Worked great for me-- it's now programmed in my iPhone. Thanks!!
Obtaining Current Train Status
- Thread starter frugalist
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MisterToad
Train Attendant
Thanks for letting me know about the issue with the service disruption. I'll fix it so it returns something more meaningful than nothing.
E
editordcf
Guest
One thought. Great service, but is it possible to indicate arrival time instead of just how many minutes late? If you don't know the timetable, you don't know an arrival time.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
I've made some improvements to the service:
Please continue to let me know if you experience any problems or if you have suggestions for improvement. I'm limited to 120 characters though, so there's not a whole lot more information I can include.
- Arrival and departure information are both displayed, if available.
- The actual or estimated time is displayed, in addition to the amount of time that the train is late or early. (Thanks to editordcf for the suggestion.) An estimated time will show (est.) after the time.
- I'm calculating the amount of time that the train is late or early, rather than just using what Amtrak shows on their website, so it's accurate.
- Service disruptions and other anomalies should be handled now.
Please continue to let me know if you experience any problems or if you have suggestions for improvement. I'm limited to 120 characters though, so there's not a whole lot more information I can include.
Remember what Bill Gates said many years ago, "no one should ever need more than 4k of ram."I'm limited to 120 characters though, so there's not a whole lot more information I can include.
Ryan
Court Jester
640k, and Mr. Gates vehemently denies having said that (I would too, even if I had said it!)
The train status via text by cell phone is no longer working.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
Do you use T-Mobile?
"Starting on October 1st T-Mobile will institute an additional charge for each text message sent by businesses such as TextMarks. We are working with other companies in the text messaging industry to try to convince T-Mobile to revert this charge, but we don't know if we will succeed. This additional fee is greater than the revenues that can be generated by placing ads in the text messages, so, unfortunately, we will be forced to stop delivering free ad-supported messages to T-Mobile subscribers unless this situation is resolved. We will continue to deliver ad-supported text messages to subscribers of Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and other wireless carriers."
Yes tried it on T-Mobile today. I'd like to get rid of T-Mobile but they are the only carrier where I can get a signal in my home. I am wondering if the Yankees and MSG news will also cease. This is a bad move by T-Mobile as businesses are just going to bail.
It dang-sure-is! Used it today several, several times trying to get Sax back on track.........
C
crsjrr
Guest
I tried today and all I get is key word "amtrakstatuspdx11" doesn't exist
MisterToad
Train Attendant
Try adding spaces: amtrakstatus pdx 11
Where did you get this information? I'm a T-Mobile customer, use commercial message systems, and have never heard of this.
hboy:
MisterToad
Train Attendant
This was in an email I received from TextMarks.Where did you get this information? I'm a T-Mobile customer, use commercial message systems, and have never heard of this.
I use 4info quite a bit and have heard nothing from them. I just checked their website and nothing is mentioned.This was in an email I received from TextMarks.Where did you get this information? I'm a T-Mobile customer, use commercial message systems, and have never heard of this.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
Perhaps 4info is choosing to eat the cost that T-Mobile is charging them. I don't know, I'm just speculating.
leemell
Conductor
I just returned from two and a half weeks on the SL, Crescent, Cardinal, EB, and the SC. That was on seven different LD trains. I used the text status a lot to check on connections and arrival times. It just worked great. The only problem I had was not having the station codes, but I solved that with system timetable I grabbed in the El Paso station. Many thanks for that new capability.
C
crsjrr
Guest
Leave quotation marks off and used spaces and it worked fine!
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A
airport car service
Guest
I also use 4info regularly and havn't heard as well. I don't see anything currently on the site.I use 4info quite a bit and have heard nothing from them. I just checked their website and nothing is mentioned.This was in an email I received from TextMarks.Where did you get this information? I'm a T-Mobile customer, use commercial message systems, and have never heard of this.
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darien-l
OBS Chief
This service doesn't work for me anymore. Is it defunct? That would be sad.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
It probably won't work for you if you use T-Mobile, Sprint, or Nextel. Those wireless carriers (and possibly others) began charging for text messages sent from the TextMarks service, so the free ad-supported version of TextMarks no longer supports those carriers. If I switched to a paid plan, it would work for all carriers, but the least expensive plan is $19 per month, which is a bit out of my price range.This service doesn't work for me anymore. Is it defunct? That would be sad.
If anyone knows of another free service like TextMarks that supports more carriers, I'd be happy to switch to something else.
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I'm on T-Mobile and it works fine for me.It probably won't work for you if you use T-Mobile, Sprint, or Nextel. Those wireless carriers (and possibly others) began charging for text messages sent from the TextMarks service, so the free ad-supported version of TextMarks no longer supports those carriers. If I switched to a paid plan, it would work for all carriers, but the least expensive plan is $19 per month, which is a bit out of my price range.This service doesn't work for me anymore. Is it defunct? That would be sad.
If anyone knows of another free service like TextMarks that supports more carriers, I'd be happy to switch to something else.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
Interesting. The TextMarks website states that T-Mobile, Sprint, and Nextel aren't supported by the free service. Anyway, glad it works for you.
darien-l
OBS Chief
I'm on a T-Mobile pre-paid phone and it stopped working for me. When I send a text to a TextMarks paid client, like CTABUS, I get a reply, but sending to "amtrakstatus" yields nothing.I'm on T-Mobile and it works fine for me.It probably won't work for you if you use T-Mobile, Sprint, or Nextel. Those wireless carriers (and possibly others) began charging for text messages sent from the TextMarks service, so the free ad-supported version of TextMarks no longer supports those carriers. If I switched to a paid plan, it would work for all carriers, but the least expensive plan is $19 per month, which is a bit out of my price range.This service doesn't work for me anymore. Is it defunct? That would be sad.
If anyone knows of another free service like TextMarks that supports more carriers, I'd be happy to switch to something else.
MisterToad:
Since I have a lot of train trips coming up and expect to be using your text service a lot, I'd be willing to donate $40 to the cause. I presume you can switch back to a free account once the paid period expires. Or you might be able to pick up more donations here. PM me if interested.
MisterToad
Train Attendant
I'm currently looking into free/cheap alternatives to TextMarks. I'll let you know what I find.
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