Which webcam is your favorite to watch Amtrak trains?

[TinCan782]

Thanks for the suggestions. I added Santa Fe Junction, Tower 65, & Barstow. I also added FLG but made it Pacific time since AZ doesn't use DST.

I left out Hesperia/Cajon Pass because the SWC usually comes by in the dark, and there's absolutely no lighting there. Barstow is nearby and is lighted.

For my own use, I'm only doing LD trains, and SNC only has regionals. If I added all the regional trains, the list would get too long, and I couldn't practically show times.

Thanks.
FWIW, FLG and TUS are in the same AZ time zone. The same time as Pacific during DST and one hour ahead during Standard time.

If you made FLG Pacific time, shouldn't Tucson also be specified that way?

 

[Pswiderski]

I made myself a list of all the publicly accessible railcams I could find that show LD trains. So I decided to clean it up a bit and upload it to Google, so anyone who would like to look at is welcome, using this link: Railcam train times

• Column A includes a link to the camera.
• Cols D & G are my guess at the approximate time the train passes the camera if it's on schedule. Some of the cameras are between stations, and I tried to come up with a time by looking at the cameras & the maps on transitdocs, but it's just a guess and YMMV.
• Cols E & H are the same times adjusted to Eastern time, for convenience and sorting.
• Col I has the station code for cameras that are at stations; or for cameras not at a station, I tried to estimate the time to the nearest station. Again, it's just a best guess, as actual times are highly variable. I suggest using it as a guide to find the nearest timepoint on the map on transitdocs.

For those not familiar with Google Sheets, you can sort the table by clicking on the column letter. It will only change your view, not the actual sheet. I find it useful to sort by train or by Eastern time.

Please let me know of any issues or questions.

One more thing: most of these cameras are from Virtual Railfan. Public access to some VRF cams is sponsored on an ongoing basis, but others are sponsored for a limited time or made available by donations within YouTube. Therefore, public access to any particular VRF cam may be removed at any time.

This is terrific. Thank you for compiling this list.

 

[joelkfla]

Thanks.
FWIW, FLG and TUS are in the same AZ time zone. The same time as Pacific during DST and one hour ahead during Standard time.

If you made FLG Pacific time, shouldn't Tucson also be specified that way?

Yep. Thx for bringing that to my attention.

 

[Cal]

I left out Hesperia/Cajon Pass because the SWC usually comes by in the dark, and there's absolutely no lighting there. Barstow is nearby and is lighted.

For my own use, I'm only doing LD trains, and SNC only has regionals. If I added all the regional trains, the list would get too long, and I couldn't practically show times.

Maybe have a separate section of cameras where Amtrak passes but don’t list any additional info?

 

[joelkfla]

I think I'm getting carried away with this , but I'm retired, so I have time on my hands.

Anyway, I've added a map of the railcams in the sheet. It's linked at the top of the sheet. Enjoy!

Here's the link again: Railcam train times

 

[skeptic_rugs0o]

I caught the 14 Coast Starlight just north of Paso Robles today on the Caltrans traffic cam.
https://cwwp2.dot.ca.gov/vm/loc/d5/us101niblickroad.htm

 

[NorthShore]

St. Paul Union Depot:

 

[joelkfla]

St. Paul Union Depot:

It appears to be live only; no rewind capability.

 

[Pswiderski]

I think I'm getting carried away with this , but I'm retired, so I have time on my hands.

Anyway, I've added a map of the railcams in the sheet. It's linked at the top of the sheet. Enjoy!

Here's the link again: Railcam train times

Thanks again. This just keeps getting better and better.

 

[Maglev]

For a while several years ago, I used to try to catch the westbound Empire Builder on the St. Paul Union Depot webcam. It was a high point of my day; I don't know why I stopped...

 

[SanAntonioClyde]

All good comments.. Overseas I watch York, England and Merlo-Haut , Netherland, warszawa zachodnia, Poland

 

[MIrailfan]

Chicago's on Railstream and La Plata on Virtual Railfan.

 

[TinCan782]

I left out Hesperia/Cajon Pass because the SWC usually comes by in the dark, and there's absolutely no lighting there. Barstow is nearby and is lighted.

Just happened to take a look at the Hesperia/Cajon Pass camera this evening (Wed 27 April).
There is now a movable light mounted at the camera. Lit up the SWC #4!

 

[joelkfla]

I think I'm getting carried away with this , but I'm retired, so I have time on my hands.

Anyway, I've added a map of the railcams in the sheet. It's linked at the top of the sheet. Enjoy!

Updated link:

Added some new cams in AZ & NM. Also, updated the YouTube links and some schedule times.

Seems like the VR cameras' YouTube stream ID's change from time to time. If there's a message that the livestream is not available, copy the title below the viewing window into the YouTube search field and hit enter; most of the time the camera will come up with a new stream ID.

I believe all of the cams on this list feature 12-hour rewind capability.

 

[thully]

Does anyone have a good webcam for watching Wolverine trains? It would be useful to be able to tell which trains are running Venture cars at the moment. Hoping to do a trip in October and want to make sure I’m on the right train.

 

[Cal]

Does anyone have a good webcam for watching Wolverine trains? It would be useful to be able to tell which trains are running Venture cars at the moment. Hoping to do a trip in October and want to make sure I’m on the right train.

There might be through Railstream, but if there is you will have to pay for a membership.

 

[TWA904]

I enjoy watching the SWC at La Plata, Mo, Ft. Madison, Iowa, and Galesburg, Il.

 

[Agent]

I have a couple more I can add. The first one is different than most. Local television station KYOU has a weather camera looking over Ottumwa, Iowa. It usually works by taking a photo every five minutes on the 5s. Sometimes it's less often; rarely it's more often. When the California Zephyr is stopped in the station downtown, I can usually zoom in to see which track it's on. Note that the angle usually just lets you see the back half of #6 and the front of #5 when they're stopped at the station. I took this screenshot back on June 16 when both #5 and #6 were at the station. That's the end of #5 on the right and the end of #6 to the left.

https://www.kyoutv.com/weather/cams/
The other one is the Steel Highways railcam located just east of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Amtrak #5 and #6 also pass here daily. It can be a bit hard to find them if you're not watching when they go by, as they both pass the camera's field of view in about ten seconds.

 

[joelkfla]

I have a couple more I can add. The first one is different than most. Local television station KYOU has a weather camera looking over Ottumwa, Iowa. It usually works by taking a photo every five minutes on the 5s. Sometimes it's less often; rarely it's more often. When the California Zephyr is stopped in the station downtown, I can usually zoom in to see which track it's on. Note that the angle usually just lets you see the back half of #6 and the front of #5 when they're stopped at the station. I took this screenshot back on June 16 when both #5 and #6 were at the station. That's the end of #5 on the right and the end of #6 to the left.

https://www.kyoutv.com/weather/cams/
The other one is the Steel Highways railcam located just east of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Amtrak #5 and #6 also pass here daily. It can be a bit hard to find them if you're not watching when they go by, as they both pass the camera's field of view in about ten seconds.

Thanks. I added Mt. Pleasant to the list.

It's about 3 minutes west of the MTP station, so it's not too hard to find. I rewind to a couple of minutes before the estimated time, and run YouTube at 2x speed. It has a real glitchy picture, though. Must be a low speed or weak connection.