Railcams

[Bob Bufkin]

Currently on the Roanoke cam there is work going on the track closest to the camer.  There is a large piece of equipment with just one end showing to the left.  That thing looks huge.  Anyone know what it it?

[davefoxx]

Well, whatever it was, it's gone now.   

DFF

[choochin3]

Just seen the Wabash,and CNJ heritage units heading East on the Roanoke railcam.
SCHWEEEEEEET!

[Bob Bufkin]

I caught that also Carl.

[Bob Bufkin]

Three passenger cars visible on the Roanoke railcam.  Thinking it might be the Executive Office Train.  Only last 3 cars showing.

[Bob Bufkin]

For all those who were not just looking at the Roanoke Railcam.  A lone highhood unit just passed with a N&W Alco S unit in tow.  Maybe going to the museum?

[Bob Bufkin]

Sitting here finally enjoyig mid 80 temperatures after the long winder.  Go to the Bailey's Yard cam and it's snowing hard and you can barely see.  Almost made me feel cold again.

[C855B]

Sitting here finally enjoyig mid 80 temperatures after the long winder.  Go to the Bailey's Yard cam and it's snowing hard and you can barely see.  Almost made me feel cold again.

Tell me about it. I'm a systems engineer for the Nebraska DOT roads monitoring system. We were planning on doing some long-procrastinated major system updates this week and were told "Uhhhhh... NO!" yesterday when everyone woke up to the forecast. It appears this year that we are going straight from blizzard season into tornado season. Ugh-lee! 

[C855B]

The Centralia, IL railcam is now in operation: http://www.railfancentralia.com/railcam.html



(It was a treat to catch this Ferromex unit a few minutes ago. First one I've seen here.)

I am still shaking out the bugs, so access is limited to three viewers at a time including my access as I adjust things. I hope I can expand this.

Notes:

• Video stream requires QuickTime plug-in.
• Internet Explorer doesn't render the page as I've programmed it. Use something else if you want the image to fit on your screen.
• This is an HD camera, h.264 @ 720p. Hopefully the extra bandwidth this takes has benefits in a sharper image.
• I've constrained the frame rate to 15fps. This seems to be OK given that most trains through here are at restricted speed.
• The video will be blocked if you're viewer #4 or above. You'll need to come back later.
• If you get a "green screen", the stream is loading but you haven't received the "key image" yet. Wait a few seconds.
• If the wind calms down today I might tie those wires (unused telephone drops) to not droop so much into the frame. However, they make a good confirmation that this is live video in a mostly static view.
• If you still have doubts about whether the video is live, check the clock in the upper left. The clock is part of the image.
• While the camera has low-light capability, the night images are pretty blurry. You can see enough to sometimes make out road names. I was able to see that there was private varnish on the 1:15 a.m. Amtrak.
• I am working on a "deer cam" motion detection feature to take snapshots of passing trains. This is mostly for myself, to get an unbiased assessment of traffic. I may/may not turn the most recent frame captures into a web page; at the moment the server load for all these images is a little much.
• I'm not going to announce this generally or promote it beyond TRW and my own "Railfan Centralia" website. The HD camera is pushing the bandwidth and I'd like a little bit of time watching its behavior before releasing it to the masses.*

* - I do these networked camera systems for a living. They are bandwidth hogs, and putting them on regular moderate-speed internet drops (4mbs upload) is pressing the limits. Freezes, frame drops and other anomalies are going to be a fact of life. Consider this setup a personal test lab.

[Ian MacMillan]

Woot!


Added to the OP.

[C855B]

Hey, Ian... the Cresson railcam has a new camera and new URL:

  http://www.railstream.org/live-cameras-free/cresson-pa-free

Much improved over the old one.

[trainforfun]

Hey, Ian... the Cresson railcam has a new camera and new URL:

  http://www.railstream.org/live-cameras-free/cresson-pa-free

Much improved over the old one.

Too bad they could not relocate the camera to get rid of the douple post right in the middle of the picture ....

[jnevis]

Not much in the direct camera view but the WP Museum Webcam does have the UP main in view outside the yard (across the top or right side depending on view)

http://www.wplives.org/webcam.html

[Ian MacMillan]

Hey, Ian... the Cresson railcam has a new camera and new URL:

  http://www.railstream.org/live-cameras-free/cresson-pa-free

Much improved over the old one.

Thanks. Edited.

[Bendtracker1]

Ran across this one this morning
http://virtualrailfan.com/fwc/funnelcam2_test.html

Folkston, GA