OK, I just started watching this site. It’s downright amazing.
The high number of long trains going through
What they are carrying:
a. LTL (A whole lot of FedEx, ABF, Estis, Yellow, etc.)
b. UPS
c. Reefers (gotta’ love that)
d. Truckload intermodal
e.
Yes, but many of the towboats have locomotive engines in them… fun to listen to.
The powered derails before the bridge are pretty cool as well.
[quote user=“greyhounds”]
OK, I just started watching this site. It’s downright amazing.
The high number of long trains going through
What they are carrying:
a. LTL (A whole lot of FedEx, ABF, Estis, Yellow, etc.)
b. UPS
c. Reefers (gotta’ love that)
d. Truckload intermodal
There have been incidents where barges did not clear pier that guides them and halted all rail and river traffic. The Coast Guard, who has control of river traffic, penalized the barge owners and the (sometimes drunk) operators if they were determined to be at fault.
There’s been a cam at Fort Madison for quite a few years (15?). At one time it was user controlled, as opposed to today’s moderator control.
I used to watch it quite a bit. I have a bit of a tie to Deshler now, so that’s where I spend most of my time.
There were several cams that were user controlled. Galesburg, and some steel fabricator elsewhere in Illinois for two.
The idea has really spread - it’s popular with the boating community as well. I like watching Port Huron, MI. Saw a yacht there yesterday that passed up the St Lawrence last week. Nice boat, too.
I have been watching it some today - I must say BNSF puts more power on their trains than I was accustomed to seeing on CSX.
The La Plata MO cams are west of Ft. Madison and are pretty interesting as well. There are two fixed cams at the Amtrak station, one looking east and one looking west (railwise, anyway, as the tracks are actually pointing 15° north of true east, roughly, at the depot. The third camera is controlled by a moderator and sits on a bridge abutment where the Wabash crossed the Santa Fe east of the station. Lots of action, with some UP trackage rights trains adding to the mix.
Larry (Tree) turned me on to the Deshler VR site earlier this year. The train log is pretty cool.
Berea, Oh railcam and scanner are my go-to for home railfanning. The cam and scanner cover both the NS and CSX mainlines. I also have the Fostoria VR site and train log. Interesting to see certain trains march across Ohio such as the hot intermodals.
Listening in to the scanner allows one to start to understand the operations involving the railroads. I will say this…both NS and CSX run very reliable operations, particularly on their intermodal trains. While one cannot set one’s watch exactly, the daily consistency of operation is impressive.
Ed
The hot new site on Railstream is Atlanta. Red hot 'lanta!
I prefer the locations where signals can be read to see if it’s worth sticking around for a while. Also Amtrak’s status mapping and arr/dep times clue me on their conductors’ “wave to the camera” activity at Horseshoe Curve. I like to wave back.
Rick
Some of the same people who maintain the Deshler log are involved with the Fostoria log.
The chat on the cams can be very informative in and of itself. Many of the regulars have a good handle on what’s going on.
Of course, there always those who pop in and want to know “when’s the next train?”
A standard answer is usually on the line of “when it gets here…”
Barge tows are unfortunately subsidized by general tax revenues.
This distorts economic efficiency and reduces the overall general welfare. Some people, of course, do benefit from the subsidy and they influence the politicians to keep the subsidy. To the detriment of everyone else.
I have no objection to the Mississippi River being kept in shape for commercial navigation. I realize that no private entity can own the river. So, the government must provide the upkeep. Lock and dams, dredging, etc. But it should be paid for by tolls on the barge traffic. Not from general tax revenues.
Adam Smith wrote correctly of government provided transportation infrastructure. It’s sometimes necessary but needs to be funded by user fees, AKA tolls.
Thanks for the ATL heads-up. I have ATCS set up for Kansas City and Barstow to know when to look.
I also enjoy seeing signals knocked-down 
I can agree with that.
This was considered back in the late 70’s. You might remember this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/06/23/us-waterway-tolls-approved-by-senate/042a3818-abe0-4f4d-bb4e-ac3f87fc7e7f/
Whenever I access a VRF site, it’s most likely Fort Madison. Occasionally I will participate in the chat as well, and bring up ATCS and let folks know when something’s coming. Watch for Papa Brian…
They eventually managed to impose a user fee on the barges. The last time I checked it was $0.25/gallon on the fuel they use. That covers about ½ the cost of maintaining the lock and dams along with the dredging. So, the barges (read ADM, Cargill, etc.) still get a significant subsidy from the taxpayers. That’s really bad economic policy. But it was an improvement over charging absolutely nothing.
It got much worse. The Transportation Act of 1920 gave the ICC power over minimum rail rates. The ICC used this nonsense power to protect barges from rail competition. In the 1960s railroads tried to reduce their charges on moving aluminum from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in order to be competitive with a barge movement. The government said the rails couldn’t reduce their charges because it would disadvantage the barges. This was incredibly dumb. It prevented the US logistics system from configuring to its lowest cost structure. It hurt our economy and our people. (It’s commonly called “The Ingot Mold Case”.) The Ingot Mold Case was instrumental in destroying the last vestiges of credibility the ICC had. The barge charges were not regulated.
I don’t like barges because: 1) they get a nonsense subsidy and, 2) my past grievances regarding their legal actions against rail competition.
Barge tonnage on the upper Mississippi has declined significantly. When freed to compete the railroads took a lot of the business.
[quote user=“greyhounds”]
SD60MAC9500
I can agree with that. This was considered back in the late 70’s. You might remember this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/06/23/us-waterway-tolls-approved-by-senate/042a3818-abe0-4f4d-bb4e-ac3f87fc7e7f/
They eventually managed to impose a user fee on the barges. The last time I checked it was $0.25/gallon on the fuel they use. That covers about ½ the cost of maintaining the lock and dams along with the dredging. So, the barges (read ADM, Cargill, etc.) still get a significant subsidy from the taxpayers. That’s really bad economic policy. But it was an improvement over charging absolutely nothing.
It got much worse. The Transportation Act of 1920 gave the ICC power over minimum rail rates. The ICC used this nonsense power to protect barges from rail competition. In the 1960s railroads tried to reduce their charges on moving aluminum from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in order to be competitive with a barge movement. The government said the rails couldn’t reduce their charges because it would disadvantage the barges. This was incredibly dumb. It prevented the US logistics system from configuring to its lowest cost structure. It hurt our economy and our people. (It’s commonly called “The Ingot Mold Case”.) The Ingot Mold Case was instrumental in destroying the last vestiges of credibility the ICC had. The barge charges were not regulated.
I don’t like barges because: 1) they get a nonsense subsidy and, 2) my past grievances
The “great” state of NY continues to maintain the enlarged Erie Canal, aka Barge Canal, which runs the length across upstate NY. There is almost no commercial traffic on it anymore - it is mostly a recreational waterway now. I don’t know what, if any, toll regimen exists for users. There are still caretakers that let people through the locks. The whole thing falls under the NYS Thruway authority, which still collects tolls on I87/ I90. So it’s probably the motorists using those roads that subsidize the canal.
A couple years ago, there was an interesting cargo move down the canal of some brewery tanks that were otherwise too large to move by road or rail.
Airports often have landing fees, but who pays for the air traffic controllers and their equipment???
This has been covered before in these threads. The airlines pay the majority for air control, and more than their share. Apparently general aviation and the military pay little or nothing.