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ROANOKE RAIL CAM

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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Posted by j610 on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:06 PM

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

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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

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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?

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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)

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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.

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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
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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

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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)

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Posted by kolechovski on Friday, May 7, 2010 2:54 PM

It was the diesels pushing the steam loco.  I know, a bit sad, but still a nice site.  Thanks to my inability to take snapshots, I don't have anything to show the rest of you.  I'm hoping somebody, somewhere, got a copy of the good stuff.

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Posted by Modelcar on Friday, May 7, 2010 2:50 PM

kolechovski
God excrement!  I just saw a steam locomotive at high noon on the webcam, May 7!  It was too dark from the opposing sun to read the lettering, but it crept through the cam on the closest track, with several railfans following it along, including 1 guy in a golf cart!  It also had 2 NS diesels trailing it in AB formation

 

.....Just to be clear....Were the Diesels doing the power, or was the steamer on it's own power....?

Item:  I am not "worring" about the sound"....I'm just commenting how much audio enhances the program, cam / audio.

I'm happy the cam is where it is.....and that it produces a large format size picture...even full screen if one desires.  Size, and streaming video is so much more enjoying to watch than Rochelle.

Quentin

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Posted by nik .n on Friday, May 7, 2010 1:40 PM

 Just saw a high nose SD40 coupled to a Dash 9, followed shortly (on the same track) by two GP38s shoving a caboose ahead of them.

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Posted by kolechovski on Friday, May 7, 2010 11:04 AM

God excrement!  I just saw a steam locomotive at high noon on the webcam, May 7!  It was too dark from the opposing sun to read the lettering, but it crept through the cam on the closest track, with several railfans following it along, including 1 guy in a golf cart!  It also had 2 NS diesels trailing it in AB formation, with the second being a high-nosed unit 3224.  Anybody got stills or saved snapshots of that?  That would certainly be the kind of stuff to post here!  And does anybody know what the plans are for this thing?

This reminds me of another feature we need-the ability to save snapshots.  While the Rochelle method of motion-detection wouldn't work for this, at least have a special webpage with an imbedded media player, including a button to take instant snapshots included.  With all the great things we see on teh cam, a pic-saving feature is something I think we really need for that.  Who agrees?

 

-ADDITION-the NS diesel locos passed back through 20 minutes later and sat at the far signal bridge.

At 12:30, with a train coming up behind it, the locos crept forward to the opposite side of the signal bridge.  At this moment (12:35), that train has backed up out fo view again, but the 2 locos remain in the same spot.

12:40-the locos are gone, and I didn't see where to.

12:45-the locos are going up the far track, out to the top right of the camera.

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Posted by kolechovski on Friday, May 7, 2010 10:46 AM

Before you start worrying about sound, note that there are still a few video issues that need to be taken care of.  The camera often starts lagging between 8 and 11 AM.  I don't know if it's due to some kind of bandwidth limitation on their end (too many railfans logging onto the camera or join bandwidth usage by other people in teh area), or if it's on my end (too many people logging on and using bandwidth around here).  In addition, I still think that the switchover to white at night is quite ugly, and it seems to be a "feature" of some kind that nobody wants.  Perhaps they thought it might help the trains stand out better at night, but I think it was unanimous on here that the night white effect is undesired.  Upgrading these issues would be the first thing to do before even thinking about adding any more bandwidth-consuming stuff like sound.

If money is an issue, perhaps they could ask for a donation from Coca Cola for all the free advertising it's getting from the cam.  There are quite a few of those trucks running around.  It's also kinda nice seeing how many different designs they have on them.  There are quite a few.

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Posted by Modelcar on Thursday, May 6, 2010 3:43 PM

.....Just a comment:  The audio pickup on the system in the Netherlands seems to be rather sensitive.  You can hear people talking as they go by riding on bikes....and I've even heard birds chirping.

Quentin

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Posted by j610 on Thursday, May 6, 2010 2:59 PM

You are right . The camera is a lot further away from the tracks than the one in the netherlands .Didn`t think before opening my mouth . Still a very enjoyable rail cam .      RON

J610
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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, May 2, 2010 12:09 PM

.....I agree, there probably would not be much "railroad" sounds with the slow speeds there.....Item:  The street in the Netherland cam is between the RR and the cam....Sound of the street is prominent, but you sure can hear the warning bells for the RR gates as a train passes.  No train {whistles / horns}....

Quentin

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Posted by BigJim on Sunday, May 2, 2010 9:53 AM

Great Western

 Agreed on the great web cam Ron, but I doubt if sound would be a good option: far too much road traffic noise.

I, for one, would most likely mute it.  Laugh

Along with the more prevalent road traffic noise, there is not going to be a whole lot to be heard other than wheels squealing and some dynamic brake whine as heavy trains move eastbound. Keep in mind that this is a mostly slow speed area, it is flat and westbound trains won't be picking up the throttle until about a good quarter mile more westward.

I am satisfied that they moved the camera to where it is today. Save the money needed to only provide a bunch of "NOISE".

.

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Posted by Great Western on Sunday, May 2, 2010 8:55 AM

 Agreed on the great web cam Ron, but I doubt if sound would be a good option: far too much road traffic noise.

I, for one, would most likely mute it.  Laugh

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 j610 on Thursday, April 29, 2010 9:45 PM

A lot of traffic these past few days . Great webcam , maybe they will eventually upgrade to sound .    RON

J610
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Posted by j610 on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 12:27 PM

Sure wish I could have also caught the circus train . But that is one train that you are unlikely catch unless you have the circus schedule . I am really enjoying this new camera location .   RON

J610

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