone know?

Tom

COAST LINE FOREVER

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Posted by j610 on Monday, June 21, 2010 2:12 PM

Work completed. Back to normal.      RON

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Posted by kolechovski on Monday, June 21, 2010 8:47 AM

Yep-nice bunch of machines doing the tie work.  This is also my first time listenign to railroadradio for the area there to try to follow along.  I am amazed with the strong southern accents they all have,  They're only a little ways south of PA...I didn't know accents could change so suddenly.  I'd thought it would have just "blended in" the southern accent the further south you went.

To the guys who mentioned other methods of viewing, can you get snapshots from those means with PrintScreen, or do you just end up with a blank box like most of us get when trying it from WMP.

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Posted by j610 on Monday, June 21, 2010 8:27 AM
Looks like they are getting ready to replace some ties.      RON
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Posted by kolechovski on Monday, June 21, 2010 8:09 AM

9:10 AM EDT...what the heck is that orange machine?  It looks like it does several things at once.  heck, I'm pretty sure that thing even does laundry!  I also notice a bunch of stuff spread out next to the high rail truck in front of it, but I can't tell exactly what it is.  Clearly, there's going to be plenty of MOWing going on today in front of the camera.  Anyone who likes watching that stuff might possibly see other goodies as well.

Edit-upon closer inspection, it's 2 machines, the first being a regulator, the second right behind it, I'm still not sure about.  It doesn't seem to be a spiker.

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Posted by j610 on Saturday, June 19, 2010 3:40 PM

 Been working great for a while now. Lets hope it stays that way.     RON

J610
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Posted by j610 on Friday, June 18, 2010 7:22 AM

IE8 is the only way I can get full screen . My primary browser is mozilla firefox but it will not allow me full screen.   RON

J610
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Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, June 17, 2010 9:57 AM

Understand from previous posts there must be many ways to achieve the cam pic.

But comparing the normal size pic. as comes up on request for the web cam.....and what it covers, in doing simply what I've indicated in former post, my full screen pic. does cover the same area as the smaller window.

Quentin

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Posted by Great Western on Thursday, June 17, 2010 5:02 AM

 Using the VLC media player - WITHOUT the aid of a browser - allows full screen pics if necessary.  To acheive this the RailCam IP address has to be entered in a Bookmark.

As I type this post (using the right hand side of my pc monitor) I can watch the RailCam in a window on the left side of the monitor.  That way when a train appears that I wish to watch I can enlarge the Railcam pic: alternatively if I wish to view a full screen bowser I can do that.

I have the choice of browsers: Firefox, Opera, Dragon, AOL and lastly IE.  I mainly use Firefox but use Opera for RSS and news.  Dragon is for Ham radio web sites.  AOL and IE are rarely used.   All will show the RailCam but all use WMP.


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)

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:40 PM

Just for those that might not know...

Using Windows Media Player, you can adjust the size of the viewed image a couple of ways, but it will never allow the displayed image to be bigger than the window it is being displayed in (parts of the image will not be lost beyond an edge). This also means you cannot "zoom-in" to view a small portion of the image.

The program has three defined sizes of 50%, 100% and 200% of the size it is transmitted as.  You can access these through the "Size" menu or by typing "Alt 1", "Alt 2", or "Alt 3" (respectively).

If the Media Player window is larger than the selected image size, a black border will appear around the image.

If the window is smaller than the selected size, the image will shrink to fit; i.e.: if you select 200% and the window is too small for that, it will not enlarge to 200%, it might be only 199% or maybe 101%... it might be even smaller, like only 32%, if the window is too small even to hold it at full (100%) size.

You can set the window size the same way as most any other Windows program. i.e.: Dragging the sizing borders or using the "Maximize" button (2nd from the right in the Title Bar.)

You can also type "Alt-Enter" to change the window to "Full Screen".  This mode removes the window border, the Title Bar and menus to allow more room for the displayed image.  You can also get this Full Screen mode from the "Size" menu.

Just remember that the viewed image can never be bigger than the window in which it is displayed.

The Roanoke Webcam appears to be 800 by 450, so if your screen is 640x480, you won't even see it at full size.

Semper Vaporo

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Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:59 AM

IE 7 brings a pic in the center of my screen, covering about 1/3 of it.

right click on the pic., and then click on zoom, and that brings a full screen on my 18" flat monitor.  A nice panoramic like view.

Quentin

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Posted by Heiter on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 2:28 AM

 That's strange!    Try right-click and look for full-screen option or just try a double left-click on the screen image.    These options work on both browsers for me.

Heiter.

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Posted by j610 on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:41 PM

I have IE8 and get a full screen picture . I can`t get that in firefox .   RON 

J610
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Posted by Heiter on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 4:34 PM

 

The maintenance people don't seem to be bothered about HSE or Hi-Vis as I've seen them walking up and down the tracks, on and off, for the past few months.    Most of the attention being given to the cross-over from left to right switches/points.

Heiter.

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Posted by Great Western on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:26 PM

 Charles,

   I found that browsers seemed to automatically select Windows MP to view the Cam.  Not good Shock

I therefore just use a media player, in my case VLC, which gives pretty good, unbroken coverage when the Cam is operational.  This allows a browser to be used as well as viewing by using the split screen facility of Windows.

I saw the maintenance guys out there today.  They seemed to check all the switches: maybe there was an issue with train/track circuiting.

One thing that I thought unusual by European standards: none of the guys were wearing high visibility clothing of any type. I imagine that all trains were held either side of the Roanoke 'neck' area that we see on the cam but legislation over here demands workers be visible at all times whenever on, or near,  track.  Even on low speed Heritage lines it is required.

 

 

 

 

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)

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:12 PM

I haven't seen it with any other browser than IE-6 and it runs the Windows Media Player to do the display.  No controls other than STOP and then it is hard to get it started again... Have to close the window and restart from the link on the Trains.com Webcams page.

The image I get is wider than normal for most videos.  I can only measure it by running Paint and then trying to create a window of the same size and I get about 800x450 pixels.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by squeeze on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:52 PM

 

I used to view the cam in Firefox. I just tried latest edition of IE. Boy what a difference. Anyone else notice the difference or is it my computer? Seems as though I get a wide screen on IE and just a small view in Firefox. The controls are different also. Makes a major difference in viewing. Firefox gives me a view of the closest signal bridge at the edge of the picture, and IE gets me about triple the view on width. Almost like it's a panoramic shot!

Jim

PS: Just tried full screen on both and they are the same. Must be why there is a difference in browsers as they differ in normal view.
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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:19 AM

Inspection crew....?  At the switch in the left side of cam pic at 11:17 this morning.  3 NS trucks setting in that parking area near that part of the railroad.

Quentin

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Posted by j610 on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 7:48 AM

Flags are down . Back to abnormal .lots of radio traffic this morning .    RON

J610
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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, June 14, 2010 8:44 PM

It was in color later last evening.  I just clicked on it a few min. ago to catch the flags under the street lights.  I must have caught it right before it went to B/W.

Quentin

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Monday, June 14, 2010 8:37 PM

Switched from color to B&W at about 8:36 PM CDT (I assume 9:36 PM EDT - Roanoke time?).

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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