UP train recently crossed with former Amtrak Material Handling Cars (still in their colors)- are these being used by someone as box cars? Couldn’t catch the reporting marks.
Also, a yellowbonnet geep just went down the spur to the left of the diamonds and dropped off an empty centerbeam flatcar, and returned.
I love the fact that there’s audio now- I can leave a tab open monitoring the webcam and go off and do other things. Train horns alert me to impending traffic, and the loss of all sound alerts me to the need to go hit the play arrow again. Thanks to that, I was able to catch the following very interesting sequence of events this morning:
Southbound tank train on BNSF Track 2 (?, furthest from the camera).
As soon as he cleared, heard horns blowing for grade crossing, assumed to be on UP, but nothing appears, and background noise returns to normal.
A couple of minutes later, a northbound BNSF mixed manifest crosses on Track 1.
As soon as he clears, I hear two shorts on a train horn, and not one but TWO eastbounds come into view on UP. The nearest on Track 2 is an intermodal with two engines, the second being the Olympic 2012 unit, and the other a grain train (near as I could tell with the intermodal blocking the view) with two engines as well. They both ran neck-and-neck until they were gone; I’m assuming they’re still racing each other into Chicago.
Immediately after they cleared, another southbound BNSF train comes through.
I wish I would’ve been there in person to get pictures.
Have caught some eastbound UP intermodals that come in pretty slow, so I am guessing they have just left the yard to the east. A couple of them gained speed during the passing. Pretty windy today, though. The visitors’ clothing and the trees are quite in motion.
Brian, I agree on the sound helping out. Last night it was quiet enough that I could hear the hum of an air conditioner somewhere nearby.
There’s actually some sort of plant just to the east of the diamond. Don’t know what it is, but I’m sure that someone can enlighten us. It would probably come across as an air conditioner…
I will stab at it - I think someone told me it is Global III for UP?
Global III is approximately 2000’ southwest of the diamonds, just out of sight along the UP behind the trees to the left. I think there’s probably some power equipment somewhere in the field of view or on the power poles that’s contributing the noise- either that, or a window air unit in one of the homes close by.
Hit a dry spell this afternoon. No big deal for me - I was home and watching on my tablet (worked great, by the way). I kinda felt for that family that was hanging out at the park, though. I don’t know if they left, or were just off-camera, when a BNSF and three UP trains (including an intermodal and a coal train at the same time) came through…
love upgrade but don’t like refresh after awhile as it stops and you need to hit play again
There is, indeed, a plant just to the east of the camera’s location. I don’t remember hearing it ‘hum’, though. Global III is SW of the camera. But it is far enough away to be an unlikely source of a humming. I hear a ‘buzzing’ noise in my feed. Sounds like feedback. Or an electronic sourced noise from the camera itself.
I like this new webcam, as for background noise I don’t really notice it. - I just like to hear the locos and train. Some of the other cams, railroad and non-railroad, have more noise.
I looked at this web site some time ago but was not enticed to watch[;)], this is much better. Thanks Kalmbach.
WOW! What a great view of the crossing. Great job guys!
Tree. I took your comment about watching both the new and improved Rochelle web cam and railcam.nl at the same time as a suggestion. Turns out it’s not too noisy and can be a bit startling, i.e., the bells start ringng at the grade crossing in the Netherlands and a freight in Illinois blows for a crossing. Once in a while, the Dutch train appears just as the American train finishes blowing! Fun, indeed. and add to that, I can hear CSX blowing for a grade crossing about a half mile away from my place. I recommend you try it. I think you’ll like it
like the new web cam except for the fact it will run a few minutes and then I have to hit play to keep it going cant monitor it too long before it has to be restatrted…was not happening on the old one oh well thanks for the cam
My thanks to all at trains.com who made this upgrade happen. [bow]
I’m also one of those who would like to see a separate ‘volume control’ for the webcam. I prefer to set the audio at a low background level concurrent with other sources.
Another feature that could use some fine tuning IMO is the placement & directionality of the site microphone. Horns from trains on the UP line, especially westbounds waiting at the signal, tend to blow me out of my seat!
Oh-oh, storm over Rochelle and suddenly the camera’s not working…
EDIT: Camera is now back up. Interesting watching it storm…
The new webcam veritably rocks.
After that rain Friday night, someone needs to get up there and clean the water spots off of the lens/enclosure…
I took a look this weekend and am somewhat semi-hooked. Great quality and the sound is nice.
What have noticed is UP is running huge covered hopper car trains. Yesterday at 1139 am there was a 220 car covered hopper car train and this morning at 928am there was a 210 covered hopper car train. No distributed power on either, so I am assuming these are empties. Still these are big trains, gotta be close to 13000 ft in length.
Just saw a BSNF EB pass with at least 40 lumber racks plus numerous hi cube box cars. People must be building houses again!
Is there an online reference for ETT or something similar? I am now listening in to the NOrthern Illinois scanner feed and would like a reference.
Ed
Stopped in today just in time to catch BNSF with an EB tank train (the image is a vast improvement over what we had, but still not quite sharp enough to read the placards - not that I expect it to be).
I’ve thought for some time that it would be cool to be able to see the signal indications on the four approaches. Before we had sound, it might help clue one in on when a train was approaching, and in which direction.
Speaking of that, here comes another one! (I hear a horn!) Westbound cans on BNSF!
There have been multiple requests to turn the camera to the right to see the Union Pacific signals, but that would limit the view of BNSF trains, so it stays the same…