I was shocked to see this monitor at Kalamazoo station.

[me_little_me]

Isn't this the status map from
http://www.dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/status/StatusMaps/

that we have been seeing for a long while?

So why is the Kalamazoo station using it? Why aren't they using Amtrak's "Track a Train"?

Here's a picture of the monitor at Kalamazoo:

 

[Navy 118]

The official amtrak version runs on a javascript that times out after 10 minutes. I would think that this would be the reason as to why the non-amtrak branded map is used.

 

[Agent]

Isn't this the status map from

http://www.dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/status/StatusMaps/

that we have been seeing for a long while?

So why is the Kalamazoo station using it? Why aren't they using Amtrak's "Track a Train"?

They like this one more?

 

[SarahZ]

They've been using that for a couple of years or so.

 

[railbuck]

Referring to the photo:

How can an on-time 29 and a slightly-late 49 be close enough together to be represented by the same arrow? :wacko:

 

[John Bobinyec]

The maps do not show the positions of the trains at any particular time. They show the positions of the trains as reported by Amtrak at a particular time. So, if the lead train's time has not yet been recorded by Amtrak, but the second train's has, it might look like the second train has caught the first. In more extreme cases, it will look like the second train has caught up and passed the first, although it hasn't.

So, if Amtrak posts the times of the trains in a timely and accurate fashion, the map will give a pretty good representation of where the trains are at that point in time.

jb

 

[John Bobinyec]

I thought of another couple ways this happens.

Take the case of 92, the Silver Star, and 80, the Carolinian, leaving Raleigh. 92's next stop is Rocky Mount, so when it leaves Raleigh, where do you show it on the map? Somewhere in the middle, I suppose. In the meantime, 80 stops at Selma and Wilson after leaving Raleigh. When it leaves each of those stations the arrow is placed somewhere between that station and the next. So, if 92 is a little late, and 80 is on-time, It might look like 80 temporarily passes 92, between Raleigh and Rocky Mount.

The other issue is the scale of the map. When I first created the maps, I tried to insert an arrow in between each pair of stations. The arrows were so close together that they displayed on top of each other, making the one which is partially covered up unreadable. The solution was to combine arrows so that they are shared by a couple of stations. For example, when a southbound train leaves Newark, NJ, if it also stops at Newark airport, Metuchen and Princeton Jct., it will be displayed using the same arrow for all those stops.

jb

 

[John Bobinyec]

Just for fun, here's what the east map looks like with all of the arrows shown.

jb

east.bmp

 

[Ryan]

You have to upload it.

 

[Guest]

More props to John B. for providing this service. When in a weak signal area I bookmark the text-only status page that works far more reliably than any sort of graphical webpage under extreme poor signal conditions.

 

[fairviewroad]

Does John B get royalties for the use of his intellectual property?

 

[John Bobinyec]

Does John B get royalties for the use of his intellectual property?

Nope. Just glad to be of service.

jb

 

[Ryan]

You have the thanks of thousands, and we're far smarter because of your work.