4 ms·

It'd be great. My understanding is that there's basically no live data for freight trains unfortunately

• plowjockey 3y ago
  Since the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) there is live data but the RRs don't make it publicly available. Real time GPS data is transmitted to the Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) system and combined with consist data they can determine where any one car is located at any time. By the time I left the company several years ago that data was being restricted to only certain employees. As noted below, hasmat is likely the reason this kind of data is not publicly accessible. It is shared in a limited fashion with shippers, etc.
  • dhosek 3y ago
    Speaking of consists, I was impressed a few months ago when I saw a mid-train locomotive for the first time, then last week I saw a BNSF train that was a mile long¹ with a single locomotive at the front and a second at the back which I’ve never seen before. ⸻ 1. Assuming average car length of 40'
• mc32 3y ago
  There has to be data because often passenger rail shares railway with freight rail and have to schedule things to avoid accidents.
• red-iron-pine 3y ago
  there definitely is, but the roads aren't going to share it. and tracking trains ain't like tracking planes, where they're easy to see up in the sky and constantly transmitting -- train X takes a turn around a mountain and it's in a radio/cell deadzone and that's it. plus unless you have high-end SAMs you're not able to impact most planes overhead, but shady individuals could certainly impact trains.
  • dhosek 3y ago
    Train tracking in dead zones has approximately zero consumer-facing utility. Train tracking in urban areas would be very helpful for route mapping around grade crossings.